Past Imperfect by Julian Fellowes

Past Imperfect

Julian Fellowes

Damian Baxter furnishes his friend with a list of his past conquests and sets him the task of finding his heir, kick starting a fascinating journey through an aristocratic, privileged world of debutantes, balls and lavish parties. His quest uncovers some memorable characters, secret love affairs and a mystery to solve. An entertaining, poignant but often witty and funny page turner which will keep you guessing until the last chapter.

Extract
Peter's own gatherings were not to select or encourage the girls. That had all been done sometime before. No, they were basically to audition those young men who had come to his attention as possible escorts and dancing partners for the parties to come. Having been vetted, their names would either be underscored or crossed off the lists that were distributed to the anxious waiting mothers, who would assume that the cads and seducers, the alcoholics and the gamblers and those who were NSIT (not safe in taxis) would have all been excised from the names presented. They should have been of course, but it was not entirely plain sailing, viz, the first two young men to greet us as we pushed into the narrow hall of the squashed and ill furnished flat, at the top of a block built in the worst traditions of the late 1950s. These were the younger sons of the Duke of Trent, Lord Richard and Lord George Tremayne, who were both already drunk .... The fact is that their father was a duke and, even if he could not have held down a job of a parking attendant in the real world, that was enough to guarantee their invitations.
Parallels
  • Gosford Park - the film
  • The Go Between by L P Hartley
Borrow this book
Explicit sexual content