A Fête Worse Than Death is a tale of bunting, buttercream, and one young lady's spectacular miscalculation at the Little Dithering summer fête. When debutante Clementine Beaufort-Smythe crosses paths with the formidable Mrs. Poppet (and her prize-winning sponge), tradition and impropriety collide behind the WI tent, with results neither the bishop nor the cake stand will soon forget.
A Fête Worse Than Death
It was the sort of summer afternoon on which nothing dreadful was ever supposed to happen. Sunlight danced on bunting, bees hovered near sponge cakes and, in the parish of Little Dithering, the annual fête was in full swing.
Elderly gentlemen, with silver hair and weathered faces, wore panama hats with the sort of conviction that could only come from a lifetime of public school tradition. Ladies in floral summer frocks carried parasols like they were royal sceptres, ready to fend off both sun and scandal. The air was filled with the hum of cheerful chatter and the thock of coconuts tumbling in the shy.
When Susie Pembroke and her mischievous friend Linda sneak home from an unsanctioned pool party, they find themselves in rather hot water. With stern morals, a trusty hairbrush, and a zero-tolerance policy for scandalous swimwear, Mrs Pembroke is ready to deal with immodesty in her own unforgettable fashion — while Linda tries, desperately, to stay hidden... and to suppress her giggles.
Act 1 – A Suspiciously Sunny Afternoon
The Ford Escort that crunched up the gravel drive of 13 Garden Terrace, left a trail of golden dust and ABBA in its wake. Two girls tumbled out in a flurry of giggles and tangled beach towels. Susie Pembroke, dripping chlorinated water onto her mother’s prized rhododendrons, and Linda Marchant, who was balancing precariously on a pair of cork-soled platform sandals.
Both wore bikinis of a design that would have made any self-respecting WI committee clutch their pearls in horror. Daisy chains twined around their wrists and completed the look of reckless summer abandon. Home for the University summer break, they were determined to make the most of this lovely weather.