Words leave imprints in your mind like footprints in the sand...
WW1, 1920s, 1940s: Starting off in a sleepy village in Yorkshire, we travel over Europe and America as we follow the Fenton family as their fortunes take them across the world and through some of the most significant and dangerous moments in history….
Viscount Gilbert Fenton lives in a stunning manor house in the Yorkshire countryside. Carrie Thornton knows the family well and she plays with the daughters of the family – but their social status will soon decide their very different futures.
Thea for one is set to flout the social mores and expectations of the time, Olivia forges relationships with the British Royal family and heads off to Germany but war is brewing…
Violet flouts every rule in the book when she decides she wants to be an actress. Hollywood beckons but she ends up in Germany where she meets a man named Goebbels…Hitler’s man in charge of film making.
Rozalind finally is having an affair with a UK senator. She too will soon be caught up in Hitler’s war and the landscape of all their lives will change forever….
Fenton Manor and the people in the family play out their roles within the strict constraints of the time. But the headstrong Fenton sisters and their poor neighbour Carrie will challenge expectations. War is looming and everything they know will change too.
From the quiet hills and valleys of Yorkshire where a ride in the horse and carriage and a visit to the place where the children like to see the voles, we also start to see the hints of war – men with facial disfigurements live or try to live amongst those sheltered from the reality of war.
As the sisters grow and move away, they become embroiled with some of the most iconic people and moments in history – Bertie’ who becomes King following the abdication of his brother Edward. Queen Elizabeth and their circles are part of their lives. But the world is changing…
Violet, an actress and her American Cousin Rozalind are challenged by an affair with a US Senator which brings her in to circles with diplomats and the german government. Rumours abound of the horrors unfolding there but events are about to come a lot closer to these people and their beloved Yorkshire.
Germany of course was the main anxiety. Many believed that appeasement and the League of Nations would contain Hitler..
The time bomb that was Adolf Hitler…
Susan:
A sweeping saga would be a good description of this book – a slow burner but with many different story strands within to keep you hooked. The landscapes and descriptions of the different environments for rich and poor are well evoked and the favourite place for me was where rich and poor children would visit the voles down by the river.
Sweeping across decades and from one family member to another, the stories interweave in very unexpected ways and I felt I knew the characters well. Violet was a favourite for being so ‘different’ and the romance between Hal and ‘his girl’ whoever that would be in the end was charming to read..
The effects of war on a high class family and the villagers was at times shocking and sad – particularly Charlie who had been injured and ostracized by villagers. Loved the weave of fiction and fact with historical figure such as Bertie, Queen Elizabeth and Hitler playing their part in the story.
Really enjoyed this. A book to take your time with. Ooh and as for the twist at the end……..
