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The Shrapnel Academy

Published
Apr 1987
Main Genre
Women's Fiction Women's Fiction
Pages
192

About This Book

A weekend in the country erupts into a free-for-all of mutiny, sex, and murder On the anniversary of the Eve of the Battle of Waterloo, an assortment of unusual dinner guests gather at a remote country house to pay homage to Henry Shrapnel, inventor of the exploding cannonball. But all is not peaceful at the Shrapnel Academy: The downstairs servants, a group of third-world refugees led by a South African butler, are plotting to overthrow their upstairs oppressors. When a blizzard hits the countryside and traps everyone indoors, the rebellion erupts into bloody warfare throughout the Academy, a shrine to the ethos of military excellence.   With characters that include a domineering female sergeant, a war-mongering general, a brain-damaged spy, and an idiot-savant arms dealer, Fay Weldon gives us a country house novel replete with sexual atrocity and class warfare. No one will emerge unscathed in this stinging tale of modern-day barbarians, where the deadliest weapons are the ever-raging battles between the haves and the have-nots.

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Paperback

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Apr 1988 Penguin ISBN 0140097465
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Apr 1988 Penguin ISBN 0147782805
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Hardcover

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Hardcover
First Edition Apr 1987 Viking ISBN 0670814822
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eBook

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May 2013 Open Road Publishing ISBN B00CHW68T6
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eBook
May 2013 Open Road Publishing ISBN 1480412589
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Audio

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Sep 2013 Audible Studios ISBN B00E9YXPAU
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Sep 2016 Brilliance Audio ISBN 1531818900
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Mar 2022 Brilliance Audio ISBN 171361782X
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Large Print

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Hardcover
Jan 1989 MacMillan ISBN 1850574138
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Sep 2001 Dales Large Print ISBN 1842620843
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