By Fay Weldon (314 pages)
Published by St. Martin's Press
Bookish rating: 3.75
Shamelessly marketed to Downton Abbey fans, I shamelessly made a point to get this novel in my hands. Because you know what? We all have a Downton-sized hole in our hearts between seasons.
Set in London at the end of 1899, we face the typical aristocratic conundrum: old family, large estate, massive debts, and the need of a rich American with a large dowry or fortune to set it all right again via marriage.
In some ways, Habits of the House complements watching Downton, because you get a better understanding of how vested servants were in the maintaining the class structures, which is a weird thing for us Americans to understand. Reading this novel while simultaneously re-watching season one of Downton, I saw a lot of nuances in the show I had previously missed.
Weldon's characters aren't terribly likeable, and I don't think they're meant to be. They're spoiled, rich, hypocritical, conniving, politically naive, or some combination thereof. Weldon writes all of them with a sense of amused irony, which is fun to read. This is not the greatest novel ever, but it's a fun little jab at a class of people taking themselves way too seriously.
Recommended.
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