Volume 11 in Anthony Powell's epic masterwork 'A Dance to the Music of Time', universally acknowledged as one of the great feats of 20th century English literature. Now in the first volume's 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.
'He is, as Proust was before him, the great chronicler of his culture in his time.' Guardian'The elegance of the style draws you in like incense to reverie.' Sunday Times'Gives pattern to the spectacle of human existence.' Louisa Young
'A Dance to the Music of Time' is universally acknowledged as one of the great works of English literature. Now in the first volume's 75th anniversary year, this twelve-volume series is ready to delight and entrance a new generation of readers.In this eleventh volume, Nick Jenkins, persuaded by his old friend Mark Members, attends a literary conference in Venice. Meanwhile in London, his old school friend, Widmerpool, continues to climb the social ranks, this time to the status of Life Peer. However, his position in power is under threat.
Widmerpool finds himself the subject of whispered accusations of espionage and his wife, Pamela, former lover of the dead writer X. Trapnel, also becomes the centre of attention as the mystery around the writer continues to draw ghoulish interest from readers and academics alike. Even surrounded by the beautiful vistas of Venice, Nick cannot escape his friends' turbulent lives.
Praise for 'A Dance to the Music of Time''A world as rich as Joyce's on the one hand and P. G. Wodehouse's on the other.'
Guardian'One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature.'
William Boyd'One of the greatest pleasures of my reading life.'
Michael Palin'An epic, elegant masterpiece.'
Lauren Groff'A joyous experience.'
Roddy Doyle'An intricately wrought work of art.'
John Banville'The finest long comic novel that England has produced.'
Anthony Burgess'Mr Powell's imagination is inexhaustible.'
Evelyn Waugh'One of English fiction's few twentieth-century masterpieces.'
London Review of Books'There is no other novelist whose work gives so much or such consistent pleasure.'
Times Literary SupplementIndustry Reviews
One of the great novel-sequences in English Literature - a wonderful portrait of society, full of insight into the complexities of human behaviour, richly detailed and shrewdly funny. -- William Boyd
Discovering Anthony Powell's "A Dance to the Music of Time" has been one of the greatest pleasures of my reading life. The cool elegance of the prose, the deliciously dry humour, the confident choreography of his characters made for an incomparable treat. Twelve volumes was simply not enough. -- Michael Palin
"A Dance To The Music of Time" is an epic, elegant masterpiece, so full of lightness and comedy that you're unprepared for how it quietly wrecks your heart. -- Lauren Groff
Powell's novel sequence is at once a rich chronicle of 20th-century English social life and an intricately wrought work of art. It is also extremely funny, in its sly fashion. -- John Banville
The novels of Powell's "A Dance to the Music of Time" themselves move hand in hand in intricate measure through the last century, bearing wisdom and understanding for the present. In an ever-quicker, ever-shallower world, his steadiness and wit reliably escort the reader into depth and patience. Nobody gives pattern to the spectacle of human existence like Powell. -- Louisa Young
