by Evelyn Waugh
First published 2014
Charles Ryder arrives at Oxford as a middle-class student with modest expectations. Everything changes when he meets Sebastian Flyte, whose charm and extravagance open doors to Brideshead Castle and the rarefied world of Catholic aristocracy. Charles finds himself swept into lavish parties, family feuds, and the complex web of relationships that define the Flyte household. Sebastian's drinking spirals out of control while religious devotion tears at the family's fabric. Years pass and Charles watches the grand estate and its inhabitants struggle against the forces of modernity. His own emotions become entangled with both Sebastian and his sister Julia, creating loyalties that pull him in different directions. The family's decline mirrors the broader collapse of England's old order, leaving Charles to confront what he has gained and lost in this glittering, fragile world.
Genres: 20th-century, coming-of-age, british-literature, family-drama, academic, catholic
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Britain, Oxford
Period: 20th-Century
304 pages · Paperback · Perennial