A Handful of Dust (Evelyn Waugh, 1934)

(273 pages)

As with other Waugh novels - set between the wars, in a world where traditional Brit aristocracy is experiencing rapid change.

Tony Last loves his huge traditional estate and all the accompanying duties and expenses (which limit spending on anything else); his wife Brenda less fond of the house, she starts spending  more time in London, takes a flat, hangs with John Beaver.

Tony eventually takes a trip to South America with an explorer, because of circumstances.  Meets a strange host who saves his life.

I didn't much care for the book in the early going but am glad I stuck with it.  The cover tells me that the Modern Library selected it "as among the 100 best novels of the twentieth century" - go figure.

I preferred Sword of Honor and Brideshead Revisited.