The Birdcage

Salonika in 1916 is a city more than half-Jewish and, until a few months ago, one of the jewels in the Ottoman crown. It is now suddenly Greek. Nominally neutral, it is filled with French, British and Serbian soldiers defending it against the Austro-German and Bulgarian forces to the north. In a city seething with intrigue, cafe society continues unperturbed and the native inhabitants make from the soldiers what money they can. Young nurses from the Women’s Hospital join seasoned soldiers, and Kite Balloonists must trade their traditional chivalry towards the enemy against the need to survive. In this sparkling tale, the spirits of Wodehouse and Waugh meet those of Biggles and R C Sherriff, and the sense of time and place is impeccably vivid and real. The breathless ride is just beginning

Reviews of The Birdcage

`A fabulous yarna |a twisty, pacy plot.'-The Times;`Aslet is an entertaining writera |he can tell a tale very engagingly.'-The Spectator;`Aslet writes superbly well, his prose touched with irony like Vermouth in a good martinia |His mines, laid with such apparent artlessness, go off one by one as the book approaches its surprising and satisfying conclusion.'-Country Life;`While conflict and danger lurk a little way offstage, Aslet's cast of dreamers, adventurers and plotters put on a stylish and entertaining tragi-comic show.'-The Independent;`Aslet's elegant first novel captures the complexities of the period while telling a good yarn with verve and humour. '-Mail on Sunday;`Great look for Aslet's 1916 story set in Salonika, a nominally neutral city which is filled with French, British and Serbian soldiers… '-The Bookseller