A Handful of Dust - Evelyn Waugh 豆瓣评分[8.20]

Laced with cynicism and truth, "A Handful of Dust" satirizes a certain stratum of English life where all the characters have money, but lack practically every other credential. Murderously urbane, it depicts the breakup of a marriage in the London gentry, where the errant wife suffers from terminal boredom, and becomes enamoured of a social parasite and professional luncheon-goer.

这部带有较多自传色彩的小说追溯了tony和brenda的婚姻在brenda与john beaver通奸后的破裂过程。Brenda的婚外情受到她在伦敦的世故朋友的鼓励。小说的最后，绝望的tony为摆脱烦恼到非洲的丛林中旅行，被一个酷爱迪更斯的老人捕获，从此留在密林中为其诵读迪更斯的小说。