The Triumphant Footman

'All his life, he had so much enjoyed getting into scrapes, that he could never think of a better way out of one than to jump forthwith into another.'

Alphonse Biskin is the lowly footman for the highly respected Captain Lemaur and his invalid, autocratic wife in Florence. Quick to dismiss him as incompetent, the Lemaurs are oblivious to the fact that their footman, the son of a working class couple from London, has a penchant for mischief and adventure, imitating others and spreading a web of seemingly harmless and humorous lies for his own amusement. From a director of a museum in Barcelona to a Frenchman of noble ancestry, from Florence to London . . . Alphonse's impersonations draw him into social circles and events that he could otherwise only dream about. With a combination of natural charm and good fortune, Alphonse seems destined to always get away with these deceptions - but will his tricks eventually catch up with him?

The Triumphant Footman (1930) was Edith Olivier's third, and most cheerful and light-hearted novel.


Genre: Literary Fiction