Description

Shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize For Comic Fiction

‘If you’re in need of a Succession replacement then this tale of a crumbling English dynasty clinging on to the past while coping with the fallout of the 2008 crash is for you. Pure pleasure’ – Stylist

‘Delights from start to finish’ Mail on Sunday
‘Witty and stylish’ Sunday Times
‘Jilly Cooper territory with a whiff of Joanna Trollope … a lavish saga’ The Times
‘Slyly comic’ Red
‘What you might get if you threw What a Carve Up! and Kind Hearts & Coronets into a blender together’ John Boyne
The seat of the Trelawney family for over 800 years, Trelawney Castle was once the jewel of the Cornish coast. Each successive Earl spent with abandon, turning the house and grounds into a sprawling, extravagant palimpsest of wings, turrets and follies.

But recent generations have been better at spending than making money. Now living in isolated penury, unable to communicate with each other or the rest of the world, the family are running out of options. Three unexpected events will hasten their demise: the sudden appearance of a new relation, an illegitimate, headstrong, beautiful girl; an unscrupulous American hedge fund manager determined to exact revenge; and the crash of 2008.

A love story and social satire set in the parallel and seemingly unconnected worlds of the British aristocracy and high finance, House of Trelawney is also the story of lost and found friendships between three women. One of them will die; another will discover her vocation; and the third will find love.

Publisher Review

If you're in need of a Succession replacement then this tale of a crumbling English dynasty clinging on to the past while coping with the fallout of the 2008 crash is for you. Rothschild is a mischievous narrator and this story is pure pleasure from the word go * Stylist * Curl up and lose yourself in this hugely entertaining satire of a deeply dysfunctional family of aristocrats desperate to save their crumbling Cornwall home' * i paper * Praise for The Improbability of Love: 'A deliciously wicked satire ... A masterpiece * Daily Mail * Impishly wicked, ruthlessly frank, touchingly percipient and laugh aloud funny -- Rachel Campbell-Johnston * The Times * Ingenious * Mail on Sunday * Like a Rococo painting, this clever, funny, beguiling and wholly humane romance is a treat worthy of its subject -- Amanda Craig * Independent * Totally delicious -- Kate Saunders * The Times * Thrilling ... Staccato satire worthy of the pen of Evelyn Waugh * Daily Express * Her writing shows brain as well as heart * Economist * Reading this book is like a raid on a high-end pastry shop - you marvel at the expertise and cunning of the creations, while never wanting the deliciousness to end -- Elizabeth Gilbert It's mischievous, fun and on the money * Tatler * Hannah Rothschild is finally coming into her own ... Bound to be a bestseller -- Lynn Barber * Sunday Times * Every page is a joy. It's funny, sad, profound. The writing dances. It has panache. It's beautifully structured. It wears its scholarship with a balletic lightness and grace that shadows the Rococo painting at its heart. Its many and varied characters are an exquisite joy. Her range and emotional grasp is wonderful. What more can I say? It's my Book of the Year already -- Barbara Trapido A timely reflection on art's true value * Observer * What a delightful read - a satirical look at the world of art with some love, mystery and comedy thrown in for good measure * Radio 2 Book Club * An excellent and very funny debut * The Lady * Absorbing ... Rothschild cleverly has the painting itself tell part of the story and beautifully marshals a wealth of historical detail * Metro * A novel that is so pleasurable I've read it twice, and will read it again * Glasgow Sunday Herald * A bittersweet and highly enjoyable satire * Woman & Home * Part well-crafted mystery, part thriller, part love story, Rothschild's The Improbability of Love takes its readers on a wonderful journey into a rarefied world usually only experienced by the wealthy few * Jewish Chronicle * A capacious and fluently knowledgeable tale that excoriates with mischievously satirical intent the viciously competitive world of high-stakes art collecting ... Captivating ... Rothschild, the first woman to chair London's National Gallery, is a dazzling omniscient narrator giving voice to an irresistible cast of reprobates and heroes ... An opulently detailed, suspensefully plotted, shrewdly witty novel of decadence, crimes ordinary and genocidal, and improbable love * Booklist * A frolicsome art-world caper ... Ms. Rothschild writes with such exuberance and spins such a propulsive yarn * New York Times *