Higgins, author of many best-selling titles, here reveals himself as the Julio Iglesias of thriller authors. This thinly disguised autobiographical novel is essentially a catalog of Higgins's remarkable number of sexual conquests in postwar England (were women then really this willing?). The author has been excused flimsy characterization in the past because his plots are so exciting, but here his weakness is glaringly obvious. However, this short memoir cum novel will be sought by the author's many fans to fulfill their curiosity. The casual browser will pass it over as yet another sophomoric reminiscence, barely above locker room conversation.

Memoirs of a Dance Hall Romeo - Jack Higgins ****

If I had to be stranded on an island with only one author's books, Jack Higgins would be my number one choice. Ok, he may not be any kind of literary genius but I just love the way he writes. I became captivated from the time I first came across 'The Eagle has Landed' and have never looked back.

Higgins is primarily known as a thriller writer and this true for the majority of the 60+ novels he has written. However, there have been two exceptions this by way of [A Phoenix in the Blood] and Memoirs of a Dance Hall Romeo. Both see Higgins taken out of his comfort zone of blood, bombs and guts, Phoenix is a tender love story while Memoirs is a semi autobiographical account of his younger days. Before becoming a best selling author Higgins was both in the army and school teacher, much of this is reflected in the main character of Oliver Shaw.

The beginning of the book finds Shaw recently demobbed from the army and getting ready to settle back to life in post war Yorkshire. Unwilling to go back into his old job in an insurance company and having recently passed his degree he finds himself taking up a teaching post at a local school. Meanwhile he still dreams of becoming a successful writer and and any spare time he has is devoted to writing his first book, or at least any spare time when he isn't chasing women. And that is the main focus of the novel, each chapter is named after a different sexual conquest (Harriot, Wilma, Imogene etc) we follow the protagonist from his first sexual encounter to his first marriage proposal. Every scene is written with a warm humour in the background, occasionally dark but always enough to make the reader want to find out how the meeting will end. The frivolous atmosphere of the 1940's dance halls is captured perfectly and excellently contrasted with the bleakness of the schools impoverished classrooms. We meet so many quirky and colourful characters that the pages just fly by.

The book will definitely not be to every ones taste and some of the sex scenes are a little on the graphic side but for anyone with a interest in Higgins this will show a different side to his character and abilities as an author. To be honest if this was by anyone else I would never have picked it up, but as been as it was only a little over 170 pages I thought it was worth a chance, and I m glad I did. ( )

Oliver Shaw is the main character in this coming of age novel. This character, Oliver, appears to be based on Harry Patterson (Jack Higgins) himself, as they share a similar past and Oliver's path from Army to teaching to novelist roughly follows the trajectory of the path taken by the writer himself.

In terms of the actual quality of the book, it's a significant departure from the trashy thriller fiction his pen name is most associated with and is not too badly written even if filled with cliches and coarseness ("The moment I entered her, breasts or no breasts, I discharged.").

The chapters are a somewhat interesting format with each being devoted to the conquest of a lady (Ava, Gloria, Helen, Imogene, Lucy, Olive & Harriet).

At the end of the day, despite the substantial change of topic and interesting chapter format the writing of the encounters between Oliver and his ladies seemed vulgar and coarsely conveyed which didn't appeal much to this reader. ( )

### Synopsis

A novel of a young man's growth to maturity in post-war Yorkshire. Set in a Yorkshire town called Manningham in 1949, young Oliver Shaw begins a year of amorous adventure. One after another, he collects his dates from the local dance hall, as well as grimly pursuing a career as a schoolmaster.