Works of and on Laura Del-Rivo

An inexhaustive list, which I shall continue to improve, of works by and about Laura Del-Rivo. Last updated 31 October 2025.

Novels

The Furnished Room. 1st ed. London: Hutchinson, 1961. 2nd ed. Nottingham: Five Leaves Publications, 2011. — Reviews: Isabel Quigly, Guardian (18 August 1961); Olivia Manning, Spectator (18 August 1961); Vernon Fane, Sphere (2 September 1961); E. D. O’Brien, Illustrated London News (16 September 1961); R. G. G. Price, Punch (20 September 1961); Martin Levin, New York Times (8 July 1962).

Daffodil on the Pavement. 1st ed. London: Hutchinson, 1967. 2nd ed. [as Animals] London: Pan, 1970. — Reviews: Stephen Wall, Observer (23 April 1967); David Rees, Spectator (28 April 1967); Robert Nye, Guardian (5 May 1967).

Speedy and Queen Kong. Nottingham: Pauper’s Press, 2004.

Short Stories

‘Dark Angel,’ 3:AM Magazine (31 August 2012).

‘J. Krissman in the Park,’ 3:AM Magazine (6 September 2012); repr. in Best British Short Stories 2013, ed. Nicholas Royle (Cromer: Salt, 2013), pp. 41–3.

Where Is My Mask of an Honest Man? London: Holland Park Press, 2013.

‘Birds and Words,’ Holland Park Press Magazine (3 January 2018).

Nonfiction

‘Dawn — Young — Heaven,’ in Around the Outsider: Essays Presented to Colin Wilson on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, ed. Colin Stanley (Alresford: O Books, 2011), pp. 301–4.

Miscellanea

New Statesman and Nation (8 October 1955), p. 452: Del-Rivo wins the ‘Weekend Competition.’ The prompt:

The dialogue form of advertisement, long popular with manufacturers of lime juice and night-caps, has not yet been adopted by publishing houses. Competitors are invited to submit imaginary conversations (limit 150 words), intended to stimulate the reader into buying the publisher’s latest offering.

Her winning entry:

‘I know you are fastidious about Personal Freshness, but are you always particular about…er…That Smallest Room?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Your intellect. You see, our brains are little rooms, furnished with hundreds of cells. If these cells tire, our thought becomes jaded, unoriginal.’

Tatler (11 September 1961), p. 548: A capsule profile with a portrait by Ida Kar.

Sight and Sound (Summer 1962), p. 121: Unrealized Joseph Losey-directed adaptation of The Furnished Room announced.

Penthouse (March 1963), pp. 11–4, 68–9, 71: Del-Rivo participates with Stuart Holroyd, Bill Hopkins, Alex Trocchi, Alan Sillitoe and Colin Wilson in the magazine’s inaugural ‘Symposium.’

Interviews

Lilian Pizzichini, ‘London’s Lost Bohemia and the Three Graces of Soho,’ part 1, Trebuchet (11 March 2020); part 2, Trebuchet (18 March 2020); part 3, Trebuchet (25 March 2020).