The Pyramid

Oliver recalls three connected episodes from his youth in Stilbourne, a small English town during the 1920s. As the son of the local dispenser, he occupies an uncertain place within a rigid social hierarchy: respectable enough to recognise distinctions of class, but not powerful enough to escape their humiliations. His ambitions, sexual desires and musical interests bring him into relationships he understands less clearly than he believes.

The stories centre on Oliver’s treatment of Evie Babbacombe, his involvement in a disastrous amateur production and his later recognition of the life endured by his music teacher, Miss Dawlish. From adulthood he can describe consequences that his younger self ignored, yet he remains evasive about his own responsibility. The novel uses provincial comedy and embarrassment to expose the emotional damage produced by class entitlement and frustrated desire.