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Home > Farewell, My Lovely


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framed Robert Mitchum and Charlotte Rampling on the cover of the 1975 Penguin film tie-in edition

Farewell, My Lovely is a 1940 novel by Raymond Chandler, the second novel he wrote featuring Los Angeles private eye Philip Marlowe. __NOTOC__

1 A brief outline of the plot

Spoiler warning: Plot or ending details follow.

A chance encounter with simpleton and ex-con Moose Malloy in a sleazy part of Los Angeles that is "not yet all negro" gets Marlowe into all kinds of trouble. Malloy is looking for his girlfriend, red-haired Velma, whom he last saw eight years ago. The bar where she used to work is now an African American establishment, and the new owners have no idea where she has gone. Marlowe, who has been a witness to Malloy inadvertently killing the bouncer, decides to look for Velma.

As his business is slow, he is happy when a client hires him to hand over an $8,000 ransom for a rare jade necklace. However, at the meeting point—a lonely country road in the middle of the night—his client, Lindsay Marriott, is killed and Marlowe is knocked out. When it turns out later that the owner of the necklace is a Mrs Grayle, Marlowe, on visiting her, is enchanted by her femme fatale appearance. A "blonde to make a bishop kick a hole in a stained-glass window", she is married to an elderly millionaire who owned a Beverly HillsFor other uses, see: Beverly Hills (disambiguation). Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, U. which is bordered on the north by the foothills of the Santa Monica Mountains, on the east by the City of West Hollywood and the Fai radio station for which Velma used to sing.

Through Marlowe's investigation it finally becomes clear that Velma and Mrs Grayle are the same person. After having realized her American dreamThe American dream is the concept widely held in the United States of America, that through hard work, courage and determination one can achieve prosperity (often associated with the Protestant work ethic). These were the values of the original pioneers w she was anxious to cover all her tracks but, having been found out by Lindsay Marriott, killed her blackmailBlackmail is threatening to reveal substantially true information about a person to the public, a family member, or associates unless a monetary demand is met. This information is usually of an embarrassing or damaging nature. As the information is substaer. When she comes face to face with Moose Malloy she kills him, too. Eventually she commits suicideSuicide (from Latin sui caedere to kill oneself) is the act of ending one's own life. It is considered a sin in many religions, and a crime in some jurisdictions. On the other hand, some cultures have viewed it as an honorable way to exit certain shameful.

The novel is also notable for the variety of settings described. They are as diverse as the above-mentioned coloured joint, the Grayles' mansion, a private sanatoriummedical facility for long-term illness typically cholera or tuberculosis: a medical facility where people affected by long-term illnesses may receive treatment and those recovering from severe illnesses can recuperate. health resort, typically in Alpine o, and a gambling ship off the Los Angeles coast. (Cf. History of Santa Monica in the 1930sThe History of Santa Monica, California USA, covers the significant events and movements in Santa Monica's past. While intertwined with the history of its larger neighbor, Los Angeles, Santa Monica has led an independent existence in modern times. Pre-his.)



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