The general series of the
Miegunyah Volumes
was made possible by the
Miegunyah Fund
established by bequests
under the wills of
Sir Russell and Lady Grimwade.
‘Miegunyah’ was the home of
Mab and Russell Grimwade
from 1911 to 1955.
Miegunyah Modern Library
Titles in this series
Christina Stead, The Man Who Loved Children
Christina Stead, For Love Alone
Christina Stead, Letty Fox
Christina Stead, House of All Nations
Christina Stead, Cotter’s England (upcoming)
Praise for Christina Stead
‘Christina Stead has the scope, the imagination, the objectivity of the greatest novelists.’
David Malouf, Sydney Morning Herald
‘The most extraordinary woman novelist produced by the English-speaking race since Virginia Woolf.’
Clifton Fadiman, New Yorker
‘I could die of envy of her hard eye.’
Helen Garner, Scripsi
‘Stead is of that category of fiction writer who restores to us the entire world, in its infinite complexity and inexorable bitterness.’
Angela Carter, London Review of Books
Introduction
Alan Kohler
The title says it all really: House of All Nations was a high-class Paris brothel as well as being the fictional Banque Mercure, aka ‘Bertillon Freres’, of Christina Stead’s fourth novel. She was a Marxist, writing about capitalism and the men in it—there are no women—are financial whores.
Except, that is, for the one who was her lover at the time and future husband, William J Blake. For in writing this epic novel, Stead was putting his work and his colleagues at Travelers’ Bank under a merciless spotlight. It might have been called ‘The Men Who Loved Money’, to paraphrase Stead’s great classic.
Blake’s character in the book is Michel Alphendery, assistant to the principal of the bank, Jules Bertillon, who is, in turn, based on Peter Neidecker, the managing director of Travelers’ Bank, whom both William and Christina worked for while writing novels, before it collapsed in 1935.
Blake/Alphendery is a Marxist too, which is one reason they fell for each so hard while working together at a grain merchant called Strauss & Co. Early on in House of All Nations Bertillon says to Alphendery: ‘You’re just an idealist. The people who can’t make money invent a theory that those who do are thieves. Without us there’d be no money at all. We make it: the smart people. You revolutionaries are crazy.’ But Christina loved that about him.
She did not love his boss though. Stead describes Bertillon/Neidecker as ‘a robber by instinct, sharpshooter of commerce by career, nourished by corruption, (one of his grandfathers served his time), child of his age…’
‘He had only one interpretation of history and politics, an economic one; he saw in altruism the perspicacious self-interest of cunning ambition, imagined that philanthropists are good jelly souls who can’t bear to be afflicted by the sight of the misery of men.
‘He admired the successful and was cheered up by all success of any kind in any sphere of activity, gangsterism, revolution, politics, roguery, or even the arts, because art, he said, was a way to get oneself fed by the rest of mankind without working, or with little work, by reason of an inborn capacity.’
Phew. This book is basically about that man and his behaviour, plus a much more appealing capitalist, Henri Leon, who is based on Christina and William’s earlier, beloved boss at Strauss & Co. He was Alfred Hurst, born Avrom Hersovici in Romania. Stead used to call him the ‘Grand Jew’ and lovingly referred to him in her letters to William as ‘Alfish’.
House of All Nations was published in 1938, preceding The Man Who Loved Children by two years (Stead was a ferocious worker, engaging in what she called writing ‘blitzes’ of thousands of words a day), and she wrote it in Spain during the final years of the Great Depression.
The fascinating and impressive thing about it is that the story is entirely recognisable today.
Bankers are obviously the same throughout history, everywhere in the world, because we could be reading about Lehman Brothers in New York City rather than Bertillon Freres in Paris and the characters could have been working on a US mortgage scheme rather than the Wheat Scheme devised by Henri Leon.
Today’s Wall Street and London bankers, or at least those of the decade up to 2008, are the same amoral, womanising robbers as those populating Stead’s remarkable novel. Today’s ones are sadder and wiser robbers, having been reminded of the fallibility of markets by the credit crisis and Great Recession of 2008, but what Stead reminds us is that through it all, they don’t really change.
We learn from her that financial winters like the one we’ve been experiencing for five years, and the one in which House of All Nations is set, are mere intermissions in life’s rich drama for bankers and most of the time just deliver a whole new set of opportunities to profit. Through Stead, we watch them at play as well as at work; we eavesdrop on their conversations in sometimes mind-numbing detail.
The book is set in 1931-32, when Wall Street was at its nadir, against the background of Hitler’s rise in Germany, Roosevelt’s ascent in the United States and the demise of the Macdonald Government in Britain. Austria’s largest bank, Creditanstalt, had collapsed, throwing the European financial world into a state of panic, Germany was in Depression and in September of 1931, England suddenly went off the gold standard.
In the book, Jules Bertillon manages to keep Banque Mercure going until the end of 1932, when it collapses; in real life Peter Neidecker’s Travelers’ Bank lasts until 1935 before going under.
There are no real heroes and villains in this book, or in Stead’s real life with bankers. Although she paints an affectionate portrait of Hurst as Leon in House of All Nations, she also described Hurst as a ‘mean bastard’ who underpaid Bill Blake and who, in the book, gave Michel Alphendery ‘as low a salary as possible’.
As for Neidecker, Stead paints him (as Bertillon) as a charming rogue. Stead’s biographer Hazel Rowley writes that she and Blake admired Neidecker for his bursts of generosity, his boyish enthusiasm and inventive mind, yet morally and politically he stood for everything that Stead despised. As the final words of the novel put it: ‘he was ‘the chamer who deceived.’ But as she wrote to Blake in a letter: ‘to me he (Neidecker) is quite fascinating.’
In fact throughout her life, says Rowley, Stead would be haunted and obsessed by people who attracted and angered her at the same time, and these were the people on whom she based her main characters.
In the end House of All Nations was a terrible disappointment to Stead. She had been ‘quite sure’ it would sell 10,000 copies and would pay for a trip to Sydney for her and Blake, but Simon & Schuster refused to print more than 3000 copies. Later the Australian critic HM Green described it as ‘neither a popular nor artistic success’, which must have also been a bitter pill to swallow.
But re-reading it today, the book stands up as an astonishing achievement, a sort of financial War and Peace. Like all great novels, the characters are timeless and confirm, once again, that those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
List of Characters
AchitophelousGreek merchant
Achitophelous, Mme.His wife
Achitophelous, HenriettaHis daughter
Alphendéry, MichelBank economist
Alphendéry, EstelleHis wife
AnnaA
servant
Ashnikidzé, Mme. VeraA prostitute
Beaubien, MaîtreFashionable lawyer
Benezech, Inès de, ComtesseCarrière’s mother
de Marengo
Berthellot, ‘Old’ Jean-BaptisteChief accountant
Bertillon, JulesBanker
Bertillon, WilliamHis brother
Bertillon, Paul and FrancisTwin brothers of Jules
Bertillon, Claire-JosèpheJules’s wife
Bomba, TheodorJules’s toady
Brookings-Plessis, LordTout and sandwich-snatcher
Brossier, ArmandGold clerk
Brouwer, CornelisBrussels manager
BettyAlphendéry’s cousin, professional family cadger
Cambo, DanielEnterprising merchant
Campoverde, Prince JuliusClient
CancreArtist
Carrière, Dr. JacquesAntagonist of Jules
Caudal, Dacre-DerekLondon employee
Claude, EstèpheBankrupt banker
Constant, AdamTeller, poet
Constant, SuzanneHis wife
Cousse, Comtesse Rosy dePackingtown countess
Cristopoulos, MnemonCustomers’ man
Dalbi, Mlle. LucilleTypist
DameExamining magistrate
DannevigBertillon’s Oslo correspondent
Dararat, FernandCustomers’ man
Deville-de-RéJules’s secret go-between
Devlin-SmitheOfficial at Washington
Delisle-Delbe, PrincesseClient
Duc-AdamHusband of Toots Legris
Durban, FrankPlowman’s friend
Dvorjine, IgnaceCashier
Eloth, Mme. MimiSweetheart of Achitophelous
EmpainHamburg grain dealer
Eyk, Mr. vanDutch gold broker
EtienneDoorkeeper
Ferrure, Mme. deSociety figure
FetterlingRaccamond’s man in Amsterdam
Flower, RogerBlue Coast playboy
Frère, JeanCommunist writer
Frère, JudithJean’s wife
Friesz, MaîtreAmsterdam lawyer
Faniul, Caro deCarrière’s catamite
Gairdner, AbernethyClient
GarriguesSculptor
Gentil, Mlle. AnnetteAccountant
Guinédor, HenriLéon’s familiar
Guipatin, Comte Jean deCustomers’ man
Guildenstern, FranzWheat commission agent
Haller, Georg and JulieClients, rentiers
Huesca, Xesús Maria deClient
JeanChauffeur
KézébecBreton poet, client
Koffer, BaronClient
Kratz, JuliusLéon’s candleholder
Klotz, EtienneImaginary employee invented by Jules
Lalmant, ArmandComtesse de Voigrand’s librarian
Lallant, MaîtreTalented shyster
Ledger, JamesLondon solicitor
Légaré, PhilippeNeurotic
Legris, François and AnthonyAmsterdam brokers
Legris, TootsHeiress
Lemaître, MaîtreJurist
Léon, HenriGrain merchant
Lorée, Professor CharlesPhysicist
Luc, Maître AndréFashionable lawyer
Lucé, Comte HervéClient
MacMahon, ArturitoArgentine client
Manray, JacquesClerk
MarcuzoBanker
Martin, HenriCashier
Méline, PaulLéon’s friend
McCahey, EddieTout for pools
MontdentBelgian richissime
MouradzianCustomers’ man
MunychionGreek philanderer
Nanti, MaîtreLegris’ lawyer
NewchurchLondon accountant
Olympe, MaîtreAddled lawyer
Olonsky, MaîtreRaccamond’s family lawyer
Paëz, Mlle. ArmelleBank glamour girl
PaleologosMouradzian’s best account
Parouart, HenriNeedy swindler
Partiefine, Marquis deThe marrying Casanova
Pentous, StevieJules’s crony
Pharion, FredAn actor
PossetRaccamond’s man in Brussels
Plowman, RichardRetired banker
Quiero, Mme.Society medium
Raccamond, AristideCustomers’ man
Raccamond, MarianneHis wife
Raoul and LucienLegitimate and adopted sons of Raccamond
Ras BerriFashionable medium
Rhys of RotterdamGrain dealer
Rodolphe, MaîtreThe Wades’ lawyer
Rosenkrantz, FranzWheat commission agent
Schicklgrüber, DavigdorZinovraud’s stalking-horse
Silva-Vizcaïno, Pedro deChilean client
Sluys-Forêt, Mme. deClient
SmithRaccamond’s man in London
SournoisCarrière’s friend, a deputy
Stewart, E. RalphLondon broker
Sweet, ThomasCustomers’ man for Stewart
Tanker, John, Sr.Client
ThargelionGreek gentleman
Thew, ManroseLondon employee
TlquiPedro’s dog
Treviranus, PaulBroker
Tony and AlineFriends of Claire-Josèphe
Vallat, FrançoisClients’ groom
Vanderallee, MaîtreLegris’ lawyer
Voulou, UrbainCustomers’ man
Voigrand, Comtesse deRichissime
Wade, André and LucienneCrooked clients
WatersWashington official
Weyman, Mrs. MargaretLéon’s passion
Witkraan, JanAmsterdam manager
Zinovraud, LordEnglish magnate
Zurbaran, ZuccheroArgentine
List of Firms
Banque du Littoral du NordBank friendly to Bertillon
Bertillon Freres, The scene of the story
the Banque Mercure
Claude & Cie.Private bank now bankrupt
Cleat, Placket & Co.American competitors of Bertillon
CréditFrench competitor of Bertillon
Czorvocky BankPrivate Paris bank run by Marcuzo, relative of the Raccamonds
Five Brothers SimlaBertillon holding company
(Luxemburg) Corporation
Ganz & GenugLondon brokers employing Schicklgrüber
Green RayDetective Agency
Interland Finance CorporationMéline’s financing trust
International QuaysideLéon’s Swiss correspondents
Corporation
Kirkonhill TrustMéline’s financing trust
Kaimaster-Blés, S.A.Firm of Rosenkrantz and Guildenstern
Lapage, A. & Cie.Decorators suing Bertillon
Leadenhall Securities GuaranteeBertillon English company
Corporation, Ltd.
Ledger, Ledger & BravesLondon solicitors of Bertillon
Legris & Co.Amsterdam correspondents of Bertillon
Léon & Guinédor, S.A.Léon’s former business
Magen (France), Ltd.English-derived firm favorable to Bertillon
Mulloney & MoonsteynBrokers participating in pools
Peney & Denari, S.A.Champs-Elysées brokers competing with Bertillon
Strindl & Co.Léon’s London grain associates
Sedeba, Roda, JonesLondon brokers
Stewart, Murthen & Co.Bertillon’s London brokers
House of All Nations
Scene One: He Travels Fast But Not Alone
They were in the Hotel Lotti in the Rue de Castiglione, but not in Léon’s usual suite. Léon’s medicine case in yellow pigskin lay open, showing its cry
stal flasks, on a Louis XV chair. The Raccamonds, man and wife, bent over this case and poked at it.
‘He always travels with it: cowardice of the lion before a common cold, eh?’ Aristide reflected.
Marianne sniffed. ‘He’s afraid to lose his money, that’s all.’
The white door opened a few inches and an immense head, with long black hair carefully brushed over a God’s acre of baldness, appeared in the crack. Clear brown eyes sunk in large sockets searched them, forgave them. ‘Hello, Aristide! Just having a bath,’ said the head. ‘Wait a few minutes, will you? Sit down, Marianne. Ring if you want anything. Excuse me.’ The door shut. In a moment, it reopened. ‘Excuse me. How are you, Marianne? Do you want some tea, some—a cockta’, sherry? Ring, on the telephone. I’ll be with you in a minute.’
The door shut. Water was running behind several doors. Marianne fingered the curtains. ‘Why did they give him a suite at the back this time?’
‘Perhaps they’re full up?’
‘So early in spring? No. He must be economizing.’ They waited. The water stopped running and they heard distant splashing. Persuasively came the edged voice of a woman. Marianne pricked her ears and looked at Aristide. ‘Then Mme. Léon is here?’
‘No: one of his women, it must be.’
Léon’s traveling library was on the table: three dictionaries; Cook’s handbook; Winter Sunshine; the Revue de Transylvanie, and Polish Up Your French.
‘She must be taking a bath, too.’
Aristide shook his head vigorously. ‘Léon never lets his women use his bed or his bath: modesty.’
Beside his bed was a faded breast-pocket photograph of a solid woman in ostrich plumes and kid gloves—his mother.
Marianne laughed. ‘Fear.’
In a moment more the door opened and Léon appeared, fully dressed and very fresh. Behind him was a dazzling young woman, a Ukraine blonde, with a long plump face, a complexion of radishes in cream, hair in page curls. Her eyes, large as imperial amethysts, roved in an indolent stare of proud imbecility. For a full minute after the sudden splendor of her entrance, Aristide Raccamond found himself bathed in her glare. In the exalted fashion of Paris whores, she singled out and courted the husband in the presence of the wife. Henri Léon waited for her a moment and then hurriedly introduced her: ‘My friends, Mr. and Mme. Raccamond, old friends, good friends: Mme. Vera Ashnikidzé, an old friend of mine.’