A Handful of Dust

Quel est le sujet du livre "A Handful of Dust"

After seven years of marriage, the beautiful Lady Brenda Last is bored with life at Hetton Abbey, the Gothic mansion that is the pride and joy of her husband, Tony. She drifts into an affair with the shallow socialite John Beaver and forsakes Tony for the Belgravia set. Brilliantly combining tragedy, comedy and savage irony, A Handful of Dust captures the irresponsible mood of the 'crazy and sterile generation' between the wars.

The Penguin English Library - collectable general readers' editions of the best fiction in English, from the eighteenth century to the end of the Second World War.

Evelyn Waugh's father Arthur was a noted editor and publisher. His only sibling Alec also became a writer of note. In fact, his book ??oeThe Loom of Youth” (1917) a novel about his old boarding school Sherborne caused Evelyn to be expelled from there and placed at Lancing College. He said of his time there, ??oe…the whole of English education when I was brought up was to produce prose writers; it was all we were taught, really.” He went on to Hertford College, Oxford, where he read History. When asked if he took up any sports there he quipped, ??oeI drank for Hertford.”

In 1924 Waugh left Oxford without taking his degree. After inglorious stints as a school teacher (he was dismissed for trying to seduce a school matron and/or inebriation), an apprentice cabinet maker and journalist, he wrote and had published his first novel, ??oeDecline and Fall” in 1928.

In 1928 he married Evelyn Gardiner. She proved unfaithful, and the marriage ended in divorce in 1930. Waugh would derive parts of ??oeA Handful of Dust” from this unhappy time. His second marriage to Audrey Herbert lasted the rest of his life and begat seven children. It was during this time that he converted to Catholicism.

During the thirties Waugh produced one gem after another. From this decade come: ??oeVile Bodies” (1930), ??oeBlack Mischief” (1932), the incomparable ??oeA Handful of Dust” (1934) and ??oeScoop” (1938). After the Second World War he published what is for many his masterpiece, ??oeBrideshead Revisited,” in which his Catholicism took centre stage. ??oeThe Loved One” a scathing satire of the American death industry followed in 1947. After publishing his ??oeSword of Honour Trilogy” about his experiences in World War II - ??oeMen at Arms” (1952), ??oeOfficers and Gentlemen” (1955), ??oeUnconditional Surrender" (1961) - his career was seen to be on the wane. In fact, ??oeBasil Seal Rides Again” (1963) - his last published novel - received little critical or commercial attention.

Evelyn Waugh, considered by many to be the greatest satirical novelist of his day, died on 10 April 1966 at the age of 62.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evelyn_W...