Sunny Ducrow is a 1919 novel by English author Henry St. John Cooper. It follows Elizabeth Ann "Sunny" Ducrow, a pleasant, clever, and driven teenager from the London slums who left her backbreaking factory job to become a stage performer, and later, a successful business owner.

Main characters

  • Elizabeth Ann "Sunny" Ducrow: A semi-literate orphan, Sunny was working in a pickle factory at age 16 when a chance encounter with Leslie Montressor led her to become an actress. Sunny's confidence and ambition propelled her upward; her kind and loyal nature won her many friends and connections. She confronted every obstacle with a smile. After her career at the first theatre company ended, she managed to land a job at the Realm, the biggest theatre group in England. After she became one of the biggest stage stars, she even delved into the business world: she invested in her former pickle company and built cottages for the workers.
  • Albert "Bert" Jackson: Sunny's best buddy from the slums. A dejected and awkward fellow, he was always supported by Sunny. He later achieved success as a playwright and married Evy.
  • Mrs. Melkin: Sunny's aunt and only relative. A grumpy and sentimental widow, she later married Porkey.
  • Stanley Alwyn, Viscount Dobrington: Sunny's first love. Despite his aristocratic status he fell for Sunny, but his fickleness and distrust in her ended their relationship.
  • Evelyn "Evy" Clifforde: Another actress at the Realm. Once Sunny's rival, she became Sunny's best friend and flatmate. She later married Bert.
  • Arthur Curtiss: Mr. Barstowe's secretary. He fell in love with Sunny and they got together by the novel's end.
  • Mr. Barstowe: Owner of the Realm and the "King of the Music Hall World". He also farmed on his days "off".
  • Lady Blessendale: Countess and Stanley's overprotective mother.
  • Max Hemmingway: Theatre manager.
  • Felix Rostheimer: Hemmingway's depraved German financer.
  • Leslie Montressor: Star performer under Hemmingway who discovered Sunny. She later left for America.
  • Mr. Johnson: Owner of the pickle factory.
  • Edward "Porkey" Porkberry: Gatekeeper at the Realm. He later married Mrs. Melkin.

Reception

Mary Cadogan considered it an "attractive account."[1] G. I. Colbron of Publishers Weekly praised the writing as "sincere and simple in style". The New York Times wrote: "In Sunny Ducrow Henry St. John barely escapes unwittingly surpassing the 'novels' that first established Stephen Leacock's reputation."[2]

Adaptation

In 1926, the novel was made into a Hollywood film, Sunny Side Up, starring Vera Reynolds as Sunny Ducrow.[3]

References

  1. ↑ Cadogan, Mary (1982). "Mabel St. John". In Vinson, James (ed.). Twentieth-Century Romance and Gothic Writers. Macmillan Publishers. p. 612. ISBN 978-1-349-06129-7.
  2. ↑ Reely, Mary Katharine; Rich, Pauline H., eds. (1921). The Book Review Digest, Sixteenth Annual Cumulation (Reviews of 1920 books). H. W. Wilson Company. p. 119.
  3. ↑ "Sunny Side Up (1926)". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 23 March 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2020.


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