Those barren leaves - Aldous Huxley

The background of this sophisticated novel is sunny Italy where, in a renovated castle above the warm Tyrrhenian Sea, Mrs Aldwinkle entertains an assortment of guests. They include a poet who, to earn a living, edits The Rabbit Fancier's Gazette, Mr Calamy, an accomplished amorist, and by way of contrast a pair of naïve and charming lovers. In this bizarre setting, and with an abundance of vivacious and astringent conversation, they play out the comedy of their incongruity with one another and with their background. Leonard Woolf writing in The Nation said of this novel, 'It is brilliant and daring, admirably written, humorous, witty, clever, cultured.'