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Summary
Summary
Charlie, Kitty, Max and Liza are first cousins and lifelong friends. Charlie is an aspiring barrister, Kitty is expected to marry, Max is too spoiled for his own good, Liza too ambitious. They belong to the vast St Clair clan, a distinguished and wealthy power in the land, where judges and QC's rub shoulders with black sheep and eccentrics, and where, above all, weakness is frowned upon. But the family is not as secure as it seems. Foolish business decisions rock its finances; a bitter and public divorce unsettle its stability. And when two of the cousins declare their love for each other, this threatens to destroy the family's very foundations and reveal a tragic secret that has lain buried for over half a century.
Reviews (2)
Publisher's Weekly Review
A country estate again provides Dilke (The Inheritance) with fertile ground for excavating the high expectations and underlying emotions of a wealthy English family. In 1974, two brothers are all that's left of the oldest generation of St. Clairs: Hector, an aging war veteran attended by his elderly manservant, and Lionel, one of several attorneys in the family who (with wife Eleanor) has produced four children (one deceased), all married with children of their own. As the novel opens, the 20-something cousins who include impetuous Liza, who wants to be a singer; Charlie, on track to become the next St. Clair lawyer; Kitty, who has captured Charlie's heart, but wants Max's; and Max, who seeks refuge with his cousins when his parents' separation promises to become a painful, public divorce congregate at Uncle Hector's annual garden party to fondly remember childhood games. But the "discreet patina of wealth" soon peels back to reveal resentments, jealousies, selfishness and desire. Accusations pass between Max's parents, declarations of love and hate between cousins. Attempting to avert future disaster, Hector confesses his own generation's secret tragedy. Small psychological insights, inserted with an ironic twist, add a welcome dimension to this perceptive melodrama. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
Set during the 1970s, this British saga chronicles the plight of the St. Clair family as they, once quite grand, fall into decline. The oldest generation reeks, virtually, of mothballs and depends on creaky servants. The younger generation consists of four twentysomething, emotionally connected cousins. Kitty and Charlie share a flat, Liza longs to join them, and Max has wealthy, indulgent, but scandalously divorcing parents. The cousins are not as successful as hoped yet are still well loved by grandparents and great-uncles. The family skeleton, madness, has been kept in the closet but now comes to light, as do newspaper stories of mistresses, bankruptcy, and theft. These are people for whom good manners are so supremely important that real pain is ignored, with tragic results. Though somewhat stuffy and dated, much like the St. Clair family homes, Dilke's novel will appeal to those who love tales of British bloodlines. --Danise Hoover Copyright 2007 Booklist