SMALL TEAR ON FRONT COVER...WELL READ PAPERBACK WITH SOME CREASES.MARK ON FRONT COVER
a farce about a dictatorship purportedly in an ex-Spanish colony 'on the other side of the ocean', but clearly satirising that of Mussolini. The fancy dress party of the title is the focus of a series of intrigues and counter-intrigues involving the social, sexual and political interests of representatives of various levels of a society under dictatorship. The social prestige of Duchess Gorina, who is holding the party, would be hugely boosted by the presence of the dictator, Tereso, a man who would normally shun such parties. Understanding his weakness - he has no luck with women - she plots to entice him with a beautiful young widow, Countess Fausta Sanchez, with whom they know he is in love. The cold-hearted and corrupt Fausta has her own motive: she will become Tereso's mistress purely in order to secure a government contract for her brother.