Elizabeth Wilhide is the author of over 20 books on interior design, decoration and architecture and a co-author and contributing editor to some 30 other titles, collaborating with authors such as David Linley, Terence Conran and Tricia Guild. Born in the United States, she has lived in Britain since 1967. She lives with her husband, an architect, and their two children in the East End of London.
An engrossing debut . . . a sparkling jewel: full of fascinating
detail, high drama and sly wit
*Amanda Foreman*
An affecting, intelligent debut
*Observer*
Lively interlinked historical vignettes display distinct
post-Downton commercial savvy . . . a pleasurably subtle web of
connections . . . a beguilingly effortless read
*Daily Mail*
The author has skilfully held together a complex tale with numerous
characters and has also imbued each vignette with faultless
historical detail
*Country Life*
A rich and absorbing social history . . . the novel's real value
lies in its detail . . . the finely embroidered description, and in
its subtle observation of behaviours and tastes
*Financial Times*
A panoramic view of English family life . . . any reader who loves
history and houses will enjoy this verbal magical lantern show
*Charlotte Moore*
I adored this book; I saw it as a sort of love letter to a vanished
way of life, and a slice of English history at the same time,
tracing as it does the lives of all the people who lived in
Ashenden, a beautiful English country house, for over two hundred
years. It's very touching and very compelling
*Penny Vincenzi*
Ambitious . . . Vignettes at the start of each chapter report on
the physical
and spiritual condition of the house; this has a Woolfian quality
to it . . . Wilhide excels at minor social details.
Well-observed
*TLS*
Wilhide, an interior design and architecture writer, delivers a tedious historical exploration of an 18th-century English estate house in her debut novel. When Charlie Minton and his sister, Ros, inherit Ashenden Park (based on an actual estate in Berkshire, England) from their recently deceased aunt, they are forced to decide its fate., The house's history is revealed through chronologically ordered flashbacks, one per chapter. The unidentified narrator, however, focuses more on the people whose lives revolve around the house; each chapter begins with a quick look at the house during that particular period before following the characters who then inhabit it. Unfortunately, there is little to thread this series of short stories together other than the building itself. As the supporting characters barely resurface from one chapter to the next, they are hardly given a chance to develop, and though the house is the intended central character, the execution is too disjointed, leaving the reader uninvested in the story. Though the descriptions of time and place befit an author who has made her name in the design and decor world, Wilhide's ho-hum book lacks narrative tightness. Agent: Anthony Goff, David Higham Associates. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
This beautifully written debut novel takes us on a moving pilgrimage through the ups and downs of human nature, all within the walls of a historic English mansion. Wilhide, author of more than 20 books on interior design, decoration, and architecture, does a terrific job of introducing the reader to the history of Ashenden, starting with a tragedy in 1775 and continuing with the house's construction through the two world wars and into the present day. The story jumps through the years-sometimes skipping a decade, sometimes a century-but each vignette is connected through the house and its residents, servants, neighbors, and visitors. Within these stories, we meet the original architect who puts his heart into this house's design, servants in desperation, happy families, and miserable couples, all against a historical background. VERDICT With its top-notch writing, strong character development, and excellent plot, this will be on the reserve list of Downton Abbey fans, historical fiction readers, and family saga buffs.-Marianne Fitzgerald, Annapolis, MD (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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