The Shooting Party

"The Shooting Party is a novel set in Edwardian England, and it’s about a small group of people who have gathered on the estate of Sir Randolph. From the very first page, you know that someone dies during the shooting weekend, but you don’t know who it is. Colegate is magnificent at creating atmosphere and drawing character. It’s so realistically done that I assumed it was written in the first years of the 20th century, when in fact it was published in 1980. In a relatively short book, she creates well over a dozen remarkably detailed personalities, all of whom you believe in and all of whom are fascinating. Colegate is so good on character, and on Edwardian society. Because it was a very weird time to be wealthy—there were interesting rules about marriage, and adultery in particular, which was tacitly accepted. Marital relationships seem to have been quite strange in terms of men being mollycoddled and really mothered by their wives; the locus of romantic action was really in affairs. Marriage was seen as important, nice to have, but fundamentally unsexy. Support Five Books Five Books interviews are expensive to produce. If you're enjoying this interview, please support us by donating a small amount . So Colegate fills her books with interesting touches about people’s marriages. For example, at one point someone observes that the host has given a pair of lovers bedrooms nice and close to each other, so that they can discreetly slip along the corridor in the middle of the night. It’s brilliantly and accurately rendered. You want to know what happens to the marriages, you want to know what happens with the shooting party, and this whole world is about to end."