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The New Countess: A Novel (Habits of the House) Hardcover – December 17, 2013
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England, 1905. Lord Robert and Lady Isobel Dilberne, as well as their entire regal estate, with its hundred rooms, are busy planning for a lavish visit from King Edward VII and his mistress just a few months away. Preparations are elaborate and exhaustive: the menus and fashions must be just so. But even amidst the excitement, not everyone is happy.
Lady Rosina―now widowed and wealthy― insists on publishing a scandalous book despite her mother's objections. Arthur Dilberne and Chicago Heiress Minnie O'Brien's two young sons―the eldest of whom is heir to the estate―are being reared to Lady Isobel's tastes, not Minnie's. After making a shocking discovery, Minnie will take drastic measures for the sake of her children. And when fate deals a hand in the middle of the royal shooting party, the entire Dilberne estate will face upheaval once again.
The New Countess is the final novel in Fay Weldon's outstanding trilogy that began with Habits of the House and Long Live the King. As the bestselling novelist and award-winning writer for the pilot episode of the original Upstairs Downstairs, Weldon magnificently lifts the curtain on early twentieth-century British society, upstairs and downstairs, under one stately roof.
- Print length336 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherSt. Martin's Press
- Publication dateDecember 17, 2013
- Dimensions6.5 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches
- ISBN-101250028027
- ISBN-13978-1250028020
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“Readers will be eager to plunge in…Weldon has deftly capitalized on the Downton Abbey momentum.” ―Booklist
“Funnier and nastier than the two earlier volumes.” ―Kirkus Reviews
“The novel's conclusion is surprising. With remarkable skill, Weldon reverses the reader's expectations in such a way that the astonishment is followed by an immediate recognition of inevitability.” ―The Star Tribune
“Weldon knows her subject and era well, and the last book [The New Countess] in her trilogy is perhaps her best.” ―RT Book Reviews
“Weldon amuses with her usual mix of courtly language undercut by snark.” ―The Boston Globe
“Weldon remains at the top of her game with [Long Live the King]...Fans of Downton Abbey will relish this rich and witty comedy of manners.” ―Star Tribune on Long Live the King
“Teeming with tasty tidbits about royals great and small, Weldon's second installment in her Dilberne Court trilogy gives devoted Anglophiles a whirlwind tour upstairs, downstairs, and all around the castle.” ―Booklist on Long Live the King
“Weldon's flair for capturing the grudging envy shared by the British and their colonial counterparts is worth more than its market value in fool's gold.” ―The New York Times on Habits of the House
“Before there was Downton Abbey, there was Upstairs, Downstairs, and, having written the first episode of that iconic television series, it is only fitting that Weldon now returns to the scene of the crime to further explore the disparate worlds of 'them that has and those what serve 'em.'...Always a ripe target for mockery and disdain, the British aristocracy comes in for a thorough drubbing in Weldon's snarky send-up.” ―Booklist on Habits of the House
“[Habits of the House] succeeds as an opening to a new series.” ―Publishers Weekly on Habits of the House
“Habits of the House is good fun from start to finish, thanks to its breezy storytelling and witty social observations.” ―The Washington Post on Habits of the House
“There is simply no touching Weldon as a writer.” ―The Observer (UK) on Habits of the House
“Fay Weldon has always examined the scary parts of what lies beneath the silk cushions and behind the closed gates.” ―The Chronicle of Higher Education on Habits of the House
“I was a girl from Downstairs. When I was 16, my bedroom was in the basement of a posh house in London, where my mother was the housekeeper. . . . Odd, this class business. Here's Upstairs Downstairs back again, Downton Abbey so popular.” ―Fay Weldon on Habits of the House
About the Author
FAY WELDON is a novelist, playwright, and screenwriter who, at the age of 16, lived in a grand London townhouse as the daughter of the housekeeper. In addition to winning a Writers' Guild Award for the pilot of Upstairs Downstairs, she is a Commander of the British Empire whose books include Praxis, shortlisted for the Booker Prize for Fiction; The Heart of the Country, winner of the Los Angeles Times Fiction Prize; Worst Fears, shortlisted for the Whitbread Novel Award; and Wicked Women, which won the PEN/Macmillan Silver Pen Award. She lives in England.
Product details
- Publisher : St. Martin's Press (December 17, 2013)
- Language : English
- Hardcover : 336 pages
- ISBN-10 : 1250028027
- ISBN-13 : 978-1250028020
- Item Weight : 1.14 pounds
- Dimensions : 6.5 x 1.25 x 9.5 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #3,548,946 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #167,894 in Historical Fiction (Books)
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This third book has the same cast as the first and the same sort of continuing problems of the family and staff. Certainly Weldon is wittier in this book; the staff seems to have taken on quite cheeky relationships with their "betters". Lord Robert's valet advises him to go to a brothel to "relieve" himself when he's worried about affairs of state...and the affairs of his household. The head footman, Reginald, regularly steams open missives meant for the family to read them and report to the staff below stairs. This is truly a modern approach for the staff to take, but it is matched equally by behavior of the family members. Lady Rosina returns from Australia as a widow and accompanied by a parrot called "Pappagallo" who has a most undignified vocabulary. She settles in with a group of friends who are publishing a literary magazine. She's also trying to sell her book on the sex-life of the Aborigines. Rosina has been banned from both family homes. But the other family members are also at sixes-and-sevens. The heir, Lord Arthur, has been neglecting his American-born wife, Minnie, and their sons, for his automotive development business. And Lord Robert, busy with affairs of state, is displeased with his wife, who is busy changing everything around for the King's visit.
If there is a problem between the characters, it can be summed up by there being a failure to communicate with one another. However, as things progress, things work out.
I'm not sure why Fay Weldon decided to write a series of three books, all published in the same year. In hindsight - and if anyone asked me - I'd have advised her to write one large book, and include only the material in the first and third books. The print is large in all the books but certainly by use of smaller print, quite a nice, single book could have been produced. But, no one asked me. For those readers who enjoyed Weldon's first book in the trilogy, I think you'll find this last one a good followup. Just skip the stinker in between!
The only consolation about the society depicted in this story is that it had less than a decade more to go before World War I brought it crashing down.
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Thank you Fay Weldon for everything from "Female Friends" (my first FW) to this. Please keep them coming.