The Glorious Guinness Girls

April 15, 2021
Felicity "Fliss" Burke is sent to live with the Guinness family, famous and wealthy thanks to their stout empire, and is enthralled by the daughters Aileen, Maureen, and Oonagh. Growing up amidst the struggle for Irish independence, the Guinness girls are insulated by privilege from its devastation even when it engulfs Fliss' beloved brother. The Roaring Twenties brings a move to London, where Maureen spars with Aileen and continually parties with other Bright Young Things, while Fliss seeks her place in a changing world. The young women's lives are keenly observed through Fliss' steady perspective. Hourican draws parallels to modern social media darlings with endless attention-grabs, sensation-seeking, and shallowness occasionally combined with casual cruelty. As Fliss' friend observes, "They make a great show of pulling all down around them. But they have nothing to put in place of what they tear apart, and they haven't realized that yet." With undeniable appeal for fans of Julian Fellowes of Belgravia and Downton Abbey renown, Hourican's lively tale captures the spirit of the times via the buzz-worthy foibles of attractive, wealthy socialites.

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May 1, 2021

Irish novelist Hourican (The Privileged) looks at the heiresses to the Guinness brewery fortune; Aileen, Maureen, and Oonagh were the It Girls of London and Ireland from the late 1900s through the 1930s. This novel brings their personalities to life, through the first-person narration of Felicity, aka "Fliss," a (sort-of) poor relation who lives with the Guiness family after her father dies. The book's dual timeline catches up with Fliss in 1978, when she revisits the family home in Ireland to sort through a cache of old family papers stored in the attic. As Fliss separates musty pieces of the past, she reflects on her life with the glamorous Guiness sisters. She's still tormented by the fateful moment when her obsessive loyalty to the family slipped, and its ramifications. VERDICT This book's title is mildly misleading, since the novel focuses less on the Guinness sisters and more on Fliss and the political turmoil raging outside the privileged walls of wealth and class. The tragedy that haunts them is palpable, but the story is unfortunately bogged down by too many characters and shallow society parties, and by Fliss's overplayed guilt complex. After a promising start, the story quickly loses steam, eventually ending on a flat note.--Julie Whiteley, Stephenville, TX

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