Introduction
Denton Welch s first ambition， conceived while at school at Repton and
consolidated as a student at the Goldsmith School of Art， was to be a
painter. He never lost this ambition - indeed， he more than adequately
fulfilled it， developing into an artist of extraordinary imaginative power
and technical skill - but in 1935. when he was twenty， the course of his
life was changed in such a way that he discovered another talent， one
which turned out to be even more potent. As he was cycling one day
;\" . from his lodgings in Greenwicl~ to visit an aunt and uncle in Leigh， near
Reigate， he was run over by a car. He sustained appalling injuries from
~; which， thirteen years later， he was to die.
， His instinctive response to the accident， and the way in which he
. -~ managed to face up to his blighted youth and extremely uncertain future，
~(4. ~ was to turn inwards on himself and to live， in his imagination， almost
~2 entirely in the past. In doing so - in refining and recording his memories
~: L - he discovered his genius as a writer. Had it not been for the accident
~2~z~. and his subsequent confinement often for weeks at a time， to the daustro-
~\" : phobic atmosphere of the sick-room， it is unlikely that he would ever have
!;~: written a word. Like the accident itself， this would have been a tragedy
: \" for. as Edith Sitwen so precisely noted， he was a born writer. Instead of
~:~ remaining in the ranks of the many thousands of potentially creative
people who never discover their gifts， Denton Welch， through the mis-
fortune of a terrible disaster， was presented with the very conditions
under which his hitherto untapped talents could develop.
In 1940， when he was twenty-five， he began work on his first book.
Entitled Maiden Voyage， it was partly about his schooldays at Repton and
partly about an extended holiday spent in China when he was sixteen，
Like everything he was to write， it was based exclusively on actual events
and real people. The first edition， published in 1943， was an instant
success. During the five remaining years of his life， as he became pro-
gressively more ill he went on to write another two autobiographical
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