Drome had been a flourishing town, but after the airfield closed it completely lost its way, becoming a commercial and cultural backwater. The local government is plagued by petty politics, and a general state of apathy provides a perfect cover for corruption to thrive.
Flitch is an artist who should have gone to seek his fortune elsewhere but found it impossible to leave this claustrophobic town. Till now he had always lived the life of an outsider, but suddenly finds himself at the epicentre of the town when he is unexpectedly nominated as Chancellor. He is pitched into an unfamiliar world for which he has no qualifications or experience. It is assumed he will serve as an unquestioning figurehead who can be manipulated and bought off, but this proves to be a big miscalculation, as he takes on his new responsibilities with gusto. In his attempts to court popularity and revitalise the town he sets in motion ever more ambitious schemes. But can we trust Flitch’s judgment, or even his hold on reality?
This is a story of naive idealism and vision coming up against bigotry and parochialism. Flitch, troubled by events in his past, is determined to make his mark in the future.
The incestuosness of life in Drome propagates a recurrence of themes and experiences amongst its inhabitants. Their fate seems to be locked into an unstoppable orbit, coming down through the generations, forming an inescapable and inevitable symmetry.
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