SNOBS

This is the first novel of the man who wrote the screenplay for Robert Altman’s film GOSFORD PARK. The book skewers the modern English aristocracy just as effectively as the film skewered the pre-War elite, and Richard Morant is perfectly cast in the narrator’s role of upper-class observer. The action centers on a young woman who becomes a countess by marrying up, and her mother-in-law, the Marchioness, who suspects her of marrying only for the title. Given the negligible attractions of her son, the Marchioness’s suspicions seem reasonable. The narrator-observer who tells the story also explains the unwritten rules of the game known to all upper-crust participants and to none of the not-quite-upper crust. Morant carries out this quasi-instructional role expertly, just as he reads the characters convincingly. A first-rate, thoroughly entertaining performance. R.E.K. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine [Published: AUG/SEP 05]