Another one for Novellas in November.
Fleur Talbot is working on her first novel, Warrender Chase, when she takes a job at the Autobiographical Association working for Sir Quentin Oliver. Her job is to rework the biographies, which Sir Quentin has convinced the 10 members of the club must be absolutely frank. At first, Fleur is amused by Sir Quentin’s pompous biographical write-ups of the members. She finds the autobiographies deadly boring, so she begins making up details to make them funny. However, she also begins to notice that her work acquaintances are beginning to behave like her own book. She thinks Sir Quentin is up to something underhanded, perhaps blackmail. She dislikes his assistant, Beryl Tims, and her only pleasure in her work is her friendship with Sir Quentin’s eccentric mother, Edwina.
Fleur has been reading her manuscript to some of her friends, among them Dottie, the wife of Fleur’s lover. She makes the mistake of introducing Dottie to Sir Quentin, and Dottie falls under his influence. Eventually, Fleur is able to find a publisher for her work, but the intersection of her book and the Autobiographical Association causes trouble for her after the members get it into their heads that Fleur is writing about them, even though Fleur wrote most of the novel before she met them.
This is an odd and outrageous story that takes a turn for the even more offbeat when someone steals Fleur’s manuscript. Its dark humor is maybe a little dry for me to find it outright funny. Although Fleur finally figures out what Sir Quentin is up to, I have to confess that I didn’t quite get it. Trying to start his own cult, maybe? Certainly, he was trying to manipulate the members of his association. In any case, the book explores the instersection between life and fiction.
