The Ravenscar Dynasty

Devotees of Barbara Taylor Bradford will be overjoyed with her new dynasty, the Deravenals. When patriarch Richard perishes in a suspicious hotel fire, it falls to 17-year-old Edward and his cousin to avenge the death and regain control of the family business from their Lancashire relatives. That side of the family is ruled by an insane old man and his treacherous French wife, Margot. Listeners are back in the BTB bosom as the author mixes this family feud with sexual liaisons and ruthless subplots. Narrator Ric Jerrom manages to use enough voices to identify who is speaking, where, and when. He is adroit in depicting the men and especially convincing as the women, particularly the wicked Margot. M.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

November 20, 2006
The doyenne of popular women's fiction (Just Rewards
) returns with the first installment of a projected trilogy centering on internecine power struggles within the early 20th century incarnation of the centuries-old Deravenel clan and their London-based family business. A suspicious hotel fire causes the death of patriarch Richard Deravenel along with that of one of his sons, his brother-in-law and his young nephew, forcing tall, handsome, bright, seductive, 17-year old Edward Deravenel out of Oxford into the world of commerce. He and cousin Neville Watkins (a successful businessman in his own right) plot to avenge their fathers' and brothers' deaths and seize the company, currently under the stewardship of a delusional absentee executive whose ambitious (and French) wife is behind the skullduggery. Edward's longtime friend, Will Hasling, also joins the fray, and Neville has his own motivations. Along the way, there are libidinous liaisons, wicked plots, personal catastrophes, a secret "love child" and lessons aplenty about the consequences of ruthless ambition. Expect strong, two-dimensional characters; tasteful and adroit sex; repetitive exchanges; a plot rich with period detail and reasonably backed-up friction.