Two novellas by this extremely intelligent writer. The unifying thread is men trying to get away with it.
In Feathered Glory, 'good' school master Richard succumbs to the temptation of trying to re-activate a past fling, then hoping to return to uxoriousness while lying to his sweetly passive wife. In the meantime, see what happens when she takes in a wounded wild swan..... a thoroughly satisfying glimpse of comeuppance in the making.
In the second, Afternoon of a Faun, Marco is belatedly accused of rape by an ex-colleague and we watch as he wriggles in and out of denial, outrage, vendetta, terror, while his bewildered friend, the narrator, is torn between loyalty and increasing doubt, in a prophetic pre-MeToo scenario.
The 'Victory' of the title has a hollow ring. Lasdun is uncommonly perceptive and writes very well indeed.
(Annabel Bedini - bwl 93 Summer 2019 ) |
