A House-Party, Don Gesualdo, and a Rainy June
1887
In the rain-soaked English countryside of June, the Usk marriage is unraveling at Surrenden Court. Lord George Usk, proud and privately anguished, watches his wife assemble a house party of guests he considers modern degenerates while he can only voice his objections through stiff propriety. The arrival of the enigmatic Lord Brandolin introduces a sharper edge to their tensions, as the old guard of aristocratic morality collides with something more dangerous and alive. Ouida, writing at the height of her powers, dissects the hypocrisy of a class that preaches virtue while drowning in ennui and secret shame. The novel crackles with the specific agony of people trapped by their own conventions, unable to speak truthfully even to each other. A forgotten masterpiece of Victorian social satire, sharp enough to draw blood a century later.
