Patrick Hamilton may be best known now for the plays Rope and Gaslight and
for the classic Alfred Hitchcock and George Cukor movies they inspired, but
in his heyday he was no less famous for his brooding tales of London life
[...] Twenty Thousand Streets Under the Sky is a tale of obsession and
betrayal that centers on a seedy pub in a run-down part of London. Bob the
waiter skimps and saves and fantasizes about writing a novel, until he
falls for the pretty prostitute Jenny and blows it all. Kindly Ella, Bob's
co-worker, adores Bob, but is condemned to enjoy nothing more than the
attentions of the insufferable Mr. Eccles; Jenny, out on the street, is out
of love, hope, and money. We watch with pity and horror as these three
vulnerable and yet compellingly ordinary people meet and play out bitter
comedies of longing and frustration. -- Book cover.