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{{Short description|Book by Michael Dobbs}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox book
| italic title = <!--(see above)-->
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| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = First edition
| author = [[Michael Dobbs]]
| audio_read_by =
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| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| series = House of Cards
| release_number =
| genre = [[Political thriller]]
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| dewey =
| congress =
| followed_by = [[To Play
| notes =
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}}
'''''House of Cards''''' is a political thriller novel by British author [[Michael Dobbs]]. Published in 1989, it tells the story of [[Francis Urquhart]], a fictional [[Chief Whip of the Conservative Party|Chief Whip]] of the [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]], and his amoral and manipulative scheme to become leader of the governing party and, thus, [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]].
A [[
The novel was followed by two sequels
==Background==
Michael Dobbs began working for the
Shortly after leaving his post as Chief of Staff in 1987, Dobbs and his wife visited [[Malta]] on holiday. While sitting beside a swimming pool in Malta, Dobbs scribbled the letters "FU" and a drawing of two raised [[The finger|middle fingers]] on a piece of a paper. The letters would become the initials of ''House of Cards'' protagonist, Francis Urquhart.<ref name="NewStatesman"/> Dobbs stated that he had not planned to write the book saying, "None of this was planned. It was all a bit of a joke, an accident. I had no intention of being a writer, or even finishing the book. It was just a holiday distraction."<ref>{{cite web|title=What "House of Cards" creator, Lord Dobbs, can tell us about realpolitik|url=http://www.afr.com/lifestyle/arts-and-entertainment/film-and-tv/michael-dobbs-creator-of-house-of-cards-20160307-gncnmz|website=Financial Review|accessdate=21 March 2018|date=19 March 2016}}</ref> Dobbs insists that it is not a "book of revenge", but "most of the stuff I put into ''House of Cards'' was material from events I'd either seen, or participated in, or done, or watched other people do."<ref name="NewStatesman"/> Dobbs has also stated that the book was not a comment on contemporary politics, and also drew inspiration from the works of [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]].<ref>{{cite web|title=House Of Cards creator Michael Dobbs on the dark arts of politics|url=https://www.thenational.ae/arts-culture/television/house-of-cards-creator-michael-dobbs-on-the-dark-arts-of-politics-1.215307|website=The National|date=27 March 2016|accessdate=21 March 2018|language=en}}</ref>
==Plot==
Following the resignation of Prime Minister
Urquhart exploits his position as Chief Whip to
Prior to the final ballot, Urquhart murders the party's drug-addicted and increasingly unstable public relations consultant, Roger O'Neill, whom he forced into helping him to remove Collingridge from office. Urquhart invites O'Neill to his [[country house]] near [[Southampton]], gets him drunk, and puts rat poison in his [[cocaine]].
Mattie untangles Urquhart's web and confronts him in the deserted roof garden of the [[Houses of Parliament]].
===Revision===
After the initial TV series the author revised the published novel to bring it in line with the UK TV series, in which Urquhart throws Mattie from the roof rather than committing [[suicide]], thus allowing for a continuation of the story. The name of the newspaper that Mattie Storin works for was changed from ''The Daily Telegraph'' to the fictional ''The Chronicle,'' same as the TV series.
==Sequels==
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==Adaptations==
==References==
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{{House of Cards}}
[[Category:House of Cards|
[[Category:English novels]]
[[Category:1989 British novels]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Political thriller novels]]
[[Category:HarperCollins books]]
[[Category:British novels adapted into television shows]]
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