Set in a provincial Argentinian town, Charley Fortnum, "The Honorary Consul," at the age of sixty-one, sustained by drink and his disputed status as British Consul, still retains enough (or too much) hope and illusion to marry and love a twenty-year-old girl from Senora Sanchez's brothel.

(Key Words: Graham Greene, Argentina, Brothels, Fiction, Prostitutes, Consuls, Love, Paraguay, Foreign Service, Alcoholism).