A Handful of Dust by Evelyn Waugh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Waugh's novel begins simple enough. With sharp wit he portrays the English upper class of the 1930's. Sharper than Galsworthy, but in largely the same vein.

***Spoiler Alert***

Then, tragedy strikes, which surprises the read, even if you expected something from the mild foreshadowing. Then you realize that the novel is weightier than your first estimation.

In its final third the story takes a radical turn, as one of the main characters goes off on a journey to South America with an incompetent explorer. "What's going on here?" you wonder.

The novel concludes in horror.

All these shifts are thoroughly satisfying and masterfully accomplished. That one author in a single novel could write in a consistent voice across such shifts in town is a work to delight in.

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