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Only she can genuinely appreciate, and perhaps eventually share, Mrs Gereth's own passion for the exquisite antique treasures she has amassed at Poynton Park. Her son Owen, though, has engaged himself to be married to the embarrassingly nouveau philistine Mona Brigstock. A dramatic family quarrel unfolds, drawing Fleda, James's hesitating heroine, into its heart. Why is it that Fleda seems to be incapable of capturing Owen, remaining silent while her love for him is so evidently returned? Is she motivated by scruple or perversity? Is hers a true renunciation or a dilemma springing from sexual ignorance or neurosis? Readers who follow this drama to its surprising climax are likely to agree with David Lodge, who argues, in his introduction, that the beauty of The Spoils of Poynton lies in its apparently irreducible ambiguity.
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