17 DECEMBER 1983, Page 52

Mark Amory

Fools of Fortune by William Trevor (The Bodley Head) is his best novel yet. Kate's House by Harriet Waugh (Weidenfeld and Nicolson) is hers.

I may have read more inept books but the most disappointing by clever, admired pro- fessionals were Duluth by Gore Vidal (Heinemann) and The Philosopher's Pupil by Iris Murdoch (Chatto).