A FOREIGN AFFAIR
By
The author of The Club (Viking-Reynal, 1957) turns his vinegar-eyed gaze on the overseas British and displays a variety of limited and insular attitudes during a crisis in the Kingdom of Parasang. Wise in years and understanding is Her Majesty's Ambassador Core-Featherston who deftly handles the problem and pressures presented by the upstart Chukah, his threats from the north and his death squib of a coup d'etat. He is aided too by his knowledge of the old Queen's part in removing obstacles, his belief in the engineer-intelligence Parker, his know-how with his staff and the English residents. Besides the tin-pot dictator Chukah there is a sulky goddess whose propitiation for the needed rains lies in the old Queen's hands, and there is a wonderful clutch of incidents involving embassadorial life, British stolidity and inscrutable eastern ways. A polite brew that may please and amuse, this may also fall flat.