Nicky Lancaster is a young pianist newly returned from a spell in decadent and glamorous Parisien society, with some dubious new habits. While he has been gone, his glamorous and self-absorbed mother, Florence, has taken up with Tom, the latest in a succession of lovers half her age. Nicky introduces his mother to Bunty, his fiancée, but the cracks in their relationship are evident from the beginning. As his relationship with Bunty falls apart and his cocaine habit worsens, Nicky confronts his mother over the emptiness and loneliness of her life and blames her for what he has become. The Vortex explores the dark, poisonous side of the fashionable 1920s Cocktail Party set, depicting drug abuse, sexual vanity, gossip, and infidelity.
The Vortex guide sections
