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 breakdown of the Last marriage, is a painful, comic re-working of Waugh's own divorce and a symbol of the disintegration of society.
- ISBN10 014119345X
- ISBN13 9780141193458
- Publish Date 26 May 2011
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 13 June 2017
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
- Imprint Penguin Classics
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 320
- Language English