The shooting party - Hardcover

Colegate, Isabel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0241104734 ISBN 13: 9780241104736

Publisher: H. Hamilton, 1980

Synopsis

A contemporary classic, restored to print at last. It is the autumn of 1913. Sir Randolph Nettleby has assembled a brilliant array of guests at his Oxfordshire estate for the biggest hunt of the season. An army of gamekeepers, beaters, and servants has rehearsed the intricate age-old ritual, the gentlemen are falling into the prescribed mode of fellowship and sporting rivalry, the ladies intrigued by the latest gossip and fashion. Everything about this splendid weekend would seem a perfect consummation of the pleasures afforded the privileged in Edwardian England. And yet it is not: the moral and social code of this group is not so secure as it appears. Competition beyond the bounds of sportsmanship, revulsion at the slaughter of the animals, anger at the inequities of class - these forces are about to rise up and engulf the assured social peace, a peace that can last only a brief while longer. In imagining Sir Randolph's shooting party, wrote The Spectator, ''Miss Colegate has found a perfect metaphor for the passing of a way of life.''

About this title

About the Author

Isabel Colegate is the acclaimed author of many bestselling books including THE SHOOTING PARTY, THE ORLANDO TRILOGY, THE SUMMER OF THE ROYAL VISIT and most recently, WINTER JOURNEY. Julian Fellowes was an actor for over twenty years before winning the Academy Award for Writing Original in 2001 for Gosford Park . His novel Snobs was published in 2004.

Review

Poised, wry, lovable, informative . . . An utterly complete rendering of a way of life.” Gail Godwin, author of Queen of the Underworld

A beautifully crafted novel, remarkably visual and evocative. The characters are caught in stunning images and tableaux that convey the essence of their natures, the sweep of their emotions.” The Washington Post

The Shooting Party is a lovely piece of writing, in which subtlety, irony, and close observation abound.” Larry McMurtry

Edition details

• Publisher: H. Hamilton
• Publication date: 1980
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0241104734
• ISBN 13: 9780241104736
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 181