Too self-centred and fastidious to find friendship easy - 'I can never be true friends with anyone,' he once wrote. 'I even feel that people pollute my house who come into it' - by far the most serious relationship in Denton's adult life was with Eric Oliver, a handsome, black-haired hunk (a photograph shows him posing sexily on a fur rug), first encountered during the war while working as a landboy in Kent when Denton was living near Tonbridge. Strong, gentle and good-natured, Eric, despite periods of drunkenness, became the ideal protector, and Denton fell deeply in love with him, coming to depend on him completely, particularly during the last agonising months of his short existence. Eric was sitting by his bedside when he died.
James Methuen-Campbell is clearly fascinated by Denton Welch, and his somewhat artless biography is evidence of the thrill he felt in following in his hero's footsteps. Sensibly, he makes copious use of Welch's writing, even if the contrast to his own somewhat pedestrian style is unfortunate. Although diligently researched, the book is curiously patchy, lacking both discipline and finish, and anyone interested in Denton Welch would do better to read Michael De-la-Noy's superb life, first published in 1984. Where Mr Methuen-Campbell's production is superior is in the illustrations, which are excellent.
Selina Hastings' Rosamond Lehmann is published this month by Chatto, £25.
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