A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh

Using a lighter form of satire, Waugh delivers a firm poke in the eye to high society by exploring concepts of morality, corruption, and tradition.

Brenda and Tony Last, the proverbial golden couple, share a happy, if uneventful, life at their country estate, Hetton. Driven largely by boredom, Brenda begins an affair with a man who can best be described as a social parasite. As her affair continues, Brenda begins to assume leech-like characteristics of her own. Following the death of the Lasts’ only child (and the only lovable character in the whole darn book) in a riding accident, Brenda seeks a divorce. Tony goes to great lengths to grant her request, but Brenda finally crosses a line when her demands grow so large that it would require the sale of Tony’s beloved family home to fulfill them.

For the first half of the novel, I wanted to drop kick Brenda from here to next Tuesday. Then, when Tony refused to grow a pair, I wanted to turkey stomp him as well. The characters are notably similar in that none seem to feel remorse. Not for infidelity, or greed, or indifference. The couple is devoid of originality, real intellect, or chivalry in its true sense. Brenda is repugnant for her infidelity. Tony is contemptible for his cowardice.

The novel itself is delightfully well-composed. Waugh maintains a lovely balance; the tone is cynical but not dark, ironic but not thoroughly depressing. Some passages are highly comical, but it is certainly not a funny story. It becomes clear that the characters are hopelessly incorrigible, but still the novel is not bleak. Waugh forces us to question our notion of civilization; we reject complacency as stagnation but also become conscious of the barbarism implicit in our so-called evolution.

I say: read it.