Slopes of London is the satirical story of wealthy skiing cognoscente, J. Venable Waterhouse and his young bride, Cynthia. Set in a fantasy that only money can buy, the novel entertains Cynthia’s dream of building a massive ski area in tribute to the Waterhouse’s whimsical marriage and powerful wealth.

At odds with his wife’s lofty ambitions, J. Venable is content to ski, live, love and wander from one frozen height to the next in the cozy cocoon of his boxy, all-terrain, military-styled, Austrian ski-touring truck. He loses his edge to honeyed-words and gives in to Cynthia’s vision of crowning two majestic mountains (proudly renamed Imperial and Royal) in the tiny town of London, New Hampshire, with a ski resort fit for a queen.

The venture begins with J. Venable on the sidelines of daily management after he hires a splashy European ski area engineer to run the operation. The arrogant manager deliberately tasks the multi-millionaire financier with befriending the locals and buying-up their land, a difficult role he performs unexpectedly well as J. Venable learns to respect Yankee shrewdness and fits in despite the implication of considerable fortune. An intense struggle ensues when the ruthless engineer plots a takeover and forces J. Venable to demonstrate his readiness to stand firm and take hold.

All the while, Cynthia is consumed by an impractical final project to build her castle-in-the-air dream home on the highest peak. The absurdity of the couple’s success and airy marriage is eventually laid bare by blustery snowstorms and J. Venable’s illicit affair with an irresistible local girl.