A Handful of DustA Handful of Dust
Score Classic
What it's about
Tony Last loves his family's ugly Victorian Gothic mansion and his quiet country life. His wife, Brenda, is bored stiff, and she starts an affair with a dull young man in London, while Tony suspects nothing. Then a sudden tragedy, a brutal divorce, and a disastrous expedition to the jungles of Brazil send Tony to one of the strangest endings in English fiction.
Why it's worth reading
It's on both the TIME and Modern Library lists of the best novels. It's a sharp, cruel comedy about the English upper class, and very funny until it's devastating.
You'll love it if you liked
Brideshead Revisited
The Great Gatsby
Howards EndGood to know
The death of a child is a turning point. There's casually racist language of the 1930s.
By the numbers
- Readers23 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics83 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller12 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
Why it made the list
Reads as
Thought-provoking
More by Evelyn Waugh
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Quick answers
Is A Handful of Dust worth reading?
Yes. It's on both the TIME and Modern Library lists of the best novels. It ranks #1,460 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 68.6 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is A Handful of Dust about?
Tony Last loves his family's ugly Victorian Gothic mansion and his quiet country life. His wife, Brenda, is bored stiff, and she starts an affair with a dull young man in London, while Tony suspects nothing. Then a sudden tragedy, a brutal divorce, and a disastrous expedition to the jungles of Brazil send Tony to one of the strangest endings in English fiction.
How long does it take to read A Handful of Dust?
About 6 hours (255 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after A Handful of Dust?
If you liked it, try Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald or Howards End by E.M. Forster.