Stanley Middleton was born in Bulwell, Nottinghamshire in 1919. He published his first novel, A Short Answer, in 1958 and went on to publish 45 novels in a career spanning fifty years. He was joint winner of the Booker Prize in 1974 with Holiday. Stanley Middleton died in July 2009.

"Stanley Middleton, once dubbed "The Chekhov of Suburbia", is to the Midlands suburb what Anne Tyler is to the Midwest picket fence" The Times "Middleton is concerned with what goes on below the surface of lives, what people feel, dream about, hope for, resent, fear - all the things that in real life may be kept hidden... Anyone coming to Middleton afresh has a real treat in store." -- Allan Massie Scotsman "We need Stanley Middleton to remind us of what the novel is about." Sunday Times "What is so extraordinary about Mr Middleton's talent is that, despite implacable domesticity, he is not trivial... Mr Middleton does not wish to change anybody's view of the world; he only wants to help the readers understand and better the view of it that they already have, and his quietness, honesty and patience do indeed lead him to success in that endeavour." -- Bernard Levin

Stanley Middleton was born in Bulwell, Nottinghamshire in 1919. He published his first novel, A Short Answer, in 1958 and went on to publish 45 novels in a career spanning fifty years. He was joint winner of the Booker Prize in 1974 with Holiday. Stanley Middleton died in July 2009.

"Stanley Middleton, once dubbed "The Chekhov of Suburbia", is to the Midlands suburb what Anne Tyler is to the Midwest picket fence" The Times "Middleton is concerned with what goes on below the surface of lives, what people feel, dream about, hope for, resent, fear - all the things that in real life may be kept hidden... Anyone coming to Middleton afresh has a real treat in store." -- Allan Massie Scotsman "We need Stanley Middleton to remind us of what the novel is about." Sunday Times "What is so extraordinary about Mr Middleton's talent is that, despite implacable domesticity, he is not trivial... Mr Middleton does not wish to change anybody's view of the world; he only wants to help the readers understand and better the view of it that they already have, and his quietness, honesty and patience do indeed lead him to success in that endeavour." -- Bernard Levin