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The Freaks of Mayfair

In a series of hilariously dry fictional sketches, E F Benson introduces us to some of the more bizarre inhabitants of Mayfair's Edwardian high society — a world he knew intinately. Each is a distinct representative of an anthropological 'type': Sir Louis and Lady Mary Marigold turn snobbery into an art form; 'Aunt' George is a bachelor with a passion for embroidery; Mrs Weston, a devotee of every new health-cult and spiritual fad; Horace Campbell, the jealous and poisonous society gossip; the socalled 'grizzly kittens' Babs Begum and Charlie Gordon, refuse to grow old gracefully; Mrs Sarah Whitehand is the social-climbing wife of an American toilet-bowl magnate; and Mr Sandow, the socialite vicar who seems interested in everything but real spirituality. These and a number of other intriguing specimens, all greedily jockeying for social standing in this most exclusive of societies, are impaled, Iabelled and preserved for our entertainment on the razor-sharp scalpel of Benson's savage wit.

  • Format
  • hardcover
  • Pages
  • 181
  • Language
  • english
  • ISBN
  • 9781853754296
  • Genres
  • fiction, humor, classics
  • Release date
  • 2001