In Aickman’s fiction, peculiarity is intertwined with a drab twentieth-century realism that is very English and sometimes dryly funny. Think Philip Larkin, or Barbara Pym, gone eldritch.” —Anwen Crawford, The New Yorker
“His name should be placed among the greats—Flannery O’Connor, Irwin Shaw, Raymond Carver . . . You will never forget the first Aickman story you read, nor be satisfied when you’ve read them all.” —John Darnielle, author of Wolf in White Van
“Unsettling is a key description for Aickman’s writing, not merely in the sense of creating anxiety, but in the sense of undoing what has been settled: his stories unsettle the ideas you bring to them about how fictional reality and consensus reality should fit together . . . He was drawn to ghost stories because they provided him with conventions for unmaking the conventional world, but he was about as much of a traditional ghost story writer as Salvador Dalí was a typical designer of pocket watches.” —Matthew Cheney, Electric Literature
“[The] most profound writer of what we call horror stories.” —Peter Straub
Indie Next Pick for January 2022: “With brilliant dialogue and oblivious schlepping, à la Stoppard’s Guildenstern and Rosencrantz, Aickman’s two hilarious ladies-in-waiting wander through the horrors of war, men of all disastrousies, and political upheaval unfazed.” —Ian McCord, Avid Bookshop
“For fans of cutting remarks, philosophy, and scandalous divorcées.” —Booklist
“[T]his novel offers readers…a witty, sophisticated work of 20th-century British fiction.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Mesmerizing. This unconventional story gets by on the author’s sly wit.”—Publishers Weekly
“There's a nice light touch to the writing...it all skips along nicely and if it all isn't quite clear, the sheer oddity of the place and events is just as baffling to its two protagonists...It makes for a quite charming novel of two young innocents learning about life.” —The Complete Review
2021-12-15
A 1975 comedy of manners and imperialism, never before published in the U.S., by a British cult novelist.
Set in England in the wake of the First World War, Aickman’s satirical novel follows Cressida Hazeborough and her wealthier friend Vivien as they leave school and set out to find purpose in life. They decide to move in with Vivien’s scandalously divorced Aunt Agnes and, for a time, pursue jobs as a saleswoman and receptionist. Soon, however, they become fascinated with the Italian “patriot,” quasi-fascist, and publicity magnet Virgilio Vittore, whom Vivien dreamily describes as “a great poet, and a great playwright, and a great athlete, and a great soldier, and a great leader, and a great aviator, and a great lover.” Fantasy quickly becomes reality, however, when Aunt Agnes reveals that she shares a romantic past with Vittore and invites the young women to join her on a trip to assist him in Trino, a bit of Italy he’s established as his own state. Once there, the novel takes a surreal left turn, foregoing traditional plot almost entirely in favor of erotic fantasy and imperial satire. The publication of this novel offers readers the opportunity to delve into a witty, sophisticated work of 20th-century British fiction. Though its lack of plot and inchoate second half might befuddle some readers, aficionados of writers like Evelyn Waugh will be delighted by this unearthed treat. Aickman can sometimes leer at his young female protagonists, but more often he observes them with dry and generous humor: “When it comes to the opposite sex,” Vivien tells Cressida, “I am interested only in a Man, and neither you nor I have ever met one.” By the end of the book, they’re still searching.
An imperfect but entertaining work of British satire.
