Park Lane

by Frances Osborne

London, February 1914. Eighteen year-old Grace Campbell arrives in London from Carlisle, her family's hopes pinned on her becoming a secretary. The only job she can find is as a housemaid in the mansion that is Number 35, Park Lane, and soon she is entangling herself in an ever-thickening web of lies. Upstairs, a jilted and humiliated Beatrice Masters is determined not to return to the New York of her childhood before she has salvaged her pride. She secretly joins Emmeline Pankhurst's militant suffragettes and is steadily drawn into the violence rocking the city. But Grace and Beatrice's existences are not as parallel as they seem. Little do they realize that their hidden lives and emotions will soon be revolving around the same man - or that the coming war will change the boundaries of both their worlds for ever.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Romance, British Literature, Audiobook, Family

320 pages, Paperback

First published August 12, 2012

About the author

Frances Osborne was born in London and studied philosophy and modern languages at Oxford University. She is the author of two biographies; Lilla's Feast and The Bolter: Idina Sackville. Her first historical novel, Park Lane, will be published Summer 2012. Her articles have appeared in The Daily Telegraph, The Times, The Independent, the Daily Mail, and Vogue. She lives in London with her husband, George Osborne, and their two children.

Reviews

[Dacia Mumford · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was very unimpressed with this book. My friend, Julia's review said it perfectly so I will just copy her review here. "This book was a big let down. Ms. Osborne is a historical writer and the book was described as a cross between "Downton Abbey" and "Upstairs Downstairs". Sounds like a winning combination. Sadly, it was very apparent that Ms. Osborne is not used to writing fiction. While she researched the book well and included things that are factually true, she did not develop the characters well at all and the book jumps around a lot. It seemed that Ms. Osborne tried to both cover too much time and too many details about specific times so that the story isn't very coherent. Important things would be happening and all of the sudden 6 months or more would pass and the story would jump with very little connection to what happened before it. The worst offense in my mind though, was the very disappointing ending. I thought the book could redeem itself with a good ending but the ending was a huge letdown. Find a better book to fill the void of Downton Abbey."

[Caitlin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked up an Advanced Readers Copy of this book at a used bookstore back in April. At that point it was still several months until its publication. Now, the book has been out for 10 days, and I *just* finished it. That's how dull it was.

This book should have been right up my alley -- a period piece set in London with purported romantic intrigue. Sadly that romance was essentially non-existent. And the book's ending was wholly frustrating.

The only moment that was worth recording here was when Bea, the main protagonist, remarks how "any man in uniform, whether cavalry or livery, really cannot help but be at least a little attractive." Very true, which is clearly why we like Downton Abbey so much. Alas, Downton Abbey this is not, despite the presence of the monniker of another stately home in this book's title.

You never really feel for any of the characters - to the point where death and other life-shattering occurrences that they face never really strike you as a reader.

What a disappointment!

[Emily · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book should have been right up my alley, but alas, it was not to be. The pace is very, very slow-going. It picks up a bit at the end, but I had to force myself to get to that point. As a person who works daily in the written word, I noticed some editing errors and just felt the novel could have done with a good trimming in places. I also didn't like the ending, but that is just my personal taste. Overall, I was disappointed. I felt misled by the comparisons I heard to "Downton Abbey" and the seemingly good praise from Julian Fellowes.

[Kris Irvin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Holy cow, this book is SO SLOW. I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who sees that. I'm on page 45 and absolutely nothing has happened. I might skim the rest, but it's so boring there's really no reason for me to continue. If you want a good period drama, read Kate Morton's works instead. She's much more interesting than Frances Ozzzzzzzzborne.

I really hate the style it's written in. It's like first person present tense with almost zero dialogue, plus alternating points of view.

Grace laughs to herself at this...But at least the looms do as they're asked, more or less, thinks Grace, as she works away at the floor. There's none of this who's saying what to whom, and not knowing what's around every corner. ...Grace wonders if they assume that her family has fallen already, which Ma would say was true

This is an actual, abridged paragraph from the book. The entire paragraph takes up almost 3/4ths of the page with no dialogue, just weird run on sentences about what the character is thinking. Blech. There are paragraphs upon paragraphs of description, but almost nothing actually going on. So boring. So lame.

This review says it all.

[Beachi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book with high hopes and then was sadly disappointed. It was a typical English book of manners where everything happens in people's heads and no one ever really DOES anything to create suspense or drama. I kept on reading it hoping something momentous would happen--anything at all--but sadly nothing ever does.

[Sarah u · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rather enjoyed Park Lane by Frances Osborne, which is mostly set in London between the years of 1914 and 1918. The storyline, which alternates between Grace, a maid at 35 Park Lane, and the daughter of the house, Beatrice, takes the reader upstairs, downstairs, to the speeches of Emmeline Pankhurst, and to the hospitals of war-torn France. Written in third-person present-tense, the style is intelligent with various storylines left for the reader to figure out- the book doesn't tell, it shows, crediting its readers with intelligence.

I was a little disappointed with the ending, which after the excitement of the main novel fizzles out on a vague misunderstanding. However, maybe that fits- I think this book is about becoming who we are as people, adapting to change, missed opportunities and learning by experience.

On the whole (and differently to many other goodreads users :) ) I thought this was a very good book and would recommend it.

[Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows two women who live in a mansion on Park Lane: Bea, the single, recently jilted, daughter who still lives at home, and Grace, working as a housemaid despite her secretarial training because her lower class, northern accent bars her from London office work. Both Grace and Bea have secrets; Grace has told her family that she’s doing respectable office work rather than being a maid; Bea is joining her aunt as a follower of suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, while Bea’s mother has long supported the non-violent suffragists. Bea and Grace are at the opposite ends of the social hierarchy in the house- and personality. Bea is an excitement junkie; loving fast cars and motorcycles, the thrilling fear at the suffragette rallies, fast ambulance driving practically on the front, and meeting a man who is ‘not of her class’. Grace seeks safety and worries constantly about not living up to family expectations.

Divided into years, the story covers 1914 to 1923 (with a gap between 1918 and 1923). This is a tumultuous age in England; WW I, socialism and the women’s suffrage movement all changed the lives of rich and poor alike. There is violence at the suffragette rallies, incredible loss of life in the trenches of WW I, post traumatic stress for both men and women (who drive ambulances in the war zones and nurse the torn up men), class differences come to mean a *little* less, and women gain more freedom well before they get the vote.

I enjoyed the book- I find the era fascinating (while a fan of Downton, I first was introduced to the era when PBS ran ‘The Forsyte Saga’ way back around 1970) and Osborne knows the time intimately- she had to, to write the brilliant biography ‘The Bolter’- and she has a great power of description. But I feel the book could have been better. Bea comes off as rather hard and it’s difficult to sympathize with her. Grace likable enough, but passages about things she goes through that should make us terrified for her are a bit flat. One character who connects the two women, Grace’s brother Michael, seems like he was created only to connect them- he’s introduced as a socialist, a budding writer, but he doesn’t really do anything with it. A subplot about sneaking books out of the house to him starts out extremely tense but is allowed to peter out to nothing. Because of these faults, I’m afraid I can only give the book four stars. But remember that this is Osborne’s first fiction book- when that’s taken into consideration, it’s pretty great.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bea and Grace. Grace and Bea. Fiddle de dee.

This book as been touted as a wink and an homage to Downton Abbey. Or, I guess, it's been compared to Dowton Abbey. However, this is not a fair comparison because Downton Abby is rife with characterization and detailed, purposeful plot. This is all emotion, no payout.

We meet Grace, a maid at Park Lane, where Bea lives. Their lives do not coincide as much as the jacket cover promises. Grace attends to Bea and we learn that Bea like Grace, but only because the author tells us this is the case. Their interactions are kept very sparse.

The writing style is laborious, trying to incorporate dialect and I assume a sense of propriety that is in keeping with the time period. Instead it plods along. The writing LITERALLY PLODS, PEOPLE. It is unnecessarily difficult in a way that the arrangement of words on the page makes comprehension less than effortless, and more like trying to a sit up with a heavy tomcat lying on your stomach: achievable, but awkward. And it is not that I do not like to be challenge, it is rather that the challenge is not rewarding.

The chapters flip flop between Grace and Bea, from their point of view. Even though we are seeing through them, essentially, we still managed to learn very little about them despite it. We know that Bea is very invested in the suffragette movement. Her motivations become less and less apparent as she goes from bored heiress to suffragette to war volunteer. It is clear Bea wants freedom. But it is not clear how she changes throughout. I could never get the sense of whether or not I liked Bea. I could never get a sense of whether or not Bea actually HAD a mind of her own or a motivation. Thrown in a sort of... irrelevant and loosely written love interest that connects Bea to Grace and... meh. Just meh.

Grace absolutely disappears in the second half of the book. We find out why later, and in the end I found that I rather wished the chapters would have focused more on Grace and less on Bea.

What the book does well is tell a story of war. It does a great job of showing the sadness and change that wartime brings, the changes that occur in people who aren't even TRYING to change but simply do because they are adapting and coping. The author plays the suffragette movement against this concept very well. There is a lot of sadness in this book, and not in the satisfactory sort of way. It is mostly in a way that leaves the reader feeling tired of the whole thing.

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps it is breaking the rules to rate and review a book that I decided not to finish, but what can I say -- I'm a rebel. I read Osborne's The Bolter: Edwardian Heartbreak and High Society Scandal in Kenya which is her non-fiction account of her great Grandmother Idina and her Happy Valley set. It was a really interesting and fun book to read. So, I began Park Lane with high expectations. It had all the ingredients for a terrific book -- set in pre-War London with the contrast of stories between upstairs and below stairs. Unfortunately though, it was a big dud. I made it about 1/3 of the way through and gave it around 130 pages before throwing in the towel. At that point in the book nothing interesting had happened, there was no dramatic tension about what was possibly going to happen. The characters were bland and dull, and did not appear to be getting ready to get more interesting any time soon. So, I'm moving on to something else.

[Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Continuing my reading during the period pre- and post- Great War England: this novel has a similar theme to Somewhere In France but is superior. Characters are more complex, the points of "connections" (as referred to in the book) are more delicately worked than overwrought plot devices, the depiction of the war and suffering made to feel more real. I like this central character - Bea - better than Liliy - but both are strong, independent women struggling to make their lives count, pushing against the constraints of their social class.

I'm finally beginning to get how the Great War changed it all, especially for women. Social norms fell away with all the brutality, as women saw and did more, doing "men's work". Class lines started to diminish in England, privilege meant less in a country whose population and values, to some extent, were decimated. Decorum just doesn't count as much after devastation. Recommend.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm upset that it ended at the point where it did because what I was most interested in was the aftermath of everybody finding out the real connections among them. I especially missed Grace's voice in the years of the war. It was sorely missing.

What I loved about this book is the way it transported me into the time period and made me feel like I knew these people personally. All were sympathetic and felt like real people. I guess that's why I felt just a little bit cheated with the ending. I wanted to know more about their lives after that great upheaval.

[Tina Munroe · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can’t believe I read this whole book. I did not enjoy it at all and I despised the ending. It was so disjointed. Ugh, I should have stopped after the first few chapters.

[Rita Monticelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Scroll down for the English version.

Grandi premesse, ma trama ricca di difetti messi in luce dal finale

Ho amato questo libro fino a prima dell’ultimo capitolo, poi tutto è crollato. Sono stata catturata dall’ambientazione di Londra poco prima della Prima Guerra Mondiale, durante e dopo di essa. La ricostruzione storica è così accurata che riporta in vita quel periodo nella mente del lettore.
Ho trovato particolarmente interessate il modo in cui viene rappresentata la mentalità delle persone, soprattutto il modo in cui le donne tendevano a sentirsi insicure, inferiori, per il semplice fatto di essere donne, aggravato nel caso di una delle due protagoniste (Grace) dalla classe sociale.
Nonostante il personaggio di Beatrice sia entrata a far parte delle suffragette, manca della sicurezza di sé che ci si attende da una “rivoluzionaria”. Si sente continuamente fuori posto, attanagliata dalla paura che la spinge a desiderare di scappare per tornare alla tranquillità della sua tediosa vita da ricca, ma allo stesso tempo non scappa, per timore di quella stessa tranquillità, che la fa sentire inutile. Ciò che la muove non è idealismo, ma la ricerca dell’emozione che manca alla sua quotidianità. È molto lontana della donna forte che costituisce la tipica eroina dei romanzi e ciò la rende per certi versi realistica.
Ma ciò che mi ha incollato alle pagine del libro è il modo imprevisto con cui i personaggi si trovano a interagire nella storia. La curiosità di scoprire cosa sarebbe accaduto dopo mi spingeva a leggere un capitolo dopo l’altro.
E durante tale lettura non erano poche le cose che mi infastidivano, ma che mettevo da parte pregustando la scoperta dell’evento successivo.
Tra queste c’è il personaggio di Grace, così remissivo che ho avuto difficoltà a immaginarla come un’adulta. Mi pareva sempre di vedere una bambina timorosa, debole.
Altro elemento di fastidio sono le numerose coincidenze. Va bene che ci sia una coincidenza in una storia. D’altronde è finzione. Ma, quando iniziano a essere due, diventano poco credibili.
Discorso analogo per gli eventi tragici, legati a elementi di pura sfortuna, che sanno tanto di forzatura per portare la storia verso una certa direzione. Il che andrebbe anche bene, se il risultato fosse soddisfacente.
A ciò si aggiunge un altro elemento forzato: i personaggi prendono delle decisioni importanti che avranno conseguenze sulla loro vita in un attimo per effetto del capriccio del momento o di un equivoco che nella realtà verrebbe facilmente chiarito. Ciò le rende del tutto irrealistiche.
Anche su questo ci si potrebbe passare sopra, se la storia si concludesse con un finale che dà un senso a tutto e soddisfa il lettore.
Ma così non è.
Le coincidenze che emergono agli occhi del lettore lentamente lungo tutto il libro vengono rivelate a Beatrice in un attimo, nell’ultimissima scena. Lo stesso fatto che lei arrivi a comprendere tutto da pochi elementi è in contrasto con la totale mancanza di intuito mostrata durante il romanzo, quella che l’ha resa vittima di enormi incomprensioni. A dirla tutta, non credo che neppure una persona tanto perspicace avrebbe potuto giungere alle stesse conclusioni in un secondo da sola senza neppure fare una domanda.
Quell’intera scena è a dir poco improbabile e ha fatto crollare quella sospensione di incredulità cui fino a quel momento mi ero aggrappata pur di dare un giudizio positivo al libro, alla cui lettura ogni sera tornavo con trepidazione.
Il colpo di grazia, poi, è stato il fatto che il libro sia finito lì, senza che venisse mostrato nulla delle conseguenze di quella rivelazione, quasi fosse un cliffhanger, che però non è stato seguito da un altro capitolo né da un seguito del romanzo. Bastava davvero poco per trasformarlo in un finale aperto, in grado di lasciare al lettore almeno la scelta di immaginare da sé cosa sarebbe avvenuto dopo. E invece non è stato fatto.
In un istante, di fronte a quel finale improvviso e insulso, tutto si è frantumato e i difetti del libro mi sono diventati chiari. Il peggiore di tutti è la mancanza di una vera crescita interiore dei personaggi, che rimangono cristallizzati nei loro difetti, senza dare alcun reale senso alla propria esistenza all’interno della storia.
Sì, perché alla fine ti ritrovi a domandarti: che storia è questa? Che cosa vuole davvero raccontare?
I personaggi sembrano burattini utilizzati soltanto per mostrare un periodo storico, senza che svolgano il loro ruolo principale: essere il motivo per cui si racconta una storia.


Great premises, but plot full of flaws highlighted by the ending

I loved this book until before the last chapter, then everything collapsed. I was captured by the London setting just before the First World War, during and after it. The historical reconstruction is so accurate that it brings that period back to life in the mind of the reader.
I found particularly interesting the way in which people’s mentality is represented, above all the way in which women tended to feel insecure, inferior, for the simple fact of being women, aggravated in the case of one of the two protagonists (Grace) by her social class.
Although Beatrice (the other main character) has become part of the suffragettes, she lacks the self-confidence expected in a “revolutionary”. She feels continually out of place, gripped by the fear that drives her to desire to escape so that she can return to the tranquillity of her tedious life as a rich young woman, but at the same time she does not escape, for fear of that tranquillity, which makes her feel useless. What moves her is not idealism, but the search for the emotion that lacks her everyday life. She is very far from the strong woman who is the typical heroine in the novels and this makes her somewhat realistic.
But what glued me to the pages of the book is the unexpected way in which the characters find themselves interacting in the story. The curiosity to find out what would happen next pushed me to read one chapter after another.
And during this reading there were more than a few things that bothered me, but that I put aside, looking forward to the discovery of the next event.
Among these is the character of Grace, so submissive that I had trouble imagining her as an adult. I always thought to see a timid, weak girl.
Another element of annoyance is due to the numerous coincidences. It’s fine that there’s a coincidence in a story. It’s fiction. But when they start to be two, they become less credible.
The same applies for the tragic events, linked to elements of pure bad luck, which seem a kind of stretch to bring the story to a certain direction. Which would also be fine if the result were satisfactory.
Another stretched element is added to this: the characters make important decisions that will have consequences on their lives in a moment, because of the whim of the moment or a misunderstanding that in reality would be easily clarified. This makes them completely unrealistic.
You could even overlook this, if the story ended in a way that gives meaning to everything and satisfies the reader.
But it isn’t like that.
The coincidences that emerge in the eyes of the reader slowly throughout the book are revealed to Beatrice in a moment, in the last scene. The very fact that she gets to understand everything from a few elements is in contrast with the total lack of insightfulness shown during the novel, the one that has made her a victim of huge misunderstandings. To be honest, I do not think even a person who was very perceptive could have come to the same conclusions on their own in a second without even asking a question.
That whole scene is unlikely to say the least and brought down that suspension of disbelief which I had clung to until then in order to give a positive judgment to the book, to whose reading I would return with trepidation every night.
Then the coup de grace was the fact that the book ended there, without showing anything of the consequences of that revelation, as if it were a cliffhanger, but which was not followed by another chapter or a sequel to the novel . It would’ve taken very little to transform it into an open ending, able to leave the reader at least the choice to imagine for themselves what would have happened later. And yet it wasn’t so.
In an instant, faced with that sudden and insipid ending, everything was shattered and the flaws of the book became clear to me. The worst of all is the lack of true inner growth of the characters, who remain crystallised in their flaws, without giving any real meaning to their existence within the story.
Yes, because in the end you find yourself wondering: what is this story about? What does it really want to tell?
The characters look like puppets used only to show a historical period, without playing their main role: being the reason why a story is told.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was very excited about this book since the publisher blurb compared it to Downton Abbey, a beloved TV series for me. However that excitement was dampened when I glanced at the goodreads reviews beforehand and saw that they were decidedly negative.

First this book was very difficult to get into. It begins in 1914 and goes to 1923 for an epilogue, alternating between Grace, a maid, and Bea, the young lady of the house. Grace is just settling in to her new position and the writing style, instead of smooth and inviting, was ragged and rough. There were a lot of passages where I was kind of confused about what was happening or what the relationship between the characters was. I don't want everything to be spelled out for me but I would have appreciated more smoothness and clarity.

Second it presumes a certain level of familiarity with British history with the battle for women's suffrage playing a huge role in the early chapters. One of the main characters Bea has a mother and an aunt (her father's sister) on opposing sides of the battle. But not because one opposes giving women the vote. In fact, both are in favor but the aunt prefers more radical actions while the mother is more conservative, trying to patiently push it through her Parliament connections. This was *so* confusingly presented and not explained until the Historical Note at the end.

And third this book was overall very depressing. Grace is in service as her dreams of being a secretary were dashed and lowered her earning potential. Then Bea was jilted by her love and seems on the brink of spinsterhood. Add in more ruined relationships and the tragedy of WWI and this is just not a happy book. I can handle sad books of course but I guess I was hoping for more of the happiness that balances out Downton Abbey. It is not present here and quite frankly I only finished this book through pure doggedness.

Cover: I find the cover misleading-if the insides were as cool as the cover, this book would have been more my taste.

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a big let down. I heard an interview with the author on NPR and so I had high hopes. Ms. Osborne is a historical writer and the book was described as a cross between "Downton Abbey" and "Upstairs Downstairs". Sounds like a winning combination. Sadly, it was very apparent that Ms. Osborne is not used to writing fiction. While she researched the book well and included things that are factually true, she did not develop the characters well at all and the book jumps around a lot. It seemed that Ms. Osborne tried to both cover too much time and too many details about specific times so that the story isn't very coherent. Important things would be happening and all of the sudden 6 months or more would pass and the story would jump with very little connection to what happened before it. The worst offense in my mind though, was the very disappointing ending. I thought the book could redeem itself with a good ending but the ending was a huge letdown. I only gave this book 2 stars (instead of 1) because the audiobook version was very entertaining and I think there are some very interesting themes about the changing roles of women that I look forward to discussing in book group. Other than that, find a better book to fill the void of Downton Abbey.

[Christine Rebbert · Rating 2 out of 5]

Could have been good, but seemed to really get off track... Set in London, early 19-teens, kind of an "Upstairs, Downstairs" set-up with what's going on with various characters both above and below stairs. I was liking the part about Beatrice, the young privileged daughter, going to volunteer among the suffragette, but then it just all wandered off into other areas. The relationship between Beatrice and the young anarchist Michael was totally ridiculous -- well, come to think of it, all the relationships were totally ridiculous. Big decisions were made about where a life was heading were based on the flimsiest of happenstance. The last half almost seemed like a completely different book than the first half!

If you're looking for something about England in the early 20th century to tide you over until "Downton Abbey" comes back, this is NOT it...

[Vonnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm giving it 2 stars because it held my attention long enough to finish it, and I was interested in the historical events that unfolded along with the war. Such as the suffragettes and the train crash. The characters were not likable, or very believable to me.they contradicted their own values and ideals so quickly it didn't seem plausible. It had all the elements of the types of books I love, but it just wasn't a great read for me. Maybe other people like this style of writing but the constant alluding to something that happened and then leaving the reader to figure out what has happened. I'm not sure what this literary device is called, but I found it annoying. Stories that unfold and are told with rich detail, characters that I can understand or empathize with, history woven in, that's what I prefer.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Park Lane follows the lives of two young women - one upstairs, one downstairs - from 1914 to 1923. Essentially, this is yet another novel attempting to ride on the success of Downton Abbey - I can never pass those up, ever in the hope of finally finding one that I can fall in love with. This wasn't it. No matter how interesting I find the time period, the Great War and the struggles of the suffragettes, this book only ever seemed to scratch the surface of those events. The characters had little depth and lacked any distinct personalities that might have made me sympathize with their fates - as it was, I didn't really care much about what happened to them. 2.5/5

[MaryannC Victorian Dreamer · Rating 2 out of 5]

What started out as perhaps a promising novel just didnt do it for me. I liked this idea of another stately home with rich aristocrats and their servants,but like another reader mentioned this did not end up being another Downton Abbey like book. I wanted a little more out of the characters,more depth, a little more romance if I could. I just couldnt feel anything as well for the main players in this book.

[Katie · Rating 1 out of 5]

It reads a little rough - very stop and go. I'd be reading about one character and the story would suddenly jump into the another character's thoughts/story. Felt like I backtracked a lot. Was this story adapted as the 'Dowton Abbey' series? The story lines were incredibly similar. If so, I like how the book gets more into the torture war creates within the men. That's hard to convey sometimes on camera.

[Terri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was recommended for Downton Abbey afficianados, and it is set in the same historical era and in the same type setting. However, it isn't nearly as mesmerizing as DA and I didn't care nearly as much about the characters. It is admirably researched and has breadth, but perhaps its breadth was too wide for a first-time novelist.

[Rachel · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really disliked the writing style and author's detached approach to storytelling. I've read and enjoyed her book 'The Bolter' so will stick to more non-fiction of hers in future. I read the first few chapters then skimmed through the rest of the story see what happened, after I realised I wasn't really the slightest bit interested in what happened to the characters.

[Deborah Leeb · Rating 1 out of 5]

Sorry lovers of Downton Abbey and all things English. This is NO Downton Abbey, Edith Wharton, or anything else close. Never got to warm up to any of the characters; story line done before to greater effect.

I cannot recommend it when there are so many other books to read.

[KateFromAllGoodBookStore · Rating 2 out of 5]

was going to give it 3 stars but the ending slapped it down to 2!

[Helen · Rating 2 out of 5]

it seems strangely disjointed, and resolutely undramatic, with certain things never explained.

I really like Mrs Osborne's nonfiction and perhaps she should stick to that...

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enjoyable read. I did feel like the ending was rushed. Is there a sequel perhaps?

[Eve · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird. I liked the plot of this book, however, the author did not communicate the story very well in my opinion. As I said, the plot and the idea for this book had a lot of potential, it's just that the writing cannot convey the story. This could've been a masterpiece if the author had inter-woven her two main characters' lives a bit more, she could've done so many things with the time period she has set her novel in, but instead takes the lazy route. I do understand that this is the author's first novel and that she is not used to writing fiction, but still, the writing is alright, and at times sloppy. Some scenes did not show what was happening in the scene clearly, leaving me confused as to what was happening.

Osborne had written her book in third person, which allows so much freedom when exploring the motives of other characters, but she does not do this. Instead, she has characters simply do things, such as refusing a marriage proposal after it was them who proposed first, without explaining their intentions. I believe that what tense you write in SOOO important because it is the way that the reader envisions the world the author is trying to capture, if you've written a book in first person, you can convey a single character's thoughts or prejudices, while subtly hinting at other characters motives, you can make the protagonists views an example of how everyone thinks in your book, or how a certain people think. Same with a third person, however, third person allows you to picture a whole array of motives, prejudices, and characters' true feelings. Osborne writes this book in the third person, but you only view the world through the protagonist's eyes. In a more experienced author, this might work, but Osborne is not capable of this, and she does not reach the story's full potential.

What is the point of Grace in this book? All she does is introduce us to her brother, who we get to know through Bea, and steals a book, and then she feels bad about it for one half of the book. That is literally all she does, and she has a slight dalliance which leads to her downfall. Her story does not factor very much into Bea's at all. Bea is much more interesting to read about than Grace, she is a suffragette, an ambulance driver, she gets injured, and you can see how her personality slightly changes throughout the story, although the seeds for this change are planted for this change in the first pages of the book. I don't really see why Osborne saw the need to add Grace as one of the main characters, she may have been an interesting side character, but we don't even find out her full story with Bea's brother, even though she is the second main character. This leads me back to the writing and plot. Osborne had created so many interesting sub-plots, but only dips a toe into the full potential.

I will give some credit where credit is due, she did make a good story, poorly written as it is, but I rather enjoyed reading about Bea. This is the author's first book, and in the future, I may give her another chance.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the spring of 1914 Grace Campbell, a bright, ambitious working class girl has left her home in Carlisle to seek work as a secretary in London. However, her strong regional accent has prevented her from obtaining such a position so she has been forced to take a job as a housemaid in the Park Lane home of the Masters family. Her own family is struggling financially and she is expected to send more money home than she in fact earns. However, she cannot bring herself to admit to them that she has had to go into service – something they would find hard to accept – and she is left feeling desperate.
Bea Masters is fast approaching her 21st birthday and is, to the despair of her mother, still unmarried. She is a restless young woman, disenchanted with the social whirl but unsure about what she wants for her future. Her mother is a committed suffragist, working hard to effect change through peaceful, political means, whereas her Aunt Celeste is a passionate suffragette, an ardent supporter of Emmeline Pankhurst. Bea’s need for excitement and purpose in her life, as well as her need to rebel against her mother’s expectations, draws her into becoming secretly involved with active protest, a decision which will change the course of her life.
This story is told from the alternating “upstairs/downstairs” perspectives of these two young women who, in spite of their differences in social class, both yearn for more freedom and independence. As they strive to achieve this each of them is struggling with secrets which threaten their future. The advent of the First World War brings about profound changes for both of them, even if the changes aren’t what they envisaged.
For a number of reasons I found this a very uneven story. I thought that there were some aspects of the social and political turmoil of the period which were reasonably well captured but which were, nevertheless dealt with in a rather superficial way. Almost two thirds of the story was taken up, rather tediously at times, with the peacetime lead-up to the war but the years from late 1914 to 1923 were raced through with what felt like unsatisfactory haste, not allowing any of the characters, but particularly Grace, to be sufficiently developed. In fact, I thought that there was a lack of any real depth to the author’s characterisations and that, for the most part, she took refuge in some rather lazy stereotyping. It felt almost as though she used the characters as pegs onto which to hang some historical facts!
Had this not been a reading group assignment I would have given up on the story after the first fifty (maximum!) pages because I felt no real investment in any of the characters. The only one who held any initial appeal was Grace but, as her story was all but abandoned in the final third of the book, I eventually lost interest in her as well!
I have to admit that I found myself wondering whether this book would ever have been published had it been written by anyone other than the ex-Chancellor’s wife – I cannot imagine that it would have been!

[Therese Noble · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a truly delightful book. I actually can’t remember the last time I struggled to put a book down. I came home from Christmas celebrations and just finished it. Osborne doesn’t have an unnecessary word, her writing is pared back but the readers lose nothing. The characterisation, the suffrage movements, the WW1 history and background is superb. It is set mostly in London but Beatrice volunteers to serve in the Women’s Emergency Corp in France. Here the readers get a searing view of some of the horrors of that war. The other main character is Grace, the downstairs maid in Beatrice’s nouveau riche -not so rich - household.
I imagine Osborne’s purpose is to alert her readers to the inner strength and ambition of many women during that time. This is a novel about very determined women who do their best to wield their resilience and determination to make positive changes in their worlds. And the world is changing but not fast enough.
Bea and her mother join the two very different women’s suffrage movements. Beatrice was cajoled by a maiden aunt to join Mrs Pankhurst’s radical WSPU while her mother was a member of the more peaceful National Society for Women’s Suffrage, until WW1 erupted. It does help to have a bit of knowledge of the suffrage movement as I did. Like all good historical novels though, I still learnt new details which I always appreciate.
And Grace’s story and her desire for independence, fuelled by her mother, is another peek into a woman’s attempt to fight for something more than her mother had.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fans of "Downton Abbey" will enjoy returning to WWI-era England in this book, but they will find a very different kind of story here. Since the Masters family lives in London, the politics of the era are a major theme of the book. Also, the housemaid in the story is not a farm girl seeking to improve herself by going into domestic service but the daughter of a middle-class family fallen on hard times who has to keep the truth about her situation from them. The first half of the book is an intense, intimate account of the lives of the younger daughter of the Masters family and the housemaid during an approximately two-month period in the spring of 1914, and I found it riveting. Unfortunately, once the war starts, Osborne switches to covering the next nine years in a series of vignettes, focusing almost entirely on the story of the upper-class woman. Many key events of the two women's lives during this period are recounted in hindsight, causing them to lose much of their impact, and a number of narrative threads are left dangling. Despite these faults, the book was still absorbing, and provides an unflinchingly honest portrayal of the hardships of war and the horrors of this particular war. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone interest in learning more about the lives of women during this particular era.