Genre: Historical Biography
Publisher: Viking Penguin, 2013
Pages: 512
Rating: Do Not Recommend
Synopsis: After the Ninth Duke of Rutland, one of the wealthiest men in Britain, died alone in a cramped room in the servants’ quarters of Belvoir Castle on April 21, 1940, his son and heir ordered the room, which contained the Rutland family archives, sealed. Sixty years later, Catherine Bailey became the first historian given access. What she discovered was a mystery: The Duke had painstakingly erased three periods of his life from all family records—but why? As Bailey uncovers the answers, she also provides an intimate portrait of the very top of British society in the turbulent days leading up to World War I.Review: This novel began with so much promise, just like the cover says, "...a haunted castle, a plotting, duchess, and a family secret."
Then the author began discussing her research in great detail instead of just telling the story. This was interwoven around great,and in some cases, unnecessary, detail about World War I.
If there's anything good to say about The Secret Rooms it is John Rutland's (Ninth Duke of Rutland) mother, Violet, was quite the character. She provides further proof that fact is stranger than fiction. She was one contradiction after another. Without Violet's machinations, I would have found it even more difficult to finish.
"Tedious" is a worthy adjective to describe The Secret Rooms.
No comments:
Post a Comment