Alec Waugh describes his novel as an erotic comedy. It is the story of a respectable Treasury official, Victor Trail, and his wife Myra, whose marriage has lost its flavour, owing to Victor's clock-work schedule and Myra's bland acceptance of it. The unexpected revelation that Victor has suspiciously altered his routine rouses Myra out of her complacency, and her jealousy rapidly changes the shape of their lives. It leads her into a series of quite extraordinary adventures and demimonde activities which are altogether astonishing in a respectable married woman.
Her discomfiture is...
Alec Waugh describes his novel as an erotic comedy. It is the story of a respectable Treasury official, Victor Trail, and his wife Myra, whose marr...
Based on the author's own experience as an officer in the British Intelligence and packed with the most closely observed detail of the people, places and costumes of the Levant, The Mule on the Minaret is a long, colourful, fascinating story of wartime intelligence centred on Beirut and Baghdad.
It is the story, primarily, of Noel Reid, a professor of History and Philosophy, (married, but not very happily) who is posted in 1941 to the Intelligence unit operating in the Lebanon. Here, he joins forces with Nigel Farrar, boss of MI5 in Beirut, and is soon involved in complex plans to...
Based on the author's own experience as an officer in the British Intelligence and packed with the most closely observed detail of the people, plac...
This is not the only one of Alec Waugh's novels in which he has described the agonies of a couple who are desperately in love but cannot marry, for it is a situation that he has himself lived through. But it is in this novel that he has drawn most specifically upon experiences he has only alluded to in other books.
His protagonist is Gordon Carruthers, who was also the hero of The Loom of Youth, that then shocking and revelatory novel of public-school life. Now transformed into a globe-trotting writer, Carruthers falls in love with a beautiful American socialite, and...
This is not the only one of Alec Waugh's novels in which he has described the agonies of a couple who are desperately in love but cannot marry, for...
Having married a man several years older than herself, Mary Montague craves love and attention to relieve the monotony of her days. Her husband, Gerald Montague, whose ill-running health is ruining his life, has little time to spare for his young wife.
In Mary's lonely eyes, Barclaye Ashe is the most romantic thing happening. He fulfills Mary's need for love and it isn't long before Mary, in spite of herself, returns his love and embarks on idyllic days and balmy nights; exquisite moments of perfect ecstasy for Mary who thinks her happiness is complete.
However, Mary's happy...
Having married a man several years older than herself, Mary Montague craves love and attention to relieve the monotony of her days. Her husband, Ge...
Thirteen stories have been compiled as Alec Waugh looks back over his career as an author, and takes from his writing those which he feels are amongst his most personal creations, bringing them together into a panorama.
Told in the first person, My Place in the Bazaar represents Waugh's varied experience and view of life as his enchanting stories take place in a variety of world-wide settings.
Thirteen stories have been compiled as Alec Waugh looks back over his career as an author, and takes from his writing those which he feels are amon...
Alec Waugh first saw the West Indies on a trip round the world in 1926 when his ship called in at Guadeloupe. Fifteen months later he returned for a long stay at Martinique; it was the beginning of a lifelong interest in these fascinating islands that were to provide him with the material for many books and articles. In The Sugar Islands, a book to be dipped into at leisure, Mr. Waugh has selected pieces from his writings, with the intention of compiling both a travelogue (there is a wealth of interesting information for the would-be traveller about the ways of life and customs of...
Alec Waugh first saw the West Indies on a trip round the world in 1926 when his ship called in at Guadeloupe. Fifteen months later he returned for ...
Author, publisher, traveller, cricketer, lover of wine: Alec Waugh has been all these in the course of a life which has brought him a host of friends around the world. He is a warm person who knows a good friend when he sees one and is revered by all those with whom there has been mutual acceptance.
This book contains his memories of many famous writers and some figures no longer so well remembered in the period between the wars.
The section which will, no doubt, command the most attention is that devoted to the youth of his younger brother Evelyn. This throws invaluable...
Author, publisher, traveller, cricketer, lover of wine: Alec Waugh has been all these in the course of a life which has brought him a host of frien...
Part sentimental journey revisiting old well-loved scenes of former travels, and part search for new, out-of-the-way lands, Alec Waugh's travel book tells of a journey half-way round the world. But in new or old places, the author's sense of romance and adventure, his gift of combining past and present, his ability to create a mood and tell a story provide continuously enlightening and enlivening reading.
The chief object of these travels was to visit the Seychelles Islands. This remote British colony, lost in the immensity of the Indian Ocean, is a world forgotten by the world, a...
Part sentimental journey revisiting old well-loved scenes of former travels, and part search for new, out-of-the-way lands, Alec Waugh's travel boo...
An imaginary island on the Equator has suddenly achieved importance through the discovery of oil - what will happen to the men and women living under the tensions of life on this island?
At one end of this island is the oil refinery where the members of the staff live in constant proximity to one another, and where emotions are heightened by the lack of privacy. The men are goaded by ambitions for power, while the women are drawn into affairs of love and passion. At the other end of the island is a hotbed of politics where a British diplomat is attempting to retain the island under...
An imaginary island on the Equator has suddenly achieved importance through the discovery of oil - what will happen to the men and women living und...
Nor Many Waters first appeared in 1928. This novel is typical Alec Waugh in its charm and grace, and its shrewd perception of human emotions and profound exploration of human relationships.
Nor Many Waters first appeared in 1928. This novel is typical Alec Waugh in its charm and grace, and its shrewd perception of human emotions an...
