A Handful of Dust is a satirical novel by Evelyn Waugh, published in 1934. The novel satirizes the lives of the English gentry and middle class in the interwar period. Waugh’s highly regarded satire is based on his own experience of divorce and unhappiness, as well as his understanding of the English class system. The novel has been dramatized for radio, theater, and screen.

This guide uses the 2018 Penguin English Library edition.

Content Warning: The source text and this guide describe child loss and classism.

Plot Summary

Tony Last is a wealthy Englishman who lives a happy but uneventful life. He lives in Hetton Abbey with his wife, Brenda, and their son, John. Hetton is particularly important to Tony, as it has been in his family for many generations. Though the house and its staff are expensive to maintain, Tony feels obliged to do so. Brenda thinks the abbey is dull and boring, much like her marriage. She is disillusioned and tired of spending all her time in this cloistered place. She encourages Tony to invite people around to make things more interesting.

Tony does not want anyone else to visit him at Hetton Abbey. One day, however, he invites an acquaintance named John Beaver to stay. Beaver is notorious in London social circles for being cheap, poor, and willing to accept an invitation to any social event. Often, he is called by people at the last moment to make up the numbers at parties. Tony does not expect Beaver to take his invitation seriously, but Beaver—at the encouragement of his doting mother—accepts. Beaver travels up to Hetton on the train. Tony tries to avoid Beaver, but Brenda entertains him.

Unexpectedly, Brenda is attracted to Beaver, and they begin an affair right under Tony’s nose. Brenda tries to show Tony on many occasions that she is not happy and that she is seeing someone else, but he remains oblivious. Even when she wants money for a flat in London that she intends to share with Beaver, Tony does not interrogate her motives. He ignores the string of friends who she invites to the house, hoping that he might carry out his own affair, and he accepts her story about wanting to spend more time in London to study economics. Brenda and Tony grow more distant as Tony struggles to explain Brenda’s absence to their son, John.

Things change when John dies in a horse-riding accident after badgering his father for permission to take part in the local fox hunt. The death is deemed a complete accident, but Tony struggles to deal with the aftermath. Since Brenda is away in London, he is not sure how he will be able to tell her. Amid the fallout of John’s death, Tony struggles to communicate with Brenda. When he finally speaks to her about her extended absences from Hetton, she tells him the truth: She wants a divorce. Tony is shocked, but he agrees to separate from Brenda. Tony loses his son and his wife in quick succession.

Since divorce during this period is a complicated legal process, the stunned Tony agrees to deal with the legal issues. Together with his lawyers, he concocts evidence to suggest that he has been unfaithful. He hires a sex worker named Milly and takes her to Brighton, so that detectives can gather evidence from the hotel staff that will be presented in court. Unexpectedly, Milly brings her young daughter. The detectives disapprove of this change in plan while Tony is increasingly agitated and annoyed by the process.

During this time, Brenda is still dating Beaver. Since most of the London social scene is aware of the affair, they are invited to parties and gatherings. Most people presume that Tony is having similar affairs of his own, but this is not the case. Beaver is still a poor man. He cannot afford to support Brenda during her separation, so she must rely on Tony for money even before their divorce is finalized. She rebuffs any suggestion that the marriage might be saved, and she insists that they proceed with the divorce so that she can be with Beaver.

Brenda’s brother comes to visit Tony. He petitions Tony to give Brenda more money, as Brenda wants to support herself and Beaver in London. Tony is shocked. He cannot believe that Brenda—who knows his financial status—would demand that he support both her and her lover after the divorce. If he were to accept her demands, then he would be forced to give up Hetton and abandon his family heritage. He telephones Brenda to confirm that this is what she wants, but he refuses to accede to her demands. He reveals that the dalliance in Brighton with the sex worker was undermined by the presence of the child; he knows that he will likely win any case that is brought before the court. Brenda is in danger of losing everything.

Tony feels the need to get out of London. At one of his social clubs, he meets a man named Dr. Messinger. The two men talk, with Messinger revealing that he is an explorer. He is about to go on a journey to the Amazon rainforest to search for a legendary lost city. Tony is fascinated by the idea, seeing the expedition as a possible way to escape from London for some time. Leaving everything in the hands of his lawyers, he boards a boat and joins Messinger on the mission to South America.

Tony and Messinger hire local guides to escort them through the rainforest. The hiking is tough, and they do not trust their guides. When the guides reach the edge of their territory, they abandon the Englishmen, who must venture on alone. During this time, Tony becomes terribly ill with a fever, and Messinger must care for him. They make an emergency camp as Tony begins to hallucinate. While searching for help, Messinger is killed in an accident and Tony is left alone.

Still suffering from the fever, Tony treks through the forest. He is beset by visions of friends and acquaintances. Eventually, he arrives at a village and meets a man named Mr. Todd, who agrees to care for Tony in exchange for Tony reading to him from a collection of Charles Dickens novels. Eventually, Tony realizes that Todd has no plans to let him return to civilization. When a search party comes to the village, Todd drugs Tony and tells them that he is dead. In England, Brenda struggles for money. When Tony is declared dead, Hetton and his money are left to distant family members. Eventually, Brenda marries Tony’s friend.