Places Where They Sing
Places Where They Sing is Volume VI of the novel sequence Alms for Oblivion by Simon Raven, published in 1970. It was the sixth novel to be published in The Alms for Oblivion sequence but is the seventh novel chronologically. The story takes place in Cambridge in 1967.
Characters, in the order of appearance
Ivor Winstanley – Latinist and Fellow of Lancaster College
Jacquiz Helmut – Historian and Fellow of Lancaster College. Appeared in. The Sabre Squadron.
Robert Constable – Provost of Lancaster College. Socialist and a man of high moral standing. Appeared in Fielding Gray, The Sabre Squadron, The Rich Pay Late, Friends in Low Places and The Judas Boy.
Tony Beck – Literary Critic and Young Fellow of Lancaster College. Revolutionary leanings.
Daniel Mond – Brilliant Jewish mathematician and Fellow of Lancaster College where he works quietly. Protagonist of The Sabre Squadron.
Tom Llewyllyn – Writer and historian and also Fellow of Lancaster since 1963. Appeared as a major character in The Rich Pay Late, Friends in Low Places and The Judas Boy.
Hugh Balliston – Undergraduate of Lancaster College. Dragged into revolutionary activities.
Hetta Frith – Parson's daughter who tries to keep up with the revolutionary leanings of boyfriend Hugh Ballister but who really is, as it turns out, a defender of the old.
Lord Beyfus – Peer, social scientist and Fellow of Lancaster College. Likes to be put to sleep by Mona Corrington and to comb the hair of Hetta Frith.
Balbo Blakeney – Biochemist and Fellow of Lancaster College.
Fitz-Margrave Pugh – Senior Fellow in Geography at Lancaster College. Hurt his foot during a student protest though this has nothing to do with the protest.
Andrew Ogden – Dean of Chapel at Lancaster College.
Mona Corrington – Anthropologist and Fellow of Girton College. Friend of Beyfus.
Oliver Clewes – Reverend of Lancaster College.
Elvira Constable – Patient wife of Robert Constable.
Fielding Gray – Rather successful writer and former major who for five years has lived in a small coast resort with Harriet Ongley. Old friend of Tom Llewyllyn and Daniel Mond. Major character in Fielding Gray, The Sabre Squadron, Friends in Low Places and The Judas Boy.
Harriet Ongley – Rich widow who has been taking care of Fielding Gray for five years.
Mayerston – Charismatic revolutionary of unknown descent.
Patricia Llewyllyn – Unhappy wife of Tom Llewyllyn. Cheats on him with Hugh Balliston. Appeared in Friends in Low Places and The Judas Boy.
Baby ('Tullia') Llewyllyn – Seven-year-old daughter of Tom and Patricia.
Gregory Stern – Publisher. Happily married to Isobel.
Isobel Stern – Happy wife of Gregory Stern. Sister of Patricia Llewyllyn. Appeared in Friends in Low Places and The Judas Boy.
Alfie Schroeder – Decent journalist. Writes articles about the College. Appeared earlier in The Sabre Squadron, The Rich Pay Late and Friends in Low Places.
Lord Canteloupe – Shadow minister of Commerce. Appeared in Sound The Retreat, The Sabre Squadron, Friends in Low Places and The Judas Boy.
Somerset Lloyd-James – MP and close associate of Lord Canteloupe. A major character in Fielding Gray, The Rich Pay Late, Friends in Low Places and The Judas Boy.
Plot summary
The story takes place in Lancaster College in 1967. The board discusses what to do with a surplus of money. One proposal is to create a building on a nearby meadow to be able to let in more students. Undergraduate Hugh Balliston is drawn into revolutionary activities by Fellow Tony Beck and the unknown revolutionary Mayerston, much to the dismay of his girlfriend Hetta Frith. Tom Llewyllyn, a fellow of the college since 1963, has become impotent and has an unhappy marriage with Patricia. Daniel Mond, the mathematician who was the protagonist of The Sabre Squadron (15 years earlier) is a (literally) quiet man who can only speak in whispers because of a self-inflicted injury to his throat, but who is still teaching mathematics. Among other teachers is the odd Lord Beyfus and his friend, the somewhat radical Mona Corrington.
Through Hugh, Mayerston is trying to start violent protests on the campus but most of them end up as fiascos since the Provost of the College, Robert Constable, treats them with a mixture of contempt and tolerance. Isobel advises Patricia to take a lover and she ends up in bed with Hugh who she, in a farcical scene, must shut in the wardrobe when her daughter unexpectedly comes home. Llewyllyn and Mond invite old friend Fielding Gray to the college but he is rather soon picked up by his over-protective mistress Harriet Ongley. Hetta, who has left Hugh, cries on the shoulder of lord Beyfus, who very much likes to comb her hair.
The atmosphere in the school turns to the worse and Mayerston uses more violent methods. During a ceremony in the Chapel (with several of the known characters attending) he and his followers burst into the building and try to destroy the altar and the statue of Henry VI. Tom Llewyllyn saves the statue by use of force and Hetta, fed up with the revolution, protects the altar with assistance from Lord Canteloupe and some other people. During the tumult she is, however, killed by a blow to the head. This tragedy kills also the revolutionary atmosphere of the college. Tony Beck and Mayerston disappear. Constable makes note of how the conservative side have gained a "martyr" in Hetta and find this of some use to keep things calm. Lord Canteloupe comforts the sad Lord Beyfus by giving him the address of the whore Maisie. Patricia comforts Hugh, forgiven for his revolutionary mistakes, in bed.