The Fox in the Attic
by Richard Hughes
Atlantic (e-book)
The Fox in the Attic was first published in 1961. Out of print for two decades, its re-release is overdue. Richard Hughes saw the novel as part of a larger historical work that he grandly called The Human Predicament. The action begins on a 'warm, wet, windless afternoon' in Wales during the 1920s. A gloriously descriptive opening ('Seaward, a greyness merging into sky had altogether rubbed out the line of dunes') sets the stage for a tale of two families (one British, one German) caught between two world wars. The pivotal character is Augustine Penry-Herbert, who inherits a vast estate. A local scandal forces him to seek refuge in Germany: he is implicated in the death of a young girl, whose body he discovers. Settling with relatives in Bavaria, he meets his macho, competitive cousin, Franz. Augustine falls in love with his other cousin, the 'wide-eyed little Mitzi', whose sight is failing. Devoutly religious, she refuses his advances. What truly divides the couple, however, is Germany itself, rapidly under Hitler's spell. Haunting and compelling, The Fox in the Attic is a recovered masterpiece.
Extras: none