So, an urgent phone call from Kear asking him to lunch raises all his suspicions. His friendship with Alroy Kear is intermittent & Kear usually only contacts him when he wants a favour. William Ashenden is a moderately well-known writer. The portrait of Alroy Kear is absolutely wicked & made Walpole a laughing stock. The book is very funny but I can understand why Walpole (& Hardy's widow, Florence) was so upset. In his satirical portrait of literary society, Maugham also pokes fun at critics, society painters & literary hostesses. He even wrote a letter to Maugham, asking why he had betrayed their friendship, & signed it Alroy Maugham Walpole. Hugh Walpole's reputation never really recovered from his portrayal as Alroy Kear. After reading Walpole's Rogue Herries last year & being reminded of the scandal, I wanted to read Cakes and Ale, which, of course, has been sitting on my tbr shelves since 2011. Hardy died in 1928, only two years before this book was published, & the critics were shocked at Maugham's irreverence. I've always known that Somerset Maugham lampooned Hugh Walpole in this novel, Cakes and Ale, but I didn't realise that he also used many recognisable aspects of the life of Thomas Hardy as well.
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