A Handful of Dust

New Penguin Essentials edition of the stylish satire that combines tragedy, comedy and savage irony.

‘A whole Gothic world had come to grief …’

Beautiful Lady Brenda Last lives at Hetton Abbey, a crumbling Gothic monstrosity that is her husband Tony’s pride and joy. Bored and restless after seven years of marriage, she drifts into an affair with a worthless young socialite. Abandoning the country for the glamorous yet shallow London scene, Brenda imagines divorce will bring happiness. Instead she and Tony feel lost and isolated - victims of the wreckless times in which they live …