When we first meet John Wonder, he seems to be living out some kind of male fantasy: not one, not two, but three wives – and he’s sniffing around for a fourth. Who is this sexual colossus?
And how is he getting away with it? John’s job takes him around the world to authenticate claims of the Guinness World Records variety; he’s a man of rigorous truth, except when it comes to his own life.
His three wives, each with two children, live in blissful ignorance of each other’s existence – until John upsets his own apple cart by falling madly, disastrously, in love with The Most Beautiful Woman in the World.
You can interpret Malcolm Knox’s fifth novel any way you choose (Is it a fable? Black comedy? Study of masculinity?), but few authors have such a sharp eye – or stylish pen – for the secret lives of men.