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Morland Dynasty #34
The Winding Road
1925: the Jazz Age; Wall Street Crash
England is prosperous, enjoying an upsurge in trade, scientific discovery and new technology. In NewYork the Jazz Age defies Prohibition. Polly is a feted belle, and Lennie expands his interests from radio to television and talkies. In England, the General Strike sees the nation pulling together again. Emma drives an ambulance, Molly runs a canteen, and both find a new direction in life. Jack is part of the R101 team; Oliver becomes plastic surgeon to the stars. But the Wall Street Crash brings the fabulous decade to an end, and Morland Place faces the worst threat of its history.
England is prosperous, enjoying an upsurge in trade, scientific discovery and new technology. In NewYork the Jazz Age defies Prohibition. Polly is a feted belle, and Lennie expands his interests from radio to television and talkies. In England, the General Strike sees the nation pulling together again. Emma drives an ambulance, Molly runs a canteen, and both find a new direction in life. Jack is part of the R101 team; Oliver becomes plastic surgeon to the stars. But the Wall Street Crash brings the fabulous decade to an end, and Morland Place faces the worst threat of its history.
672 pages, Hardcover
First published November 3, 2011
23 people are currently reading
248 people want to read
About the author
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
168 books492 followersCynthia Harrod-Eagles (aka Emma Woodhouse, Elizabeth Bennett)
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles was born on 13 August 1948 in Shepherd's Bush, London, England, where was educated at Burlington School, a girls' charity school founded in 1699, and at the University of Edinburgh and University College London, where she studied English, history and philosophy.
She had a variety of jobs in the commercial world, starting as a junior cashier at Woolworth's and working her way down to Pensions Officer at the BBC.
She wrote her first novel while at university and in 1972 won the Young Writers' Award with The Waiting Game. The birth of the MORLAND DYNASTY series enabled Cynthia Harrod-Eagles to become a full-time writer in 1979. The series was originally intended to comprise twelve volumes, but it has proved so popular that it has now been extended to thirty-four.
In 1993 she won the Romantic Novelists' Association Romantic Novel of the Year Award with Emily, the third volume of her Kirov Saga, a trilogy set in nineteenth century Russia.
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles was born on 13 August 1948 in Shepherd's Bush, London, England, where was educated at Burlington School, a girls' charity school founded in 1699, and at the University of Edinburgh and University College London, where she studied English, history and philosophy.
She had a variety of jobs in the commercial world, starting as a junior cashier at Woolworth's and working her way down to Pensions Officer at the BBC.
She wrote her first novel while at university and in 1972 won the Young Writers' Award with The Waiting Game. The birth of the MORLAND DYNASTY series enabled Cynthia Harrod-Eagles to become a full-time writer in 1979. The series was originally intended to comprise twelve volumes, but it has proved so popular that it has now been extended to thirty-four.
In 1993 she won the Romantic Novelists' Association Romantic Novel of the Year Award with Emily, the third volume of her Kirov Saga, a trilogy set in nineteenth century Russia.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
March 11, 2021
"THE WINDING ROAD" is the 34th novel in the Morland Dynasty Series. It has all the classic hallmarks of the previous novels: complex, compelling, and fascinating characters; fantastic places that take on the attributes of vital, living beings; and a keen sense of life in motion.
The story carries on into January 1925. Polly Morland - the sole daughter of Edward 'Teddy' Morland, the lord and master of Morland Place in Yorkshire - is living in a fine house on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, where she has been living for the past few years. She is a celebrated beauty and a successful fashion designer with her own fashion house and a burgeoning list of monied clients. A proposal of marriage from Ren Alexander, a darkly handsome, astute businessman with a mysterious past and political ambitions (and the connections to go with those ambitions) comes as a surprise. She had known him for some time, and while having enjoyed their outings together, never once considered marriage. When she tells Lennie, a distant cousin and close confidant --- who has pined for Polly for years, from the time he first met her a decade earlier when he had travelled to Britain to join the British Army to fight in the First World War --- he has his misgivings. But he is supportive of her and attends Polly's wedding, which was a rather grand event. Notwithstanding that, Lennie pays for a private detective to find out all he can about Ren and his past.
The novel also shifts among different members of the extended Morland Family line - shedding considerable light on the goings-on of the Comptons, the Brancasters, the Westhovens, and the Peakes. In the hands of a less skilled and assured writer, this scattering of characters across various places could result in a muddled mess, confusing the reader as to what the story is really all about. Thankfully, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles shows consummate skill in breathing life into characters that will fill and enrich the imagination of any reader. Love, crises, heartache, hope, and tragedy abound. There is never a dull moment in this novel, which carries the reader through the rest of the decade and brings home the shock and aftershocks engendered by the Wall Street Crash of October 1929 and resulting economic depression.
I'd like to cite the following words from "THE WINDING ROAD", which for me summed up the passage of an era so well described in it --- 'The revels of the whole country this last year [1929] - indeed, this whole decade [the 1920s] - had come to a sudden end. America had danced and played, growing richer almost by the day. Golf, tennis, sea bathing and beach picnics, the cinemas, the theatres, the restaurants, ever-fancier automobiles, sassy clothes, jazz, cocktails - it had been quite a revel. And now the party was over.'
And for Morland Place itself, it is again faced with challenges that could lead to its dissolution after being part of the family for 500 years. But I don't want to give too much away. At 662 pages, "THE WINDING ROAD" will keep the reader spellbound throughout.
The story carries on into January 1925. Polly Morland - the sole daughter of Edward 'Teddy' Morland, the lord and master of Morland Place in Yorkshire - is living in a fine house on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, where she has been living for the past few years. She is a celebrated beauty and a successful fashion designer with her own fashion house and a burgeoning list of monied clients. A proposal of marriage from Ren Alexander, a darkly handsome, astute businessman with a mysterious past and political ambitions (and the connections to go with those ambitions) comes as a surprise. She had known him for some time, and while having enjoyed their outings together, never once considered marriage. When she tells Lennie, a distant cousin and close confidant --- who has pined for Polly for years, from the time he first met her a decade earlier when he had travelled to Britain to join the British Army to fight in the First World War --- he has his misgivings. But he is supportive of her and attends Polly's wedding, which was a rather grand event. Notwithstanding that, Lennie pays for a private detective to find out all he can about Ren and his past.
The novel also shifts among different members of the extended Morland Family line - shedding considerable light on the goings-on of the Comptons, the Brancasters, the Westhovens, and the Peakes. In the hands of a less skilled and assured writer, this scattering of characters across various places could result in a muddled mess, confusing the reader as to what the story is really all about. Thankfully, Cynthia Harrod-Eagles shows consummate skill in breathing life into characters that will fill and enrich the imagination of any reader. Love, crises, heartache, hope, and tragedy abound. There is never a dull moment in this novel, which carries the reader through the rest of the decade and brings home the shock and aftershocks engendered by the Wall Street Crash of October 1929 and resulting economic depression.
I'd like to cite the following words from "THE WINDING ROAD", which for me summed up the passage of an era so well described in it --- 'The revels of the whole country this last year [1929] - indeed, this whole decade [the 1920s] - had come to a sudden end. America had danced and played, growing richer almost by the day. Golf, tennis, sea bathing and beach picnics, the cinemas, the theatres, the restaurants, ever-fancier automobiles, sassy clothes, jazz, cocktails - it had been quite a revel. And now the party was over.'
And for Morland Place itself, it is again faced with challenges that could lead to its dissolution after being part of the family for 500 years. But I don't want to give too much away. At 662 pages, "THE WINDING ROAD" will keep the reader spellbound throughout.
January 26, 2012
I read this book (600+ pages) in 3 days. I love this series. I will so miss it and I think the publishers were so totally wrong in ending this series
January 5, 2016
This series has been incredibly, and surprisingly, enjoyable. The Morland saga is decidedly not my sort of normal read. I remember the first few volumes and making each decision to read "just one more" in the series. I honestly thought I would give up on the books before volume 5.
Imagine my surprise to find I am reaching the end of an enjoyable journey. I have felt no hardship in reading thousands of pages across more than 30 volumes.
I enjoy the author's ability to describe the difficult with facility. I especially appreciate the fact that several volumes were dedicated to the Great War (WWI) which meant it received proper attention. The lives that were disrupted, destroyed and lost during the conflict were treated with respect and dignity. One of the most moving passages dealt with the construction of the Cenotaph monument and bearing home the body of the unknown soldier.
I have hated some of the characters, loved others, and mourned many when they passed. Now I have but one more book to spend with the Morlands. I am going to miss them.
Imagine my surprise to find I am reaching the end of an enjoyable journey. I have felt no hardship in reading thousands of pages across more than 30 volumes.
I enjoy the author's ability to describe the difficult with facility. I especially appreciate the fact that several volumes were dedicated to the Great War (WWI) which meant it received proper attention. The lives that were disrupted, destroyed and lost during the conflict were treated with respect and dignity. One of the most moving passages dealt with the construction of the Cenotaph monument and bearing home the body of the unknown soldier.
I have hated some of the characters, loved others, and mourned many when they passed. Now I have but one more book to spend with the Morlands. I am going to miss them.
January 20, 2013
The saga of the Morland family continues -- the Morlands are hatched, matched and dispatched in the midst of the 1920s. Since one of the characters is a pilot and aircraft designer, there's quite a bit about British aviation; the General Strike of 1926 and the Crash of '29 figure in the story, as well as the extension of women's suffrage in Britain to younger women (I'd forgotten, if I ever knew, that at first only women over 30 could vote). I'm addicted to this series, which was meant to be a painless way to learn British history and does a good job of it. I'd advise reading it from the beginning, though.
February 27, 2018
Yes we will all be sad when the series finishes. I do not know of any others quite so long of a dynasty like this. The Winding Road was large and I am always glad of the family tree at the beginning. Very relaxing, reading long into the night, but I did like the earlier more historical novels better I think. Well done CHE.
November 25, 2022
Another re-read. Continuing the Morland story into the 1930s. Loving the way the characters are developing, and looking forward to the next installment- which will not be until next fall, unfortunately!
July 21, 2021
I loved the author's dedication in the front of the book, it went straight from her heart to mine. "For my readers, faithful followers of the Morland story, who always wanted to know What Happened Next"
April 24, 2024
This author was one (of many) recommended to me, and The Winding Road was the first of hers I read. It is part of a dynasty, and she does seem to specialise in series.
Set in the 1920s, we follow the lives of a well-to-do family with their close friends on both sides of the Atlantic. Familial losses and changes to their lifestyle as a result of the Great War have left some struggling to cope. The world around them is changing, and ends with the depression which equally affects the family, but in different ways.
The story was interesting, I felt involved with the characters and wanted to follow them. I enjoyed learning about their lives. It isn't a thriller that leaves you eager to turn every page, and even the drama often isn't climactic, but that didn't matter. The story itself pulled me in.
This book is an amazing tour de force of research and facts, around which the story evolves. As a researcher and writer, I am hugely impressed. As a reader, a bit less so, as the facts often interfere with enjoying the fiction.
It is also a bit of a thumper to read, so to recognise that I needed to keep reading the following books in the dynasty to learn 'what happened next' to certain characters was rather disappointing. If all of her books were this big, that would cut out quite a bit of a reader's life to get through them all.
Nonetheless, Harrod-Eagles' writing deserves to be read and I will certainly try another one, or perhaps even more. It's just that there are so many other authors to read, too.
Set in the 1920s, we follow the lives of a well-to-do family with their close friends on both sides of the Atlantic. Familial losses and changes to their lifestyle as a result of the Great War have left some struggling to cope. The world around them is changing, and ends with the depression which equally affects the family, but in different ways.
The story was interesting, I felt involved with the characters and wanted to follow them. I enjoyed learning about their lives. It isn't a thriller that leaves you eager to turn every page, and even the drama often isn't climactic, but that didn't matter. The story itself pulled me in.
This book is an amazing tour de force of research and facts, around which the story evolves. As a researcher and writer, I am hugely impressed. As a reader, a bit less so, as the facts often interfere with enjoying the fiction.
It is also a bit of a thumper to read, so to recognise that I needed to keep reading the following books in the dynasty to learn 'what happened next' to certain characters was rather disappointing. If all of her books were this big, that would cut out quite a bit of a reader's life to get through them all.
Nonetheless, Harrod-Eagles' writing deserves to be read and I will certainly try another one, or perhaps even more. It's just that there are so many other authors to read, too.
February 24, 2021
This is the story of the latter half of the 1920s and the early 1930s, as they affected the widespread Morland family, from Yorkshire throughout England and across the ocean to the United States. We learn how events such as the General Strike in Britain and the Wall Street Crash in America affected various members of the family. At time heartwarming and heartbreaking, this book is hard to put down. Highly recommended.
August 26, 2020
Slow to start, but once it gets moving it's a good addition to the Morland Saga. Plenty of matches, hatches and dispatches in this one! Though, as usual C.H-E. starts to set up some really interesting developments for the characters then promptly kills them off or aborts the plot. I liked the ending and look forward to #35
July 18, 2021
Another great installment
CHE is never less than honest about how people of this background would think and behave but it was still hard to see characters i liked be so clueless about the General Strike and the conditions of the striking workers. Overall another wonderful chapter in the Morland story and I'm so glad Polly came home
CHE is never less than honest about how people of this background would think and behave but it was still hard to see characters i liked be so clueless about the General Strike and the conditions of the striking workers. Overall another wonderful chapter in the Morland story and I'm so glad Polly came home
September 15, 2024
1920s theme
May 27, 2024
Morland Dynasty #34, covering 1925 to early 30s. Polly is the main character and she succumbs to the advances of a powerful financier and gets hitched. She builds her fashion business, but the husband, Ren, wants her to focus more on his career aspirations
February 11, 2021
Some years ago I was an avid reader of the books in the Moreland Dynasty series which follow the history of the Yorkshire Moreland family from the late 15th century down the centuries and the generations , with their lives intertwined with events in the nation’s history - my kind of book exactly. So i was delighted to catch up with the final two volumes.
Here we are in 1925 in America and England.
I must admit I was slightly disappointed in this read. I think the book would be difficult to follow by anyone not familiar with earlier volumes, and it took me time to recollect some of the very many characters featured. The early chapters focussed on Polly in New York and switched to the Moreland family in Yotk, notably Teddy, and Jessica, and the extended family in London, the dignified matriarch figure of Venetia, her doctor son Oliver, married daughter Viola in a relationship with the Prince of Wales, Jack engrossed in aeroplane developments, young Molly starting out in employment and Emma, putting to good use her wartime experience in driving ambulances.
I warmed to many of the characters and thought they were well depicted. The intertwining with external events was well handled, though I felt some of these chapters ie. on the General Strike went on too long.
I was reading this on my Kindle, but I found it disconcerting to be reading in one chapter about one branch of the family, in London or York,with the next paragraph suddenly switching back to America, without even so much as a divider of asterisks to indicate a change in setting and storyline.
I still look forward to reading the final 35th volume of this mammoth and enjoyable series. My rating 3.5.
Here we are in 1925 in America and England.
I must admit I was slightly disappointed in this read. I think the book would be difficult to follow by anyone not familiar with earlier volumes, and it took me time to recollect some of the very many characters featured. The early chapters focussed on Polly in New York and switched to the Moreland family in Yotk, notably Teddy, and Jessica, and the extended family in London, the dignified matriarch figure of Venetia, her doctor son Oliver, married daughter Viola in a relationship with the Prince of Wales, Jack engrossed in aeroplane developments, young Molly starting out in employment and Emma, putting to good use her wartime experience in driving ambulances.
I warmed to many of the characters and thought they were well depicted. The intertwining with external events was well handled, though I felt some of these chapters ie. on the General Strike went on too long.
I was reading this on my Kindle, but I found it disconcerting to be reading in one chapter about one branch of the family, in London or York,with the next paragraph suddenly switching back to America, without even so much as a divider of asterisks to indicate a change in setting and storyline.
I still look forward to reading the final 35th volume of this mammoth and enjoyable series. My rating 3.5.
November 4, 2012
The Morland series are very popular books, and it is easy to see why! Straight away I was captivated by the storyline, and although it is a large book, it does not drag at all and I found that I raced through the chapters in no time.
One thing I would like to focus on is the amount of detail in the book. The story follows the Morland family through the 1920′s and the detail and descriptions are wonderful. Cynthia has done a great amount of research and it really makes the book as I could picture every single scene in my mind. It felt as though I had been transported back in time and that I was watching the events unfold in front of me. I completely lost myself in the setting and everything was brought to life, I had the most enjoyable time reading this!
The characters were brilliantly written, Polly in particular was a favourite of mine. I loved how as readers we got to know each character very well, so that we understood how they acted, their thoughts and their feelings. I felt as though their hopes and dreams shone from the pages, and in the sad moments, I was gripped to see how they would deal with the situations they were faced with.
This book is compelling, it is addictive and the characters are truly fascinating people who deserve to be read about. It is worth pointing out that this is actually book number 34 in the Morland series, and so if you like period books with amazing detail and a long series to get stuck into, then I suggest you try Cynthia Harrod-Eagles novels!
One thing I would like to focus on is the amount of detail in the book. The story follows the Morland family through the 1920′s and the detail and descriptions are wonderful. Cynthia has done a great amount of research and it really makes the book as I could picture every single scene in my mind. It felt as though I had been transported back in time and that I was watching the events unfold in front of me. I completely lost myself in the setting and everything was brought to life, I had the most enjoyable time reading this!
The characters were brilliantly written, Polly in particular was a favourite of mine. I loved how as readers we got to know each character very well, so that we understood how they acted, their thoughts and their feelings. I felt as though their hopes and dreams shone from the pages, and in the sad moments, I was gripped to see how they would deal with the situations they were faced with.
This book is compelling, it is addictive and the characters are truly fascinating people who deserve to be read about. It is worth pointing out that this is actually book number 34 in the Morland series, and so if you like period books with amazing detail and a long series to get stuck into, then I suggest you try Cynthia Harrod-Eagles novels!
March 31, 2013
First of all, she needs an American editor because she does not realize that American culture and food in 1925 was not identical to American culture and food in the late 20th century. The peanut butter and jelly sandwich was not ubiquitous in the 20s as it was to become (in fact, the depression had a lot to do with peanut butter's take over of lunch boxes; a cheap and stable protein food for children was perfect for a population struggling to survive the panic.)
Secondly, she needs an editor because she consistently does not use the nominative case with the verb to be when the verb is but implied. "Polly was older than her." instead of "Polly was older than she(was)."
Thirdly, one wonders if she is dictating this? many sentences seem to be very colloquial and the word choice is strange.
So many convenient deaths and accidents! Major characters, a whole generation, in fact, gone in a flash and without a look back. The uncertainty about whether the series would continue without a publisher and the need to make the book suitable to wrap up the series without preventing it going on means the ending is a bit anti-climatic. But she is writing #35 so we go on...will she get through WWII without losing her publisher or dying herself? Almost more suspense there than in what will happen in the series. Basil will become an RAF flyer. Barbara will be a nurse or Wren or something. Alec will be too young to get in to it...Laura will come in to her own.
Secondly, she needs an editor because she consistently does not use the nominative case with the verb to be when the verb is but implied. "Polly was older than her." instead of "Polly was older than she(was)."
Thirdly, one wonders if she is dictating this? many sentences seem to be very colloquial and the word choice is strange.
So many convenient deaths and accidents! Major characters, a whole generation, in fact, gone in a flash and without a look back. The uncertainty about whether the series would continue without a publisher and the need to make the book suitable to wrap up the series without preventing it going on means the ending is a bit anti-climatic. But she is writing #35 so we go on...will she get through WWII without losing her publisher or dying herself? Almost more suspense there than in what will happen in the series. Basil will become an RAF flyer. Barbara will be a nurse or Wren or something. Alec will be too young to get in to it...Laura will come in to her own.
May 18, 2016
A masterly novel covering the sweep of the early twentieth century across English and American changes following the first world war, The Winding Road continues the saga of the Morland family and its various branches. Detailed in technical aspects of technological and financial factors, this is an easy education in the effects of historical shifts upon the lives of individual people as well as their ability to make their own choices to form the historical trends we look back upon. Lively and likeable characters, without the cynical and sinister imprint usually applied to discredit particular choices, seem a little unreal but only seeming to make them also more approachably human than stereotypical renditions by other writers. A remarkable feat to retain interest over so many pages, but also that this is the thirty-fourth book in the series! I wonder how much stamina I have to seek out some of the others.
July 30, 2012
It was interesting to start and then got bogged done. I normally like historical fiction, but this was way too much getting in the way of the story. I started skimming. By the end, I didn't care about the characters anymore.
Maybe if I'd read the first book, I might have cared about the characters as this is "what happened next", but that would be all I would get out of it. Really plodding.
Maybe if I'd read the first book, I might have cared about the characters as this is "what happened next", but that would be all I would get out of it. Really plodding.
March 26, 2014
This is an amazing concept for a historical series, following the same family from the time of the War of the Roses to The Great Depression of 1929. So in each generation you get a real feel for the times and how people from a variety of walks of life lived and loved.
Unfortunately, the series has stalled a little at this stage due to the publisher wishing to finish up the series, I still hope that it will taken at least until WW11.
Unfortunately, the series has stalled a little at this stage due to the publisher wishing to finish up the series, I still hope that it will taken at least until WW11.
July 25, 2014
The problems I have had with the last two books is, they cannot stand alone. If you haven't read at least five of the previous books there would be no story for anyone to read. I am so sad that number 35 is coming up and I will probably go into a terrible withdrawal. Have loved this series. Have given very few 3 stars, mostly fours, some fives. History is amazing, the research that goes into these books is astounding. A little contrived some time with death, marriage, and birth. It works.
February 23, 2014
The Morland saga continues through the end of the 1920's and the Wall Street crash of 1929. The story is fairly evenly split between characters in England and America. As always, Harrod-Eagles brings a lot of historical characters and events into her novel. There were some major transitions in this volume, which I expected, given its setting in the 1920's.
August 7, 2014
Wonderful story. Very interesting the way the author intertwined all the characters and their lives. Liked this book a lot. It is the first of the series I have read. Now I want to go back and read all the rest!
August 9, 2015
Not bad. I thought this was a strong addition to the saga of the Morlands. Perhaps a little slow but thankfully not as slow as the books covering WWI.
March 9, 2014
Good as always!
December 29, 2012
I loved the book, as I've loved all of the Morland series...The only reason I couldn't give it an "amazing," is that I'm sad that they're done...
April 18, 2017
Always enjoy this long running saga, some interesting historical facts in this one.
April 17, 2014
It gets a bit tedious - this family is so darned domestic. But history is happening all around so you have to read to the end to see how it comes out
December 2, 2012
Just love meeting the characters all over again. Never want this series to end!
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews