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Illustrated portrait of Tony

A character in The Swimming-Pool Library

Tony

Harold’s associate, whose apparent death creates the opening crisis.

What they want

To survive the violent dispute in which Arthur believes he has killed him.

The book

Cover of The Swimming-Pool Library by Alan Hollinghurst
The Swimming-Pool LibraryAlan Hollinghurst, 1988

Queer freedom in 1980s London meets class, power, loneliness, and the lives that came before it.

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Who they are in the book

Spoiler-free

Tony belongs to Harold’s social and criminal environment.

Arthur believes he has killed him in a fight.

The incomplete information creates immediate panic.

How the book draws them

Appearance, manner, and tone — as the book sketches them, in our words.

  • Lightly characterizedThe novel gives him less interior depth than narrative impact.
  • Associated with HaroldHe comes from the same risky network.
  • A source of panicArthur’s belief drives him to Will.
  • Actually aliveHis survival shows how quickly catastrophe was assumed.
Tony’s actual fateHow the book leaves them, what happened after, and what the record says. Open when you're ready.

Arthur believes Tony is dead.

Later evidence shows that Tony survived.

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