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Valmouth, a southern English coastal resort, has a generous supply of well-furnished and well-connected relics of society. Hare-Hatch House, inhabited by good friends Eulalia Hurstpierpoint and Elizabeth Thoroughfare, is one of the great centres of local social attention.
Coming on a visit, Lady Parvula de Panzoust encounters members of several castes there, ranging from the Tooke family who are in service, through the omnipresent exotic masseuse-cum-herbalist Mrs Yajñavalkya, to those of her own status who buzz around the house gossiping and defaming, hinting and declaiming, each other's secret business and hidden predilections always the tasty subject. Indeed, Parvula herself is on something of a private mission of an amatory nature!
As the season progresses, the question of who will marry Mrs Thoroughfare's son Dick, just returned from the sea, becomes an absorbing question. Will young Thetis Tooke, single-minded and passionate, recapture his attention permanently? Or will Mrs Yajñavalkya's protégé Niri-Esther steal his favour? The already agitated currents begin to stir forcefully...
Valmouth, Ronald Firbank's celebrated fourth novel, was first published in 1919. Its waves of exclamatory dialogue, eccentric description and outrageous characters confirmed his unique position as high-camp chronicler of his age in all its hilarious, sharp-tongued erraticism.
About the author
Arthur Annesley Ronald Firbank was born on January 17, 1886, in Clarges Street, Westminster, as the son of Sir Thomas Firbank, a Member of Parliament, and Lady Firbank, née Harriet Jane Garrett. He had three siblings: an older brother, Joseph Sydney (1884), a younger brother, Hubert Somerset (1887), and a sister, Heather (1888). Firbank attended Uppingham School from September 1900 to April 1901, followed by Trinity Hall in Cambridge. He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1907. He dropped out of Cambridge in 1909 without completing his studies. Arthur Annesley Ronald Firbank was born on January 17, 1886, in Clarges Street, Westminster, as the son of Sir Thomas Firbank, a Member of Parliament, and Lady Firbank, née Harriet Jane Garrett. He had three siblings: an older brother, Joseph Sydney (1884), a younger brother, Hubert Somerset (1887), and a sister, Heather (1888). Firbank attended Uppingham School from September 1900 to April 1901, followed by Trinity Hall in Cambridge. He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1907. He dropped out of Cambridge in 1909 without completing his studies.
