House of Trelawney by Hannah Rothschild

Maybe you remember I really enjoyed Ms. Rothschild’s other novel – The Improbability of Love, so when I read about another novel by her, I had to download it from my library.*

One of the books I read while traveling, House of Trelawney, was both engaging, fascinating, and yet also, somewhat infuriating. Here is another novel where the house is as much a central character as the people.

So first, the house — (and I’m quoting here) — for more than seven hundred years, the vast, rambling Trelawney 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 a “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.

But as you read deeper into the novel, this is no romantic, rundown manor — there is no heating, sometimes no hot water, and there are gaps where the auctioned paintings used to be — it’s filled with mold, rodents, and decaying filth. This is the stark reality of their situation.

The story is set during the 2008 global economic crisis. A time which almost brought down the world’s financial systems. That, along with the disintegration of the British antiquated class system provide backdrops to the Trelawney family story, which takes place at the estate in Cornwall and London.

This is a big, tempestuous story of an English family trying to save their family estate – but not only is the physical estate disintegrating, so is their lifestyle, and family bonds. The entwined story of these characters and the house twists around inheritance, personal interests, class standards and drive (or lack thereof) across three generations. All sprinkled with satire, wit, and some marvelous writing.

This story line of a rapidly-disappearing world of privilege is very reminiscent of Julian Fellows (of Downton Abby fame) and the humor reminded me of Evelyn Waugh (Note: more on Waugh in a future post here).

There is a great assortment of characters – so take a deep breath and see if you can follow along. There is Jane, the daughter in law who works hard and sacrifices for Kitto, her husband, and his family. The grandmother who refuses to let go of the standards of centuries past. Then there is the incompetent Ambrose, the oldest son of Kitto and Jane, a youth even more callow and incompetent than his father or grandfather. We spend time with Arabella, younger sister of Ambrose, who develops an interest in entomology from her eccentric Aunt Tuffy who scrapes fleas off animal corpses for research. Finally there is Tony Scott, younger brother to the old Earl, is now an aging, impoverished art dealer who lives in a London bed-sit (aka studio apartment).

The reader must pay attention, as each chapter addresses a different point in time, skipping around a day or week later, and sometimes three months between, but not to worry you’ll get used to it, and it’s easy to go back and check where you are in the time frame.

There’s not a great deal of plot; the book is much more of a character study of the family as they try to deal with modernity, while holding on to a life style and titles that no longer have meaning or relevance..

If the novel has one fault, it is the on again, off again, romance between Blaze and Joshua, It became irritating after a while, and somewhat contrived, as it didn’t fit in with the black humor that made this book so much fun for me. Also, the ending seemed very sudden with many loose ends left untied.

Most fascinating for me was the extensional question — who came out better — those who inherit or those who break away to a different life.

I found House of Trelawney a grand read – for me escapism, humor, and I have to admit, with a bit of British aristocracy schadenfreude (look it up, great word).

N.B. * If you have a digital reader of any sort, check out your library’s digital book system — called Overdrive and/or Libby. Clearly explained on your library website or go and get instructions from your librarian. You can download books from anytime and anywhere. I downloaded this novel while sitting on the deck of our ship in Norway.