Book excerpt: This 1975 book corrects and amplifies the record of Malcolm Lowry's early life, recording for the first time one of its crucial incidents. Lowry was an alcoholic and wanderer who turned a failed life into a success of a different order, and which has been recognised only after his death. Like Lowry, Professor Bradbrook was born in Wirral and writes of the scenes of early life with sympathetic understanding. She also knew the Cambridge of the 1930s, when Lowry read English there. Bradbrook considers the critical point of knowledge of Lowry's life, and the ways in which it is absorbed in his writings. This enquiry broadens out into a discussion of the art itself, and will serve as an excellent introduction of Lowry's life.