The Harness Room is a 1971 novel by the British writer L.P. Hartley.[1] A retired colonel about to remarry decides that his seventeen-year-old son needs toughening up and while away on his honeymoon has his chauffeur, an ex-guardsman to instruct him in boxing and other sports in the harness room. The two men come to develop a bond.

The Harness Room
First edition
AuthorL.P. Hartley
LanguageEnglish
GenreDrama
PublisherHamish Hamilton
Publication date
1971
Media typePrint

Concerned about the reception of a book that was more explicitly homosexual in theme than his earlier works, Hartley insisted to his publisher that it was done "in a more discreet manner than it is in many modern novels".[2] Hartley considered that "I actually took more trouble over The Harness Room than any of my novels".[3]

References edit

  1. ^ Wright, p. 249.
  2. ^ Wright, p. 251.
  3. ^ Wright, p. 249.

Bibliography edit

  • Wright, Adrian. Foreign Country: The Life of L.P. Hartley. I. B. Tauris, 2001.