Book Description
An unlikely con man wagers wife, wealth, and sanity in
pursuit of an elusive Old Master.
Invited to dinner by the boorish local landowner, Martin
Clay, an easily distracted philosopher, and his art-historian
wife are asked to assess three dusty paintings blocking the
draught from the chimney. But hiding beneath the soot is
nothing less-Martin believes-than a lost work by Bruegel. So
begins a hilarious trail of lies and concealments, desperate
schemes and soaring hopes as Martin, betting all that he owns
and much that he doesn't, embarks on a quest to prove his
hunch, win his wife over, and separate the painting from its
owner.
In Headlong, Michael Frayn, "the master of
what is seriously funny" (Anthony Burgess), offers a
procession of superbly realized characters, from the country
squire gone to seed to his giddy, oversexed young wife. All
are burdened by human muddle and human cravings; all are
searching for a moral compass as they grapple with greed,
folly, and desire. And at the heart of the clamor is
Breugel's vision, its dark tones warning of the real risks of
temptation and obsession.
With this new novel, Michael Frayn has given us
entertainment of the highest order. Supremely wise and
wickedly funny, Headlong elevates Frayn into the front rank
of contemporary novelists.
