Isabel Colegate

The masterpiece of one of the most important and overlooked British women writers of the twentieth century, with a new introduction by Melissa Harrison; 'Isabel Colegate has no rival' (The Times)'If you are curious as to why Britain is still ruled by a tiny cadre of not-very-introspective aristo-capitalists, Orlando King is essential reading' Sunday Times'Colegate's sharp-eyed trilogy about a young man on the make in 1930s London feels particularly resonant right now, given its acute take on male privilege and power' i paper, Summer Reading Picks 2020'An extraordinary achievement' Frances Wilson, Times Literary Supplement, Summer Re.

It is 1913 - just prior to England's entry into World War I - and Edwardian England is about to vanish into history. A group of men and women gather at Sir Randolph Nettleby's estate for a shooting party. Opulent, adulterous, moving assuredly through the rituals of eating and slaughter, they are a dazzlingly obtuse and brilliantly decorative finale of an era.

Never before available in the United States, this rediscovered masterpiece from Isabel Colegate, author of The Shooting Party, offers readers "just the right mixture of doomed fun, melancholy and faintly lascivious despair" (The Observer)I am afraid I have something to tell you . . . It is that we are all about to be destroyed. 1914. The old standards are going. There is bitterness in politics, talk of civil war in Ireland. But all this means little to Cynthia Weston, the attractive wife of cabinet member Aylmer Weston, and her nephew by marriage, Philip. They are caught up in the charmed, perilous toils of a mutual passion that will destroy all they hold most dearwhile the shadow of war lengthens and darkens, ready to swallow them whole.A captivating portrait of a lost world, Statues in a Garden is a rediscovered masterpiece by one of the most important and neglected British female writers of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.

Threads of romance, social comment, country lore and intrigue both above and below stairs are cunningly worked together to create a brilliant tapestrySunday TelegraphIt is 1913 - a breath away from the Great War - and Edwardian England is about to vanish into history. An assorted group of men and women gather at Sir Randolph Nettlebys estate for a shooting party. Opulent, adulterous, moving assuredly through the rituals of eating and slaughter, they are an eras dazzlingly obtuse and brilliantly decorative finale.A quiet, elegant meditation on class frustration and the transience of human concern, The Shooting Party is also the inspiration behind one of the great landmarks of popular culture - Downtown Abbey.

La novela que inspiró Gosford Park y Downton Abbey: una trama de intriga, dobleces, amor y alta sociedad británica en un mundo idílico a punto de desaparecer.En el otoño de 1913, Sir Randolph Nettleby y su mujer organizan una caceria para la flor y nata de la aristocracia britanica, entre ellos un reputado cazador y su coqueta esposa, un atractivo abogado, un rico judio y un joven conde hungaro. Por su parte, el servicio se afana para satisfacer las necesidades de los huespedes: desde el guardes de la finca hasta los criados y un ejercito de batidores. Las fricciones y afinidades entre los invitados pronto desvelan hipocresias, flirteos, deudas, matrimonios de conveniencia... Todo se complica cuando un defensor de los animales planea interrumpir la caceria para detener la masacre, y el pequeño Osbert, nieto de Sir Randolph, sale en busca de su mascota, un pato, pues teme que acaben disparandole por error. Un tragico accidente revelara la fragilidad de ese mundo idilico que esta a punto de tocar a su fin por la irrupcion de la Primera Guerra Mundial.

La novela que inspiró Gosford Park y Downton Abbey: una trama de intriga, dobleces, amor y alta sociedad británica en un mundo idílico a punto de desaparecer.En el otoño de 1913, Sir Randolph Nettleby y su mujer organizan una caceria para la flor y nata de la aristocracia britanica, entre ellos un reputado cazador y su coqueta esposa, un atractivo abogado, un rico judio y un joven conde hungaro. Por su parte, el servicio se afana para satisfacer las necesidades de los huespedes: desde el guardes de la finca hasta los criados y un ejercito de batidores. Las fricciones y afinidades entre los invitados pronto desvelan hipocresias, flirteos, deudas, matrimonios de conveniencia... Todo se complica cuando un defensor de los animales planea interrumpir la caceria para detener la masacre, y el pequeño Osbert, nieto de Sir Randolph, sale en busca de su mascota, un pato, pues teme que acaben disparandole por error. Un tragico accidente revelara la fragilidad de ese mundo idilico que esta a punto de tocar a su fin por la irrupcion de la Primera Guerra Mundial.