First published 1974
The elderly residents of Tuppenny-hapenny Cottage wage petty wars against each other. Age has stripped away their physical vigor, leaving them with little but spite and cunning. They sharpen their tongues on daily grievances and nurse decades-old resentments. The cottage becomes a battlefield where small cruelties provide the only entertainment against crushing monotony. Christmas arrives with the obligatory visit from dutiful grandchildren. The younger generation comes to pay respects and fulfill family obligations. But the holiday gathering does not proceed as planned. The simmering tensions among the septuagenarians boil over. Their carefully maintained veneer of civility cracks. What begins as traditional Christmas festivities spirals into chaos. The riot that erupts reveals the raw desperation of people clinging to life through malice. Amis exposes how the elderly residents use cruelty as their final weapon against irrelevance and decay.
Genres: 20th-century, contemporary, adult-fiction, family-drama
Vibes: emotional-atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-study, dark-comedy, ensemble-cast
Setting: Tuppenny-hapenny Cottage
Period: Christmas
176 pages · Hardcover · Cape
Content warnings: death