The End of the Affair

The End of the Affair is a 1951 novel by British author Graham Greene, as well as the title of two feature films (released in 1955 and 1999) that were adapted from the novel. Set in London during and just after the Second World War, the novel examines the obsessions, jealousy and discernments within the relationships between three central characters: writer Maurice Bendrix; Sarah Miles; and her husband, civil servant Henry Miles. Graham Greene's own affair with Catherine Walston formed the basis for The End of the Affair. The British edition of the novel is dedicated to "C" while the American version is made out to "Catherine". Greene's own house at 14 Clapham Common Northside was bombed during the Blitz. The End of the Affair is the fourth and final of Greene's "Catholic novels" tetralogy, following Brighton Rock (1938), The Power and the Glory (1940), and The Heart of the Matter (1948). Synopsis The novel focuses on Maurice Bendrix, a rising writer during the Second World War in London, and Sarah Miles, the wife of an impotent civil servant. Bendrix is based on Greene himself, and he reflects often on the act of writing a novel. Sarah is based on Greene's lover at the time, Catherine Walston, to whom the book is dedicated.