Much Darker Days

The narrator relates a semi-autobiographical, episodic tale of middle-class life that blends sensation and comic satire. He confesses involvement as an accessory after a death and describes the ensuing scramble to avoid suspicion, including impulsive plans to leave the country with his lover Philippa. Domestic scenes highlight a genial, practical mother whose preparations complicate flight, while a gallery of eccentric figures and melodramatic incidents unfolds across short, punchy chapters. Themes of social pretension, moral ambivalence, and farcical rescue attempts are treated with tongue-in-cheek narration that alternates sentiment and sensationalism.