Skip to main content
Alan Morrison on his new literary project Odour of Devon Violet
ALAN MORRISON wrote Odour of Devon Violet to juxtapose the attitudes and politics of the 1930s with that of today’s Con-Dem austerity culture

In the early stages of Tory-inflicted austerity, I noticed flea markets and antique emporiums — with quaint names and decor evocative of the depression-hit 1930s — popping up in great numbers in boarded-up shop premises. 

Complementing this change of mise-en-scene was the historic local art deco building the Dubarry Perfumery by Hove station near to where I lived. 

But this retro was not confined to retail — it also pervaded the social attitudes of Tory austerity. It was presaged by an attitudinal nudge towards 1940s blitz nostalgia — that notorious “We’re all in this together.” Bakelite rhetoric as if to stiffen our collective upper lip in the wake of massive public spending cuts. 

The 95th Anniversary Appeal
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
Similar stories
A memorial to the International Brigades that took part in the Battle of Caspe on the Aragon front in March 1938. Caspe is a town in the province of Zaragoza. The memorial was designed by Maribel Loren Ros and unveiled in 2018 / Pic: Fran Ara/CC
Poetry / 17 July 2026
17 July 2026

On the 90th anniversary of the outbreak of the Spanish civil war, ALAN MORRISON selects some poems from a new anthology

21st Century Poetry / 8 July 2026
8 July 2026

by Rosie Jackson

bounds
Poetry review / 18 March 2026
18 March 2026

ALAN MORRISON recommends a consummate, heart-warming collection about a working-class upbringing in the industrial north-east

ALEXANDER FOOTE
Features / 24 September 2025
24 September 2025

TONY FOX invites readers to come and hear the story of the remarkable Liverpudlian International Brigader Alexander Foote