Rushing Nowhere by Tom Chetwynd

London : Anthony Blond, 1958

Rushing Nowhere, a coming of age novel set in the early 1950s, is the story of Guy Wentworth from the time he is in a Catholic preparatory school through the beginning of his military service. He struggles to find his way, never quite satisfied with anyone he meets or anything he might decide to do. 

While in prep school, Guy befriends Fotheringay, a boy who struggles with the typical boarding school issues. After Guy is warned off of a regular interaction he has been having with one of the housemasters, he suddenly tells Fotheringay that they shouldn't hang out all of the time. There is a suggestion that these relationships might turn into something that is too close or inappropriate. Fotheringay is crushed by the hurtful way that Guy cuts things off and shortly afterward he is found drowned in a bathtub. Guy struggles from this point forward, not knowing wether the death was an accident or if their final words to one another led to the boy's death. 

This critical moment seems to have had a major affect on Guy's life. While he seeks out relationships with women and other boys (and at one point befriends an older gay man), he consistently stops short when it's clear that everyone has their own agenda. He can't find the organic closeness he had with Fotheringay with any of these people. This inability to connect with others also manifests itself in his inability to stick with any plan for a career or work. His adventures in trying to find himself traveling through Europe come to a close with his being called up by the army, a trap from which he won't be able to escape.

Bibliographies & Ratings: Cory (III); Garde (OTP, b*); Young (651)