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Piccadilly Circus

(2 customer reviews)

by James Allen Mitchell

When a group of former British colonialists retire to a sleepy Portuguese village, all hell breaks loose. They take over ‘Millionaire Hill’ and unleash the loose morals and naughty behavior which would have earned them nothing but scorn back home.

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Meet The Author

"Mr. Mitchell began his career in his twenties teaching creative writing, before resigning to travel to Europe to “write the next great American novel.” After a year abroad, he ran out of money and returned to the States with a one-hundred page draft he would complete years later. In the meantime, he launched a career as an executive speechwriter and wrote for executives at four different corporations, the last being IBM. At IBM, Mr. Mitchell served as an executive speechwriter and magazine publisher, before becoming a corporate communications executive. As an executive, he worked on assignment in Paris for more than three years. Not until he retired from IBM did he rewrite Piccadilly Circus, the novel he began in Portugal almost 40 years earlier. Since retiring from IBM, he has also written two other novels: a literary romance that takes place in Manhattan and Paris and is based loosely on his own experience as a publisher; and a third novel based on his childhood in Oklahoma and his teenage years in California. Mr. Mitchell and his wife live in Connecticut where they raised two sons and now enjoy the company of a grandson. Piccadilly Circus by James Allen Mitchell "

When a group of former British colonialists retire to a sleepy Portuguese village, all hell breaks loose. They take over ‘Millionaire Hill’ and unleash the loose morals and naughty behavior which would have earned them nothing but scorn back home. As transplanted expatriates living like kings and queens in an impoverished country, they feel perfectly entitled to drink away their days and lust away their nights, always pining away for the good old days of their youth, when the British Empire was still a power. The outbreak of the Falklands War revives their patriotism and self-respect briefly but, in the end, the war becomes a powerful metaphor for the decadent, less relevant empire that they have created. With nothing but money and time on their hands, they entertain themselves in one debauchery after another. Trouble finds them around every corner; misadventure becomes their only companion. Only one honorable Englishman manages to stand head and shoulders above the moral chaos all around him. Copper Jack is a voice of reason among the irrational. He is a throwback character to a better time and place. Copper’s tempestuous marriage to Tookie Jack is his only tragic flaw and it brings him to the brink of self-destruction along with his fellow countrymen. In the end, Piccadilly Circus is first and foremost a literary love story, but the novel is also a powerful reminder of life’s lessons and that love alone is not always enough.

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2 reviews for Piccadilly Circus

  1. James Wilson (Colorado Springs, CO USA)

    Great read!

    Elegant yet not long-winded with rich, flawed characters that you would hate if they all weren’t so damn human. Highly recommended.

  2. Theodora

    great storytelling!

    Great story of British ex-pats trying to make sense of their lives after WWII in the Algarve, Portugal. The colorful characters dared to speak the truth to one another despite the potential consequences. Some events definitely took me by surprise. Looking forward to author’s next novel!

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