Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer
"Paradise Postponed" is a novel and television miniseries by John Mortimer that serves as both a family saga and a critique of English society in the years following World War II. Set in the seemingly idyllic village of Rapstone Fanner, the story centers around Rector Simeon Simcox, a socialist whose commitment to political activism often overshadows his religious duties. The narrative intertwines the lives of the Simcox family with that of Leslie Titmuss, an ambitious and morally ambiguous character whose rise to political power is marked by manipulation and social climbing.
As the plot unfolds, themes of ambition, social class, and personal relationships come to the forefront, particularly through the complex romantic entanglements of the Simcox brothers and their interactions with Titmuss. Mortimer's work employs wit to explore poignant issues of societal malaise, culminating in a mystery that reveals the true meaning behind the title as characters seek their elusive earthly paradise. The novel critiques the moral failures of individuals and institutions, particularly in the context of Thatcher-era Britain, suggesting a disconnection from traditional values and compassion for the less fortunate. Ultimately, "Paradise Postponed" presents a layered commentary on the pursuit of happiness and the often harsh realities of ambition and societal expectations.
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Paradise Postponed by John Mortimer
Excerpted from an article in Magill’s Survey of World Literature, Revised Edition
First published: 1985
Type of work: Novel
The Work
Paradise Postponed, which Mortimer wrote as a novel and television miniseries, is both a family chronicle and social commentary on England in the decades following World War II. Its conventional form (aside from flashbacks) and some of its plot (such as the prospect of lengthy litigation over a will) bring to mind novels by Dickens and Trollope. Like his nineteenth century predecessors, Mortimer tempers a sometimes poignant story of malaise with wit. Propelling the plot is a mystery that is not unraveled until the end, at which time the full significance of the title becomes clear. The earthly paradise that the main characters strive to achieve remains elusive, even to the one person who seemed to have it within grasp.
The main setting is a seemingly idyllic village, Rapstone Fanner. Rector Simeon Simcox, a socialist whose family owns the local brewery, devotes more time to ban-the-bomb marches and other political works than to his ecclesiastical duties. His wife is patient and indulgent. His older son is a novelist whose idealism Hollywood corrupts. His younger son is a self-effacing idealist, a country doctor who plays with a local jazz combo. The two brothers become involved with the same woman, who becomes pregnant by the younger, marries the older, eventually divorces him, and later rekindles the flame with the younger.
Intertwined with this Simcox saga is that of Leslie Titmuss, whose father is a brewery worker and whose mother was a maid at the local nobleman’s home. An amoral social climber, young Titmuss sets his sights on a seat in Parliament and proceeds with guile to attain his goal by surreptitiously engineering the defeat of the incumbent Conservative and setting the stage for his own candidacy in the next election, when he beats the Labourite. He abets his social and political rise by a loveless marriage to homely Charlotte, the nobleman’s daughter, which produces a son, Nicky. A few years later, Charlotte is accidentally killed by a police vehicle during a women’s demonstration against military weapons.
When the Reverend Simeon Simcox leaves his estate to Titmuss, his sons attempt to learn what motivated a socially conscious leftist to leave everything to a money-hungry Conservative. They believe their father had gone mad, until their mother reveals that Charlotte was Simeon’s illegitimate child, and by leaving his estate to Titmuss, grandson Nicky eventually would benefit. A final ironic shock is the revelation that the inherited brewery stock is worthless.
Titmuss, whose ambition leads him to renounce his working-class origins, epitomizes what Mortimer believed was wrong with the United Kingdom that Margaret Thatcher led into the 1980’s. The government and Titmuss lacked moral purpose and compassion for the country’s poor. Using his political base, Titmuss orchestrates business takeovers and land grabs that destroy others’ careers and fortunes, and though styling himself Conservative, his political and financial activities ignore traditional values. At novel’s end, he and his kind are in control. In the sequel Titmuss Regained, having moved higher in the government, Titmuss seems to get his comeuppance, but in a third novel in the chronicle, The Sound of Trumpets, he rises again.
Sources for Further Study
Christian Science Monitor. LXXVIII, April 11, 1986, p. 22.
Kirkus Reviews. LIV, February 1, 1986, p. 161.
Los Angeles Times Book Review. April 20, 1986, p. 6.
The New Republic. CXCIV, May 19, 1986, p. 36.
The New York Times Book Review. XCI, March 30, 1986, p. 1.
The New Yorker. LXII, August 11, 1986, p. 83.
Publishers Weekly. CCXXIX, February 7, 1986, p. 61.
Time. CXXVII, March 31, 1986, p. 68.
Times Literary Supplement. November 15, 1986, p. 1294.
Washington Post Book World. XVI, April 6, 1986, p. 4.