Raven, Simon Arthur Noel

▪ 2002

      British writer (b. Dec. 28, 1927, Leicester, Leicestershire, Eng.—d. May 12, 2001, London, Eng.), was a prolific author whose sardonic wit was showcased in the 10-novel sequence Alms for Oblivion. Raven's education in the classics influenced his moral outlook, and as a satirist he was often compared to Evelyn Waugh. He attended Charterhouse in Godalming, Surrey, but was expelled in 1945 for homosexual activity. Raven then joined the National Service and was stationed in India. In 1948 he won a scholarship to King's College, Cambridge, but he left in 1952 without finishing his work. He joined the army and served in Africa before resigning in 1956 to avoid a court-martial for gambling debts. Raven wrote essays and reviews for periodicals, including The Spectator, and his first published novel, The Feathers of Death, on homosexuality in the army, appeared in 1959. In 1961 Raven's publisher subsidized his move to Deal, Kent, to help him avoid the temptations of London, and he lived there for more than 30 years. Alms for Oblivion, a portrait of the upper classes from the end of World War II to the mid-1970s, began appearing in 1964. The novels were romans à clef, with the central character, Fielding Gray, loosely modeled on the author and other characters on classmates and friends, some of whom became prominent in British public life. A seven-volume sequel, The First-Born of Egypt (1984–92), portrayed the next generation but was less successful. Raven had both artistic and financial success with his adaptations for television, including Aldous Huxley's Point Counter Point (1968), Anthony Trollope's The Way We Live Now (1969) and The Pallisers (1974), and Edward and Mrs. Simpson (1978), based on Frances Donaldson's Edward VIII. Among his nonfiction was the collection of essays The English Gentleman (1961) and the memoir Shadows on the Grass (1982). Raven was a cricketer and an accomplished writer on the sport.

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