Venusberg by Anthony Powell

Lushington, a serious young man who believes implicitly in progress, is posted as special correspondent to an obscure Baltic state. There, in the unstable political situation, he hopes to find some newsworthy stories and to forget a failed love affair. But in the frivolous, party-going capital, Lushington becomes involved with some decidedly eccentric individuals -- the egregious valet, Pope, known to army comrades as "the Duke," the ostentatious Count Bobel, who sells face cream and smells of brilliantine, and the mysterious Frau Maavrin, all of whom involve Lushington and the reader in a wry and sophisticated dialogue.

Noted British author Anthony Powell is perhaps best known for his A Dance to the Music of Time. Sun & Moon Press has published Afternoon Men and O, How the Wheel Becomes It!, both planned for future publication in Green Integer. Powell died in 2000.