Those barren leaves

In Short

Set in an Italian palace above the town of Vezza, the novel follows the rich host Mrs. Aldwinkle and her glittering circle of artists, aristocrats, and writers as they indulge in endless philosophical debate and romantic intrigue. Beneath their airy discussions of love, art, and society lie deep personal disillusionments, economic anxieties, and fear of decay. As the guests cross paths, pair off, or suffer unexpected tragedies, the story charts a shift from cynical social chatter to a quiet search for spiritual quietude, enduring as a sharp, unsparing portrait of modern intellectual drift.

The Story

The narrative opens at the summer palace of the Cybo Malaspina in Vezza, now occupied by the wealthy and dramatic Mrs. Lilian Aldwinkle. Mrs. Aldwinkle passionately believes in grand romance, art, and her own centrality in both. Her villa becomes a salon for a assortment of English intellectuals and socialites: the weary rake Calamy, who has grown thoroughly bored with his own easy conquests; the elderly, cynical chatterbox Mr. Cardan; the novelist Mary Thriplow, who dissects every experience for fictional raw material; and the earnest, bumbling young Lord Hovenden.

Interrupting the salon's comfortable routine is Francis Chelifer, a poet and bureaucrat who recounts his tedious London administrative life and his tumultuous past affair with Barbara. When Chelifer is nearly drowned off the coast, he is rescued and swept into Mrs. Aldwinkle's orbit. Mrs. Aldwinkle casts herself as his heroic savior and pursues him with romantic fervor, though Chelifer remains aloof, cold, and entirely uninterested in her grand narrative. Meanwhile, Lord Hovenden pursues Mrs. Aldwinkle’s quiet, dependent niece Irene, struggling through awkward declarations of affection before promising to respect her boundaries.

As the party travels through the Italian countryside, the story shifts focus to Mr. Cardan. During a stroll, Cardan meets Grace Elver, a simple-minded woman kept hidden by her domineering, hostile brother. Realizing that Grace possesses a substantial private income, the elderly, penniless Cardan cold-bloodedly schemes to marry her for financial security, convincing himself that the fortune is worth the burden of her mental state. However, his mercenary plans crumble when Grace suddenly falls ill and dies, leaving Cardan face-to-face with his own mortality, poverty, and age in a cold, quiet churchyard.

Back among the remaining guests, social and political debates rage between figures like the socialist Mr. Falx and the worldly elite. Miss Thriplow meticulously catalogues her inner life and her observations of Calamy into her notebook, even as she kneels to pray, her spiritual reflections constantly interrupted by mundane thoughts of camels and ice cream. Calamy, increasingly repulsed by the shallow routine of casual romance and clever conversation, decides to break away from the salon entirely. Retiring to a isolated cottage high in the mountains, he looks up at the shining limestone crags above the creeping darkness, finally seeking solitude, spiritual clarity, and a quiet contemplation of the absolute.

How It Unfolds

• The retreat at Vezza — Mrs. Aldwinkle welcomes her guests to her grand Italian palace, holding court over dinner while Calamy confesses his growing disgust with his own lifelong habits of easy seduction.
• The poet's entry — Francis Chelifer reflects on his dull life in the Air Board office and his past heartbreaks, before a near-drowning accident delivers him straight into Mrs. Aldwinkle's obsessive care.
• Declarations and evasions — Young Lord Hovenden stumbles through a desperate, awkward romantic advance toward Irene, while Mrs. Aldwinkle vainly tries to spark passion in the impassive, icy Chelifer.
• A mercenary scheme — While walking near the Maremma, Mr. Cardan discovers the wealthy, mentally disabled Grace Elver and resolves to marry her solely to secure an income for his old age.
• The mortality shock — Cardan's plan collapses when Grace suddenly dies, forcing the aging cynic to sit in a hollow church, reflecting grimly on decay, disease, and his own impending poverty.
• The mountain sanctuary — Sick of shallow intellectual banter and repetitive affairs, Calamy abandons the villa for a secluded cottage, finding peace in lonely contemplation of the peaks.

The People

• Mrs. Lilian Aldwinkle — A wealthy, dramatic patroness who wants to live at the center of a tragic, beautiful romance; stood in the way by the indifference of her guests, she ends up frantic and desperate to avoid being ignored.
• Calamy — A fashionable, thirty-three-year-old man of fortune who wants to transcend his trivial amorous conquests; held back by his own habits, he ends up withdrawing into solitary mountain meditation.
• Mr. Cardan — An impoverished, elderly parasite who wants financial security for his final years; thwarted by sudden death, he ends up facing old age alone, terrified of decay.
• Francis Chelifer — A cynical poet and office worker who wants to endure life's absurdity; stood in the way by romantic idealists around him, he remains aloof and detached.
• Irene — Mrs. Aldwinkle's gentle niece who wants simple affection without overwhelming pressure; she navigates the demands of her aunt and the clumsy advances of Lord Hovenden.
• Mary Thriplow — A calculating novelist who wants authentic spiritual and artistic insight, though her own relentless self-consciousness constantly undermines her feelings.

In Its Own Voice

"No serious-minded, hard-working man has the time, the spare energy or the inclination to abandon himself to passion."

Context: Mr. Cardan dryly explains to Mrs. Aldwinkle why true passion only flourishes among the idle and well-fed.

"The clouds you so much admire are only made possible by the earth's excrementitious dust hanging in the air."

Context: A voice from a passing boat expounds on how heavenly forms and human ideals are built on dirty physical realities.

"To the liver of this perfect Life of Reason the secret, the mystery and the beauty, though they might be handled and examined, refused to give up their significance."

Context: Calamy reflects on how an easy, comfortable life fails to reveal any true spiritual meaning.

What It's Really About

The novel probes the emptiness of modern intellectual life, where articulate talk serves as a shield against true self-knowledge. It contrasts the relentless pursuit of aesthetic and romantic pleasure with the stark realities of illness, poverty, and death. Through its sprawling debates, the book asks whether a meaningful life can be built on casual cynicism and refined taste, or if one must abandon the social circus entirely to seek truth in solitude. It exposes how art, idealism, and social status are frequently used to disguise vanity, greed, and a deep fear of purposefulness.

Why Read It Today

Readers who enjoy sharp social satire, ideas-driven fiction, and sophisticated character studies will find much to admire. The book offers a brilliant, dryly humorous atmosphere where sparkling dialogue masks quiet existential panic. The reading experience feels like attending an extraordinarily witty, slightly exhausted weekend party in the Italian hills, where every character is eager to dissect their neighbors' flaws while remaining completely blind to their own.

Potential readers should be prepared for a narrative that moves at a deliberate, conversational pace, prioritizing debate, internal monologue, and philosophical tangents over fast-moving plot. The text reflects the leisure and prejudices of its 1920s upper-class British setting, complete with casual class snobbery and unsparing portrayals of physical and mental infirmity. Yet its core core themes—the search for personal meaning in a distracted world, the foolishness of romantic posturing, and the dread of aging—remain intensely readable and surprisingly fresh today.