Reading this book directly after finishing the Coward plays was sort of a good thing - in fact some of the characters seemed familiar to me from the plays (of course they are not the same, but the characters in both the plays and this book were from similar backgrounds of wealthy English families going to seed as their way of life wanes in the time between world wars). For the first few pages I found myself unconsciously looking for stage directions and wondering how one would depict the narrative portions on the stage.
I must say this book was not exactly what I had imagined it would be before I started it. I have read some Waugh before, but it was ages ago, so I had a vague notion of what the book might be like. The story seemed like a straightforward satirical novel until it took a turn halfway through - I found this shocking and I could not put the book down wondering how it all came out - and I can't say it was entirely satisfying. I don't want to say more lest I create spoilers. However, I would recommend this book and I'd love to discuss it with anyone else who has read it in the comments or otherwise.
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