Author: | Fay Weldon | ISBN: | 9781480412583 |
Publisher: | Open Road Media | Publication: | May 14, 2013 |
Imprint: | Open Road Media | Language: | English |
Author: | Fay Weldon |
ISBN: | 9781480412583 |
Publisher: | Open Road Media |
Publication: | May 14, 2013 |
Imprint: | Open Road Media |
Language: | English |
A weekend in the country erupts into a free-for-all of mutiny, sex, and murder
On the anniversary of the Eve of the Battle of Waterloo, an assortment of unusual dinner guests gather at a remote country house to pay homage to Henry Shrapnel, inventor of the exploding cannonball. But all is not peaceful at the Shrapnel Academy: The downstairs servants, a group of third-world refugees led by a South African butler, are plotting to overthrow their upstairs oppressors. When a blizzard hits the countryside and traps everyone indoors, the rebellion erupts into bloody warfare throughout the Academy, “a shrine to the ethos of military excellence.”
With characters that include a domineering female sergeant, a war-mongering general, a brain-damaged spy, and an idiot-savant arms dealer, Fay Weldon gives us a country house novel replete with sexual atrocity and class warfare. No one will emerge unscathed in this stinging tale of modern-day barbarians, where the deadliest weapons are the ever-raging battles between the haves and the have-nots.
A weekend in the country erupts into a free-for-all of mutiny, sex, and murder
On the anniversary of the Eve of the Battle of Waterloo, an assortment of unusual dinner guests gather at a remote country house to pay homage to Henry Shrapnel, inventor of the exploding cannonball. But all is not peaceful at the Shrapnel Academy: The downstairs servants, a group of third-world refugees led by a South African butler, are plotting to overthrow their upstairs oppressors. When a blizzard hits the countryside and traps everyone indoors, the rebellion erupts into bloody warfare throughout the Academy, “a shrine to the ethos of military excellence.”
With characters that include a domineering female sergeant, a war-mongering general, a brain-damaged spy, and an idiot-savant arms dealer, Fay Weldon gives us a country house novel replete with sexual atrocity and class warfare. No one will emerge unscathed in this stinging tale of modern-day barbarians, where the deadliest weapons are the ever-raging battles between the haves and the have-nots.