Romance of an Ugly Policeman – Passage 1

Audio file

It happened at the back of York Mansions. Anything that ever happened, happened there, because the real life is here, at the back of these blocks of flats. At the front, you never see anything, except sometimes a young man with untidy hair, smoking a pipe; but at the back, where the cooks come out to speak to the delivery men, there is frequently activity at certain times of the day. There are often honest discussions about yesterday’s eggs and the quality of Saturday’s meat, taking place loudly between cheerful youths in the road and sarcastic young women who come out of their kitchen doors on to little balconies. In some ways, it is similar to Romeo and Juliet. This is life at the back of York Mansions – busy and dynamic.