Cavendon Hall

November 1, 2013

Perk up, Downton fans: the mega-best-selling Bradford, OBE, sets her next work in Edwardian England, where the Swanns have been serving the aristocratic Inghams for centuries. But with World War I comes change.

Copyright 2013 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2014
Life--and melodrama--upstairs and downstairs at a Yorkshire stately home, as World War I nears. Sound familiar? Cavendon, however, lacks the tension that launched Downton Abbey to such acclaim. The estate is not threatened: Primogeniture is working just fine, given that Charles Ingham, sixth Earl of Mowbray, has two sons in addition to his four daughters; and the fiefdom is certainly not broke. Moreover, the Inghams have another advantage the Crawleys lack: the Swann family, whose members have, for more than 160 years, sworn to protect and serve them. Now, Walter Swann is the Earl's staunch valet; his wife, Alice, and daughter Cecily see to matters of decor and wardrobe; Swann matriarch Charlotte (the Earl's friend from childhood) is de facto estate manager; and her nephew Percy supervises Cavendon's extensive grounds as gamekeeper. Into this latter-day feudal utopia some trouble must fall, and it's introduced when Daphne, loveliest of the Earl's daughters, is raped by Richard, the eldest son of a neighboring family of country squires. At first advised by the Swanns to say nothing of her violation, secrecy is no longer possible once Daphne realizes she's pregnant. To avert scandal, plans are made to send Daphne abroad, which are soon mooted when second cousin Hugo Stanton--a vastly wealthy, good-hearted tycoon once wrongfully exiled from the family--returns and falls in love with Daphne at first sight. A hasty marriage ensues. Other conflicts emerge almost as afterthoughts to swathes of pages devoted to Bradford's usual meticulous inventories of gracious living. Although Richard is clearly behind a number of sinister events, the motivation for his villainy is never explored. Such a vague antagonist does nothing to undermine the book's deep conviction that no crisis is insurmountable given loyal friends, splendid furnishings and unlimited funds. Not even the Great War can jar this novel out of its stalwart complacency.

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March 1, 2014
The lives of the Ingham and Swann families have been intimately entwined for more than 160 yearsthe former as the royal owners of their estate home, Cavendon Hall; the latter as those who keep their masters' secrets. On the eve of WWI, there is a particularly dastardly secret to be protected: Lady Daphne, the most beautiful of Lord Ingham's four daughters, is raped by her closest friend's brother. Worse luck, the attack results in a pregnancy, thereby further dashing Daphne's chances of being married to an as-yet-unnamed duke. Salvation comes in the form of long-lost cousin Hugo, recently widowed and returning after a successful career in America to reclaim his Yorkshire roots. Luckily for all, Daphne and Hugo fall deeply in love, and their union further helps the Inghams and Swanns weather the tragedies to come when England goes to war. The popular and prolific Bradford knocks another fast-paced family saga out of the park with charming characters and manor-house mayhem.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)