Northrop Hall (Severn House Large Print) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Margaret Bacon (Author)

Book Description

Series: Severn House Large Print | Publication Date: July 1, 2003

In the first decade of the twentieth century, life at Northrop Hall carries on much as it has done for centuries. Dowager Lady Arndale presides over the smooth running of the house, whilst her son Charles manages the vast estate and Nanny Stone rules the roost in the nursery. Diana Arndale, just sixteen and back from finishing-school in Paris, looks forward with giddy excitement to her coming-out in London, as the protegee of her glamorous Aunt Selina. It is a well-ordered, comfortable, predictable existence, in which master and servant each knows his place. But the storm-clouds are gathering over Europe, and with the outbreak of 'The War To End Wars', the world of the Arndales and their servants is turned upside down. Life will never be the same again, for any of them...

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

It's 1914, and life is as it has always been at Northrop Hall. Lady Arndale, the matriarch, has very firm views on appropriate behavior and morals, the proper order of society, and the place of servant and master. When she dies in a tragic accident, it is the first in a series of changes that will drastically alter life on the estate. Lady Arndale's son, Charles, becomes the new lord of the manor just as World War I breaks out. For the next generation of Arndales--Diana, the aspiring nurse; Laura, who desperately wants a career; airplane fancier Rupert; Teddy, heir apparent to Northrop Hall; and Tom, the good son and soldier--life will never be the same, as rules change, social barriers fall, and women cease to be treated as inferior beings. Bacon, who deserves comparison to Pilcher and Binchy, has created a gripping generational saga full of romance, danger, sorrow, and tragedy. An entertaining, not overly sentimental story, full of skillful writing and captivating characters. Emily Melton
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Bacon was brought up in Yorkshire and educated at Oxford. She taught history before marrying.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Severn House Publishers (July 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0727873024
• ISBN-13: 978-0727873026
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,806,410 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not up to comparison with Pilcher and Binchy, July 24, 2004

By 

Turquoise Skunk (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Northrop Hall (Hardcover)

I have to disagree with the editorial reviewer. I read this book because it was compared to Rosamunde Pilcher and Maeve Binchy. It's not up to the level of either of these great writers. Fans of Pilcher's "Coming Home" will recognize some similarities, probably because Bacon was trying to write something similar. But unlike "Coming Home," the characters are not well enough developed that we care about them, so when terrible things happen to them, it seems excessive rather than tragic. It lacks the richness and depth of other, better war novels. Not terrible, but disappointing.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a feel-good book, June 1, 2007

By 

B. Dowling "bookworm" (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Northrop Hall (Hardcover)

This book starts out with an interesting story at the start of the twentieth century. It shows how good life was for the upper classes and what life was like for those who served them. The servants were about one step above serfs and their lives were virtually owned by their masters. When World War 1 breaks out, life changes dramatically in Northrop Hall. The servants go off to war, the eldest grand daughter of dowager Lady Arndale goes off to be a war nurse and her brother, who is to inherit Northrop Hall after his father,joins the army. There are vivid descriptions of trench warfare, disease, starvation, horrible war wounds and gassed soldiers. The soldiers are shot if they refuse to go out of the trenches and face almost certain death or wounds. At the end of the war, the characters left have all suffered losses in their lives in various ways.

This book could be read as an anti war book and it demonstrates in grim detail the realities of war, the lies of propaganda, and how out of touch the higher military were regarding the actual conditions on the battlefields, and how they made mistake after mistake. It also is a condemnation of the old class system that has died out in England.

I could not compare Margaret Bacon to either Rosamund Pilcher or Maeve Binchy in Northrop Hall. This book is too cynical and painful with badly damaged characters of all classes at the end.