From the author of The Improbability of Love: a dazzling novel both satirical and moving, about an eccentric, dysfunctional family of English aristocrats, and their crumbling stately home that reminds us how the lives and hopes of women can still be shaped by the ties of family and love.For more than seven hundred years, the vast, rambling Trelawney Castle in Cornwall–turrets, follies, a room … Castle in Cornwall–turrets, follies, a room for every day of the year, four miles of corridors and 500,000 acres–was the magnificent and grand “three dimensional calling card” of the earls of Trelawney. By 2008, it is in a complete state of ruin due to the dulled ambition and the financial ineptitude of the twenty-four earls, two world wars, the Wall Street crash, and inheritance taxes. Still: the heir to all of it, Kitto, his wife, Jane, their three children, their dog, Kitto’s ancient parents, and his aunt Tuffy Scott, an entomologist who studies fleas, all manage to live there and keep it going. Four women dominate the story: Jane; Kitto’s sister, Blaze, who left Trelawney and made a killing in finance in London, the wildly beautiful, seductive, and long-ago banished Anastasia and her daughter, Ayesha. When Anastasia sends a letter announcing that her nineteen-year-old daughter, Ayesha, will be coming to stay, the long-estranged Blaze and Jane must band together to take charge of their new visitor–and save the house of Trelawney. But both Blaze and Jane are about to discover that the house itself is really only a very small part of what keeps the family together.
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“House of Trelawney” was advertised as similar to the TV show, “Downton Abbey.” I don’t see the comparison, personally, which disappoints me so much!
Instead of “Downtown…,” we have a literally decaying mansion, owned for 800+ years by the same aristocratic family. The house – and the family – are far past their prime, the fortunes that built the house dissipated by a succession of feckless, spendthrift heirs. The aging, nearly-demented Earl and Countess live in their one cold room, not realizing that there are NO household servants left, and that Jane, the wife of the current heir, Kitto, does all the work around the house. There is no money to refill the oil tanks, much less repair the crumbling manor. Kitto has invested what is left of the family’s money in a hedge fund operation. His estranged sister, Blaze, kicked off the estate as was customary, has had nothing to do w/ her family for the previous 20 years, instead building a life in London as a financial expert. Except she has NO life; she only has work. Then there are Kitto and Jane’s kids: Ambrose is about to turn 18, bombs in school, and goes to work for a smarmy hedge fund guy, who only hires the kid b/c he holds a grudge against Blaze, Jane, and their best bud Anastasia, who ran off to India and married a maharaja, under mysterious circumstances. Toby and Arabella go to public school and grumble about their mother’s cooking.
Then along comes the 2008 worldwide financial collapse. The lives of ALL the Trelawneys change for the worse, as of course, Kitto loses everything in the collapse. Of course, the smarmy guy comes out on top, dealing a fatal blow to the Trelawney clan in more ways than one. And at the same time, an illegitimate child shows up…
My overall feeling toward this story is disgust and loathing. Instead of the incomparable Countess of “Downtown,” we have the dotty Countess of Trelawney who doesn’t realize that she is a total joke to the television cameras, inspiring both pity and scorn. Years of privilege have left Kitto unable to deal w/ adversity and poor Jane and Blaze to mop up the pieces of the family tragedy.
After reading this one, I’m going to absolutely STOP believing the hype about books on reading websites, I swear.
In the interest of full disclosure, I’m an Anglophile who is obsessed with Cornwall. If a book takes place in Cornwall, I will read it. With that being said, I do have very high standards for my Cornish literature. I have a couple of friends who weren’t blown away by this book. But I absolutely loved it! The characters are hysterical. The setting is wonderful. This is exactly what I want from my contemporary fiction. As an American, I enjoy super quirky and eccentric Brits. This book is full of them. There are a lot of strong women who keep this family from falling apart, and I really appreciated reading about them. I highly recommend this book!
I loved this book. Don’t really understand why it got a lot of mediocre reviews. I thought all the characters were so interesting and real. Want to read it again as soon as I can get it back from my grand-daughter!