Creditable, Surprising, Abundantly and Elegantly Good: Michael Hofmann on Duff Cooper's Only Novel

It is a book with information, even wisdom, to burn: that spilt champagne should be dabbed behind the ears; that something happens to men at fifty; that a promotion to the rank of major can be called getting a majority (and Felicity got her name because she was born the day her father came into one); that Scots make the best spymasters.