18 JANUARY 1992, page 30

The Dead Hand Of The Past

Christopher Hawtree THE PRECIOUS GIFT by John Bowen Sinclair-Stevenson, £14.95, pp. 188 I f a new Stephen King had not been rushed out to catch the Christmas market, then that......

Watching Society Scampering Past

Henry Porter THE MANSIONS OF LIMBO by Dominick Dunne Bantam, £14.99, pp. 268 W hen journalists write about high society for American magazines they feel it necessary to imply......