It Always Rains on Sunday

Every time London Books reissue an old book it's cause for celebration. It Always Rains on Sunday by Arthur La Bern is another case in point, a writer fit to join the ranks of Gerald Kirsch, James Curtis and John Sommerfield, whose books were all bestsellers in the 1930s but whose work dropped out of print to be forgotten by all but a handful of British noir fans. Some of the most exciting and best-written novels of British noir were by those who knew London’s seedier side and Arthur La Bern deserves a place amongst them.The wonderful Cathi Unsworth has penned a brilliant introduction which sets up the book perfectly. It Always Rains on Sunday is probably best known for the Ealing Studios film adaptation, it’s set over a single day in 1939 in the East End of London shortly before the outbreak of World War Two and is a multi-layered drama centred around the Sandigate family and their archetypal East End home.It’s wonderfully written, exciting, compelling and awash with atmospheric period and location detail, in short if you have any interest in London writing, or the 1930s, then this book is another essential read. Right up there with London Belongs to Me, Hangover Square, The Angel and the Cuckoo, and The Gilt Kid.5/5

It is always exciting to come upon what for me is an unknown author or book. Here, it is both. There are already two excellent reviews on board so there is little to add here except to say that it is, indeed, a wonderful find. I've read a number of books concerned with London in the time up to and including WW2, but none are better than this, including the work of Patrick Hamilton for whom I have considerable admiration.Apparently, La Bern was himself something of a “face” in the seedier parts of East London, which once I knew well. This seems to me to be a marvellously disciplined novel, written with great tightness and richly evocative of the world of wide-boys, thieves and prostitutes as well as those who lived more sober lives. There was, of course, a large Jewish community and these people and others are brought marvellously to life via La Bern’s wonderful knowledge of and ear for dialogue. In addition to all this the book has a gripping plot, involving an escapee from Dartmoor and his associates in this world. Thoroughly recommended.

Years ago, while writing a masters dissertation on Robert Hamer who had directed the film version, I tried to read the only copy of the book available to me at the BFI reference library. Alas I did not have the time to finish it. The publishers here have presented a lovely hardback version, with a splendid introduction, as part of a series of books of lost working class fiction. This then is a cracking piece of social realism with richly drawn characters as they move through a beatifully described pre war east end.

I first read this book when I was in my 20's, and I have just read it again in my 70's. It's still as good as I remember it to be, and even better than the film version.

A lovely book

excellent many thanks

Very pleased with this new book.

Not the sort of genre I'd usually read, but I very much enjoyed this book, and the film adaptation. Quite a page-turner, very well written, funny in parts, tragic/dramatic in others. Going by this book (I haven't read any of his other works) this author ought perhaps to be better known. He seems to have been largely forgotten now.