The Good Companions The Good Companions The Good Companions is a novel by the English author J. B. Priestley. Written in 1929 (in Deal, Kent), it focuses on the trials and tribulations of a concert party in England between World War I and World War II. It is arguably Priestley's most famous novel, and the work which established him as a national figure. It won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and was adapted twice into film. The novel is written in picaresque style, and opens with the middle aged, discontented Jess Oakroyd in the fictional Yorkshire town of Bruddersford. He opts to
An Inspector Calls it or fails to accept it and still insists on unsuccessfully covering it up around the Inspector). She is around 50 years old, as mentioned in the pre-play stage directions, highlighting she belongs to the older generation. Sheila is the Birlings' elder child. She is described as a "pretty girl in her early twenties", delighted about her engagement to Gerald Croft. She starts out as a playful, self-centred girl who loves attention. She also knows of Eric Birling's heavy drinking. Throughout the play, she becomes the most sympathetic family member, showing remorse upon hearing the news of her part in