First published 2007
In 1920s London, a cast of writers, artists, and intellectuals navigate their tangled relationships and competing philosophies. The characters wrestle with the eternal conflict between emotional impulse and rational thought as they pursue love affairs, artistic ambitions, and social causes. Huxley structures their interwoven stories like a musical composition, with recurring themes that echo and respond to each other. The novelist based his characters on real literary figures including D.H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, and Nancy Cunard, creating sharp portraits of the era's cultural elite. As passion clashes with reason in bedrooms and drawing rooms across London, the characters embody what Huxley sees as the central malady of modern life. Their struggles reveal both the absurdities and genuine pain of educated people trying to live authentically in a rapidly changing world.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, 20th-century, academic
Vibes: atmospheric, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-driven, social-commentary
Setting: London
Period: 1920s
592 pages · Paperback · Vintage Classics