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$5.79The Story
In the tumultuous spring of 1968 a young English woman, Rose, travels from London to the United States to meet a man she knows as Washington Harold. In her suitcase are a polka dot dress and a oneway ticket. In an America recently convulsed by the April assassination of Martin Luther King and subsequent urban riots, they begin a search for the charismatic and elusive Dr. Wheeler sage, prophet and, possibly, redeemerwho rescued Rose from a dreadful childhood and against whom Harold holds a seething grudge.As they follow their quarry crosscountry in a camper they encounter the odd remnants of Wheeler acolytes who harbor festering cultural and political grievances. Along the way, a famous artist is shot in New York, mutilated soldiers are evacuated from Vietnam, race hatred explodes in ghettos and suburbs and casual madness blossoms at revival meetings.Many believe Americas only hope is presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, whose campaign trail echoes Rose and Harolds pilgrimage. Both will conclude in Los Angeles at the Ambassador Hotel one infamous night in June.Subversive, sinister and marvelously vivid, Beryl Bainbridges great last novel evokes a nation on the brink of selfdestruction with artful brilliance.
Description
In the tumultuous spring of 1968 a young English woman, Rose, travels from London to the United States to meet a man she knows as Washington Harold. In her suitcase are a polka dot dress and a oneway ticket. In an America recently convulsed by the April assassination of Martin Luther King and subsequent urban riots, they begin a search for the charismatic and elusive Dr. Wheeler sage, prophet and, possibly, redeemerwho rescued Rose from a dreadful childhood and against whom Harold holds a seething grudge.As they follow their quarry crosscountry in a camper they encounter the odd remnants of Wheeler acolytes who harbor festering cultural and political grievances. Along the way, a famous artist is shot in New York, mutilated soldiers are evacuated from Vietnam, race hatred explodes in ghettos and suburbs and casual madness blossoms at revival meetings.Many believe Americas only hope is presidential candidate Robert Kennedy, whose campaign trail echoes Rose and Harolds pilgrimage. Both will conclude in Los Angeles at the Ambassador Hotel one infamous night in June.Subversive, sinister and marvelously vivid, Beryl Bainbridges great last novel evokes a nation on the brink of selfdestruction with artful brilliance.
