First Person Paramount

Agar Hume narrates his escape from an abusive, poverty-stricken childhood and his rise from music-hall mimicry to a valet in a Curzon Street household. Employed in high society, he becomes entangled in schemes of impersonation, medical crises at a consumptive hospital, a dangerous operation, and a widening campaign of intrigue involving corporate and personal betrayals. The first-person account mixes suspense, romance, and social observation as Hume draws on mimicry and guile in battles of wit, endures torture and emotional trials, and ultimately confronts the consequences of deception amid retreats to secluded houses and shifting alliances.