The British Barbarians A Hill-Top Novel

Description

Bertram Ingledew turns up in a Surrey town and speedily continues to uncover the restrictions and idiocies of late nineteenth century life; as though the individuals he finds are individuals from a savage clan, Bertram applies the methods of an anthropologist. The class framework, property possession, marriage, and the status of ladies all go under examination.

Book Excerpt

rettier than its wont all at once, that town of manors, in the primary new delicacy of its wan spring foliage, the principal full flush of lilac, laburnum, horse-chestnut, and guelder-rose. The air was hefty with the smell of May and the murmur of honey bees. Philip stopped some time at the corner, by the ivied cabin, respecting it quietly. He was happy he lived there- – so highborn! What euphoria to skim direct, on the captivated floor covering of the South-Eastern Railway, from the despair and clamor and clamor of Cannon Street, to the broadness and space and quietness and selectiveness of that upland town! For Philip Christy was an honorable assistant in Her Majesty’s Civil Service.