The Street Called Straight

"The Street Called Straight" by Basil King is a novel written during the early 20th century. It explores themes of social class, human relationships, and personal crises through the interactions of its characters, primarily focusing on Peter Davenant, who reenters a familiar social circle after years of absence and faces unresolved feelings from his past. The opening of the novel introduces Peter Davenant as he attends a dinner hosted by Olivia Guion, a woman he once proposed to. Although Olivia treats him as a stranger, Davenant's internal reflections reveal a mix of past humiliation and ongoing admiration as he navigates his feelings about her imminent marriage to Colonel Rupert Ashley. The dinner setting highlights complex relationships among the guests, shedding light on Peter's struggles with his identity and societal expectations, teasing at deeper tensions and foreshadowing the conflicts to come as Guion's ambiguous situation unfolds against the backdrop of changing social dynamics. (This is an automatically generated summary.) Illustrated by Orson Lowell. Reading ease score: 81.5 (6th grade). Easy to read. Originally issued 2004-12-20. Transcribed by Produced by Rick Niles, Karina Aleksandrova and the PG OnlineDistributed Proofreading Team. This work is in the public domain in the United States. Sourced from Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14394).