Amazon.com Review
Palliser Wentwood is no Jeeves. Unlike P.G. Wodehouse's exemplary butler, Wentwood neither shimmers silently in and out of rooms nor extricates his master from impossible scrapes. Instead, he drinks his employer's brandy, pays scant attention to his personal hygiene, and performs his duties in a lackadaisical manner--if he performs them at all. But this may be due to the fact that Palliser Wentwood is not really a butler. He is, in fact, something of a rogue--a man who has abandoned his wife and four children in New Zealand and come to England to make his fortune. His plans for doing so involve Hubert Lovelace, a wealthy Anglican priest, and his massive and homely sister, Blanche. By insinuating himself into the Lovelace household, Wentwood hopes, he can work his charms on Blanche and eventually extract enough cash from her to return to New Zealand.
In her first novel, Imogen de la Bere has crafted a wise and charming comedy of manners--and morals. As the narrative switches back and forth between Palliser in England and his wife, Salome, and children in New Zealand, de la Bere raises the stakes by introducing a potential love interest for the abandoned wife--and an inconvenient case of guilty conscience for the scheming Wentwood. This is an old-fashioned novel with old-fashioned pleasures: a slightly formal narrative, complex characters you come to care about, and a strong story that more than earns its satisfying ending. --Margaret Prior
From Publishers Weekly
A near-penniless 45-year-old Salom? Wentwood and her four young daughters face eviction when a syndicate of creditors lays claim to their fertile but demanding New Zealand farm, in this quirkily charming first novel. Salom? was abandoned by her husband, lovable Irish rogue Palliser Wentwood, who left two Christmases ago to make his fortuneAor at least clear his debts. Armed with a shotgun, she faces down her creditors. One of them, wealthy bachelor Philip Butterworth, decides that instead of harassing Salom?, he will be her financial adviser, and eventually the two become partners in a fruit cordials and wine-making business. Meanwhile, Palliser, who's fetched up in Hertfordshire, England, is also broke, and since it's become imperative for him to return home with enough money to excuse his unconscionable absence, he tries his last and most desperate scheme. Contriving to meet wealthy Blanche Lovelace, an obese unmarried heiress, he ingratiates himself with her and with her brother Hubert, a clergyman, eventually landing a job as their butler. Planning to seduce and then abandon Blanche after siphoning away all her money, Palliser, who still loves Salom?, is surprised to find himself feeling a great tenderness and genuine responsibility toward Blanche, who does indeed fall in love with him. Although it's set in the 1950s, the novel has a whimsically old-fashioned tone, due in part to Palliser's romantic reliance on great chunks of poetry, and the author's wry editorial commentary. De la Bere's characters may be manipulative, but thanks to their respective consciences they manage to remain sympathetic, especially when they manage to do good despite their worst intentions. (Aug.) she has published books on music and religion.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.
