NOTWITHSTANDING

Welcome to the village of Notwithstanding where a lady dresses in plusfours and shoots squirrels, a retired general gives up wearing clothesaltogether, a spiritualist lives in a cottage with the ghost of herhusband, and people think it quite natural to confide in a spider thatlives in a potting shed. Based on de Bernieres' recollections of thevillage he grew up in, "Notwithstanding" is a funny and moving depiction ofa charming vanished England.