The action of the novel “For Hire” takes place in the 1950s, the plot has nothing in common with “The Middleman”, but the range of themes is still the same: relations between classes, the tragedy of an individual accepting the British system of social hierarchy, an insoluble conflict between living feeling and social conventions taken as the norm of existence. Here the theme is set even more sharply than in the previous novel, since the conflict is exposed, brought to the surface and it is based not just on class differences, but on a specific, traditional social plan for English literature: servants and masters. The motive of using a person as a tool to achieve personal goals, which was strongly heard in “The Mediator,” becomes dominant in this novel.

(looking for the preface to the book by V. Skorodenko)