The Eve of Saint Venus

When he was unable to find a drama group willing to mount a production, he set it aside, and eventually released it as a novel, retaining some of the poetry that survived from the would-be libretto, including a sonnet, a hymn to (sexual) love.

[4] Burgess's play version of The Eve of Saint Venus received its premiere at the New Wolsey Theatre in December 1979 with a cast that included Ian Talbot as Ambrose, Joanna Foster as Diana, Catherine Terris as Julia, Brian Ralph as George Selway, M.P., Audrey Barr as Mrs. Selway, and Gabrielle Hamilton as Nanny.

(These are in a notebook in the archive of the Anthony Burgess Centre at the University of Angers.

[6]) A new edition of the book, which Burgess described as a "tribute to matrimony", was dedicated to the Prince and Princess of Wales, and published in 1981, the year of their marriage.

Burgess wrote in the preface to another edition, that of 1984: "I dedicate this work to all ... who, ... having achieved [marriage],... are still not disillusioned with it."