Habits of the House

Experiencing somewhat of a let down after my recent Downton Abbey marathon, I was delighted to receive a notice that Fay Weldon's Habits of the House (#273) was being held for me at the library.  The cover blurb for the first book in this new trilogy promised "an entertaining romp for Downton Abbey fans."  Well, no wonder.  Ms. Weldon won a Writers' Guild Award for her pilot of another favorite, Upstairs, Downstairs.  She obviously knows her turn-of-the-century British upper class households!

In this entertaining and scandalous entry, the action takes place in the Earl of Dilberne's household in a period of just over two months.  It begins when the Earl's man of business rushes to Berkley Place to inform Robert Hedleigh that he is facing economic ruin after his gold mine is taken over during the Boer War in South Africa.  Not only will the Earl suffer financially, but so will Eric Baum himself, who has lent the Earl the money to invest in the first place.  The problem is, no one takes Mr. Baum seriously.  He has disrupted the house by coming so early in the morning, and the servants won't even be bothered to open the door to him.  From there, it's downhill for Mr. Baum's day.  When the Earl, his Countess, their daughter Rosina, who fancies herself a "New Woman" and their son and heir, Viscount Arthur, are finally told the news over breakfast, it seems to have no effect on them.  Life goes on, and the most important thing in their future is the December dinner party for the Prince of Wales.  But underneath the placid surface, things are changing for the Hedleigh family: secrets will out, social barriers will be thrust aside, and the staff will play an important role in the fate of the family, and thus, themselves.  The newspaper account of the Countess's successful dinner party honoring the Prince of Wales sums up the events of this novel nicely. 

It's all very juicy and it does live up to the promise of The Guardian's cover blurb.  But what happens next?  Now I'm hooked.  The only problem is that it's a longer wait between books than it is between episodes!  Long Live the King is due out later this year, but I'll have to wait until early 2014 for the final installment, The New Countess.  Trust me, these are both on my "To Read" shelf already!