Sunny Ducrow Explained

Sunny Ducrow is a 1919 novel by English author Henry St. John Cooper. It follows Elizabeth Ann "Sunny" Ducrow, a pleasant, clever, and driven teenager from the London slums who left her backbreaking factory job to become a stage performer, and later, a successful business owner.

Main characters

• Elizabeth Ann "Sunny" Ducrow: A semi-literate orphan, Sunny was working in a pickle factory at age 16 when a chance encounter with Leslie Montressor led her to become an actress. Sunny's confidence and ambition propelled her upward; her kind and loyal nature won her many friends and connections. She confronted every obstacle with a smile. After her career at the first theatre company ended, she managed to land a job at the Realm, the biggest theatre group in England. After she became one of the biggest stage stars, she even delved into the business world: she invested in her former pickle company and built cottages for the workers.
• Albert "Bert" Jackson: Sunny's best buddy from the slums. A dejected and awkward fellow, he was always supported by Sunny. He later achieved success as a playwright and married Evy.
• Mrs. Melkin: Sunny's aunt and only relative. A grumpy and sentimental widow, she later married Porkey.
• Stanley Alwyn, Viscount Dobrington: Sunny's first love. Despite his aristocratic status he fell for Sunny, but his fickleness and distrust in her ended their relationship.
• Evelyn "Evy" Clifforde: Another actress at the Realm. Once Sunny's rival, she became Sunny's best friend and flatmate. She later married Bert.
• Arthur Curtiss: Mr. Barstowe's secretary. He fell in love with Sunny and they got together by the novel's end.
• Mr. Barstowe: Owner of the Realm and the "King of the Music Hall World". He also farmed on his days "off".
• Lady Blessendale: Countess and Stanley's overprotective mother.
• Max Hemmingway: Theatre manager.
• Felix Rostheimer: Hemmingway's depraved German financer.
• Leslie Montressor: Star performer under Hemmingway who discovered Sunny. She later left for America.
• Mr. Johnson: Owner of the pickle factory.
• Edward "Porkey" Porkberry: Gatekeeper at the Realm. He later married Mrs. Melkin.

Reception

Mary Cadogan considered it an "attractive account."^[1] G. I. Colbron of Publishers Weekly praised the writing as "sincere and simple in style". The New York Times wrote: "In Sunny Ducrow Henry St. John barely escapes unwittingly surpassing the 'novels' that first established Stephen Leacock's reputation."^[2]

Adaptation

In 1926, the novel was made into a Hollywood film, Sunny Side Up, starring Vera Reynolds as Sunny Ducrow.^[3]

External links

• Sunny Ducrow (full text)

Notes and References

1. Book: Cadogan, Mary. Twentieth-Century Romance and Gothic Writers. Mabel St. John. Mary Cadogan. 1982. Macmillan Publishers. 978-1-349-06129-7. Vinson. James. 612.
2. Book: The Book Review Digest, Sixteenth Annual Cumulation (Reviews of 1920 books). Reely. Mary Katharine. Rich. Pauline H.. 119. 1921. H. W. Wilson Company.
3. Web site: Sunny Side Up (1926). https://web.archive.org/web/20190323180355/https://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b755fd3. dead. 23 March 2019. British Film Institute. 30 July 2020.