Title: The Thirty-First of June: A Tale of Love, Enterprise and Progress, in the Arthurian and Ad-Atomic Ages
Author: J. B. Priestley
Genre: Fiction, Comedy, Fantasy
About the Book...
Princess Melicent of Peradore has fallen in love with Sam who she has only ever seen in a magic mirror borrowed from an enchanter currently staying at the palace. The problem is that Sam isn't in real life, but in some other strange realm. Sam in his own real life works for an advertising agency working on an account for Damosel Stockings with the latest ad being inspired not by a model, but by a girl in medieval costume that appeared to him in a small illuminated frame when he thought about her. When Melicent sends the count dwarf to find him things begin to get a bit odd for Sam and his contemporaries and with two competing enchanters, a wicked lady's maid, and few futuristic business men soon involved, Sam and Melicent are about to have a very interesting 31st of June.
What I Think...
I've had this book for awhile and having recently watched the 2017 BBC adaption of Priestley's An Inspector Calls, I thought it time to give it a try since it tied together some of my favorite elements: fairy tales, the Atomic Age, and time travel.
Overall, this is a very silly book. It's fast-paced, but also broken down in a way that allows for reading it in short spurts since the story isn't overly complicated. It hops along from one situation to the next with seemingly random solutions and dialog that can't help but make you laugh, and with characters that often act more like children, get caught up in trivial matters, and frequently end up going off on tangents that add to the ridiculousness of everything going on around them. Most of the time, the characters take what is happening for granted which makes everything from being tossed in the deepest dungeon (and being offered a parcel of meat on the sly by the guards) to suddenly having to identify how to approach attacking specific types of dragons (there's a manual for that) to arguing over magical domestic arrangements (porridge for lunch whether you want it or not) even more amusing.
As an added note, the story is dotted throughout with charming sketches like those seen on the cover!
To Sum It All Up...
A zany little story that will bring a smile to anyone who enjoys fairy tales in an Arthurian setting, magic, and advertising men.
