Described by Alexander Wollcott as the best novel in a hundred years, "A Handful of Dust" couples Waugh's irreverent satire of interwar London society with his most profound musings of morality, religion and destiny.
After seven years of marriage, the beautiful Lady Brenda Last has grown bored with life at Hetton Abbey, the Gothic mansion that is the pride and joy of her husband, Tony. She drifts into an affair with the shallow socialite John Beaver and forsakes Tony for the Belgravia set. In a novel that combines tragedy, comedy, and savage irony, Evelyn Waugh indelibly captures the irresponsible mood of the "crazy and sterile generation" between the wars.
A vicious, witty novel. - New York Times
Waugh's technique is relentless and razor-edged...By any standard it is super satire. - Chicago Daily News
The most mature and the best written novel that Mr. Waugh has yet produced. - New Statesmen & Nation
A story both tragic and hilariously funny, that seems to move along without aid from its author...Unquestionably the best book Mr. Waugh has written. - Saturday Review