Seducers in Ecuador and The Heir
Vita Sackville-West
5/5 stars
These are two dissimilar novellas combined into one volume. In Seducers in Ecuador (1925), Arthur Lomax finds his life changed when he begins to wear colored spectacles during a visit to Egypt. Sackville-West is such a skilled writer that I was riveted, despite having the ending revealed early on by the author.* I simply had to know how Lomax would end up where he did.
In The Heir (1922), Peregrine Chase inherits the family home, and visits it for the first time. He slowly falls in love with the house, despite knowing he must sell it. Again, Sackville-West is so talented, that at about the half-way point, I was desperate to know if he would keep the house, and had to turn to the last page to see.
While quite different in plot, they are both deeply revealing character studies that are beautifully written and immensely satisfying.
Read as part of the Classics Club. My explanation is here.
