Hilary Fletcher is the clever son of a humble vicar. When his father takes up the living at Lasterby in Yorkshire, Hilary finds himself equally ill-at-ease in both the grand drawing rooms of the manor house and the earthy kitchen of his farmer uncle. As he grows older it is the aristocratic Metheralls in the manor that engage his imagination not his rough-and-tumble cousins. By the time he goes up to Cambridge, Hilary is in love with Harriet Metherall and believes himself to be loved by her. His illusions casually shattered, he descends into a life of corruption that soon makes him rich and powerful enough to please himself, never mind his betters. Now the Metheralls are going to find out who really calls the shots.
- ISBN10 0436409747
- ISBN13 9780436409745
- Publish Date 9 December 1985 (first published September 1975)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 30 March 2005
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Vintage Publishing
- Imprint Martin Secker & Warburg Ltd
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 299
- Language English