The House Rules: 100 Rules for Any Occasion

Never again wonder what to do, what to wear, or what to say.

For forty years I ran one of the great houses. I watched a great many people walk into a great many rooms, and I learned exactly what separates the ones who are asked back from the ones who aren't. It is never money. It is a handful of small things, done at the right moment. This book is all of them.

What's inside

• 100 illustrated rules: arriving, the table, conversation, dress, weddings, funerals, meeting the parents, the office party, the bar, the club and the phone in your pocket
• The exact words to say on every page
• 30 word-for-word scripts for the moments that go wrong: the forgotten name, the salary question, the guest who won't leave
• Dress codes decoded, from white tie to "festive", with illustrations
• The table, drawn properly: formal and everyday place settings, and the knife-and-fork signals
• Night-before checklists for eight occasions, fill-in thank-you and condolence letters, and the 30-Day Polish

How to use it: find your occasion in the index ("I have a wedding…"), read those few pages the night before, tick the checklist, and go.

You get: a 141-page illustrated PDF, plus the digital edition: every rule online, searchable, with your favourites saved, on any phone or laptop. Your access code is on the last page.

American custom first, with the British difference wherever it matters. Every rule checked against leading etiquette authorities, including The Emily Post Institute and Debrett's.

Manners are free. That's why so few people can afford them.

Mr. Ashby is an AI character. The manners are real.