 The fictional Widmerpool 's background is meritocratic rather than aristocratic . His paternal grandfather was a Scottish businessman surnamed Geddes , who on marriage to a woman of higher social standing , adopted her name as his own . The family appears to have settled in either Nottinghamshire or Derbyshire ; Widmerpool 's father trades as a fertiliser manufacturer , a matter of extreme embarrassment to his son , who never mentions him . His mother is a woman of strong opinions and a great admirer of Stalin ; her passion is her son 's career and advancement . Mother and son live together , from Widmerpool père 's death in the mid @-@ 1920s until Widmerpool 's marriage in 1945 . 
