- Paperback: 32 pages
- Publisher: Samuel French Ltd (Jan 1975)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0573023387
- ISBN-13: 978-0573023385
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,745,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Author
Product Description
Review
A weekend in the country, a pas de quatre choreographed with icy elan by the High Priestess of Tease - the author of Female Friends and Remember Me. Hosts: rich Hamish and Gemma, he nearly wizened, she nearly matronly, he tasteless and active, she tasteful, mutilated (one finger missing), and confined to a wheelchair (hysterical paralysis). Guests: Victor and Elsa, he a greedy, wife-shedding antique-pusher, she an "abundantly lovely" youngster uneasy in society but sure of her outgoing sex-and-romance posture. Hamish and Gemma proceed to play Get-The-Guests. Gemma tells Elsa, in tantalizing pieces, the story of her maiming ("My warning to wantons"), a probable fabrication set in a swinging London jewelry salon, laced with hints of sadistic perversions, and annotated with scalpel comments on Elsa's relationship with Victor. Hamish bargains with Victor - antiques in exchange for Elsa's night-time services - and some mate-swapping occurs, leaving Elsa perhaps pregnant (the hosts' plan all along?) and a totally compromised Victor primed for the neatly staged teatime reappearance of his wife. Weldon clearly despises each member of this quartet - even the pathetic Elsa, who ends up alone, headed home to Mum, sexually de-revolutionized - but that doesn't stop her from lavishing attention on them, turning them on their respective spits, showing us each of their facades as she lightly chars the surface. The present-tense, aphoristic narration is grand (except for an occasional borrowed cuteness like "ample promise of pneumatic bliss"), the dialogue is read-aloud perfect, but the earlier Weldon glimmer of something-real-to-say about women and men has been lost in the artificial lighting and sweeping glee of a Noel Coward gone utterly, too-too decadent. (Kirkus Reviews)
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organise and find favourite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Reviews
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
