"A book I greatly admire." - Graham Greene "One of the most interesting first novels I have read for some time. Short and dramatic, and written with a fine simplicity. I could not put it down until I knew all that was to happen that Saturday night." - Sunday Times "A first novel of outstanding merit . . . In Mr. Hampson we have a new writer of strong and wholly original talent." - Harold Nicolson, Daily Express "A masterpiece of character drawing." - Daily Sketch Sinister and scheming Mrs. Tapin has seen fourteen landlords come and go at the Greyhound, an old pub located in a Derbyshire mining village, and she has no doubt that the new owners, Ivy Flack, her gay brother Tom, and her drunken, philandering husband Fred, will soon be the next to fail. Pushed to the edge of ruin by Fred"s gambling, the free drinks he gives away to customers, and the money he lavishes on his mistress, Ivy and Tom know that Saturday, the busiest night of the week, is...