Dennis left England in 1974 and emigrated to Toronto, Canada. It was a good move; he started a family, and found out that his talents were no more valuable in Canada than they were in England.
Like a lot of Londoners growing up in the 50s and 60s he did many jobs and was fortunate to go off to Spain in the late sixties to look after happy holiday-makers when he didn’t speak the language nor know anything about the resort. He continued with that responsible and mature attitude in Canada and has prospered ever since.
In a way Dennis’s novel is a celebration of survival.
It’s the early, swinging 70s in London, and Ollie is riding the wave. There’s a day-job and rent to pay but that never gets in the way of the pubs and women.What does get in the way is the ever-present black dog of depression: a depression that clouds his daily life with feelings of guilt, more ...