Fiction. Is he a madman or the best butler you've ever had? Cadiot's zany first novel takes the British weekend house party paradigm and keeps shifting its terms. At this book's center is the enigmatic "I"--a butler headed for perfection or insanity--or perhaps both. With the impending Second World War as a background, the story, often funny and at times sinister, interweaves themes of servitude, espionage, escape, and, ultimately, victory in an unsuspected quarter.