James Bond Literary Wikia
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James Bond Literary Wikia
"Quantum of Solace"
QoS Pg II
Author: Ian Fleming
Publication date: May 1959
Published in: Cosmopolitan
Alternate title:
Collected in: For Your Eyes Only
Publication order
Previous: Next:
"Goldfinger" "The Hildebrand Rarity"

"Quantum of Solace" is a short story written by Ian Fleming featuring his fictional secret agent James Bond, first published in 1959. It was included in the 1960 short story collection For Your Eyes Only.

"Quantum of Solace" was first published in Cosmopolitan in May 1959 with illustrations by Bob Peak.[1]

Plot[]

After completing a mission in the Bahamas, Bond is in Nassau and attends a dinner party at Government House. When the other guests have left, Bond remarks that, if he ever marries, he imagines it would be nice to marry an air hostess. The Governor then tells Bond the story of a relationship between a former civil servant Philip Masters and flight attendant/air hostess Rhoda Llewellyn. After meeting aboard a flight to London, the couple married and went to live in Bermuda; but, after a time, Rhoda began a long open affair with the eldest son of a rich Bermudian family. As a result, Masters' work deteriorated, and he suffered a nervous breakdown. After recovering, he was given a break from Bermuda by the Governor and sent on an assignment to Washington. Upon his return, Masters was determined to end his marriage; and he divided their home into two sections, half to each of them and refused to have anything to do with his wife in private—although they continued to appear as a couple in public. He eventually returned to the UK alone, leaving Rhoda with unpaid debts and stranded in Bermuda—a cruel act which he would have been incapable of carrying out just a few months earlier. The Governor explains his point to Bond: when the "Quantum of Solace" drops to zero, humanity and consideration of one human for another is gone and the relationship is finished. Despite the success of Masters' plan to take revenge on his unfaithful wife, he never recovered emotionally. After a time, Rhoda married a rich Canadian. The Governor then reveals that the dinner companions whom Bond found dull were in fact Rhoda and her rich Canadian husband.

Background[]

"Quantum of Solace" was based on a story told to Fleming by his neighbour and lover Blanche Blackwell about a real-life police inspector, who Fleming turned into the civil servant, Philip Masters. As thanks for the story, Fleming bought Blackwell a Cartier watch.[2] Fleming wrote the story in the style of W Somerset Maugham [3] and this was Fleming's homage to a writer he greatly admired.[2] The story takes its structure - an agent's private conversation with a high-ranking diplomat about socially unequal romance - from Maugham's short story "His Excellency".[2]

Notes[]

References[]

  • Fleming, Ian (1959). Quantum of Solace. New York City, New York: Cosmopolitan. 
  • Chancellor, Henry (2005). James Bond: The Man and His World. London: John Murray. ISBN 978-0-7195-6815-2. 
  • Ben MacIntyre. "Fleming's reflection on the limitations of love", 25 January 2008, p. 13. 


James Bond Short Stories
Fleming Quantum of Solace (1959) · The Hildebrand Rarity (1960) · From a View to a Kill (1960) · For Your Eyes Only (1960) · Risico (1960) · The Living Daylights (1962) · 007 in New York (1963) · The Property of a Lady (1963) · Octopussy (1966)
Benson Blast From the Past (1997) · Midsummer Night's Doom (1999) · Live at Five (1999) · The Heart of Erzulie (2001, unpublished)
Collections For Your Eyes Only (1960) · Octopussy and The Living Daylights (1966)
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