published 2010
audiobook - read by Simon Vance
Synopsis from publisher:
In a dusty post-war summer in rural Warwickshire, a doctor is called to see a patient at lonely Hundreds Hall. Home to the Ayres family for over two centuries, the once grand house is now in decline, its masonry crumbling, its garden choked with weeds. All around, the world is changing, and the family is struggling to adjust to a society with new values and rules.
Roddie Ayres, who returned from World War II physically and emotionally wounded, is desperate to keep the house and what remains of the estate together for the sake of his mother and his sister, Caroline. Mrs. Ayres is doing her best to hold on to the gracious habits of a gentler era and Caroline seems cheerfully prepared to continue doing the work a team of servants once handled, even if it means having little chance for a life of her own beyond Hundreds.
But as Dr. Faraday becomes increasingly entwined in the Ayreses' lives, signs of a more disturbing nature start to emerge, both within the family and in Hundreds Hall itself. And Faraday begins to wonder if they are all threatened by something more sinister than a dying way of life, something that could subsume them completely.
My thoughts - Okay, my view on some of these characters has changed significantly now that I've finished the novel. Dr. Faraday started out as a fairly decent guy. By the end, however, he had morphed into something very different. Controlling and manipulative, he just wanted to get to Hundreds Hall by any means necessary. I know this was supposed to be a "Halloween-y" read, but it seemed to get less spooky to me as it went along as well. Perhaps because I was expecting a real ghost story, and instead got the makings of one, but not the finished product itself. Eh, maybe it just wasn't the right time for me, but this reading of the novel was rather underwater.
No comments:
Post a Comment