The Open Door

The Open Door, first published in 1989, is the third Alan Sillitoe book to feature the Seaton family. Though Arthur Seaton, of Sunday Night and Monday morning, does feature, the focus is on his brother Brian Seaton. Just as he is about to leave the RAF he finds that he has TB. This disrupts his plans to return home - his marriage was in any case in difficulty - and the novel switches between Nottingham and the RAF sanitorium. Seaton is also torn between women - having affairs with two of the nurses at the sanitorium, while becoming involved with a young woman in his home town, who also has TB. The Open Door is a wonderful period novel, set in 1949 against the background of post-war austerity. The book is introduced by Ruth Fainlight.