<p><i>The Boarding House</i> by William Trevor - a darkly comic novel by one of the world''s best writers<br><br>William Bird has always taken in boarders who are on the fringes of society: the petty conman, the immigrant who''s never been able to fit in, the blustering officer who really doesn''t know what''s what , and the just plain lonely. He''s built a unique place with a unique atmosphere. But then he realizes he''s dying, and he decides to leave the place to the two tenants likely to cause the greatest amount of trouble, and the whole enterprise goes up in smoke.<br><br>William Trevor''s dark comedy, reminiscent of Evelyn Waugh and Muriel Spark, was his second novel.<br><br>''Trevor has the knack of slicing life so that it reveals lower layers we have not suspected'' <i>Daily Mail</i><br><br>''He tells you the most outrageous things in a most pleasant manner, hardly ever raising his voice'' <i>Guardian</i><br><br>William Trevor was born in Mitchelstown, County Cork, in 1928, and