The Man of Fifty

Arriving at the family manor, the Major scarcely recognises his tall and elegant niece as she rushes out to greet him.

Surprise soon turns to satisfaction as he learns that she has confessed to being in love with him - and he a fifty-year-old man!

Instantly turning his attention to his appearance, he determines to transform himself into a suitable lover for a young girl.

But he must also make a confession to his son, to whom his niece was originally promised.

Rather conveniently, however, his son has also succumbed to love - and with an older woman.

All would seem to be well - until the new-look Major meets his son's paramour...'The Man of Fifty moves because of its very sparseness - combined with a boldness and clarity of selected incidents that are simultaneously plainly factual and symbolic' - from the Foreword by A.S.

Byatt