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The Patchwork Years
A family saga trilogy covering the passing of the twin curse, the 'mixing of the blood' and the 'odd child out' moving down the generations. The trilogy is based on the author's memoirs but read like fiction, Patchwork Years books 1 and 2 have been favourably compared to Catherine Cookson novels.
Book 1 begins with the birth of Christopher Thomas Flowerdew in 1854 following the brief coupling of a Scottish Earl and a chambermaid during the shooting season at Royal Sandringham, Norfolk. The story is continued by his eldest daughter Georgianna, who instinctively feels herself the 'wrong side of the green baize door that separates servants from gentry' and strives to better herself. The depression of the 1920's following the first world war upends her life and years later when Sarah, her youngest child, has the chance to go to university Georgianna, embittered by now, refuses to allow her 'to be educated above her station in life'.
Times are changing fast and it is Sarah's life we now follow through another war and her marriage to an army man as she struggles with that inherited longing for something more, something better.
Book 1 begins with the birth of Christopher Thomas Flowerdew in 1854 following the brief coupling of a Scottish Earl and a chambermaid during the shooting season at Royal Sandringham, Norfolk. The story is continued by his eldest daughter Georgianna, who instinctively feels herself the 'wrong side of the green baize door that separates servants from gentry' and strives to better herself. The depression of the 1920's following the first world war upends her life and years later when Sarah, her youngest child, has the chance to go to university Georgianna, embittered by now, refuses to allow her 'to be educated above her station in life'.
Times are changing fast and it is Sarah's life we now follow through another war and her marriage to an army man as she struggles with that inherited longing for something more, something better.
332 pages, Paperback
First published February 23, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 3, 2013
I really enjoyed this book and its sequel, a life lived and expressed with clarity; fascinating.
December 9, 2012
I thoroughly enjoyed this family saga which is apparently based on fact but reads like a novel, starting in 1864 and ending in the 1960's, with the promise of more to come in Books 2 and 3.
The book begins with a bastard child from the "Lord of the Manor" being palmed off on the head-gardener who takes on the mother of the child as his wife and is rewarded with a cottage in the village. Physical characteristics give the game away and the whole village gossips about the true father of the child, making him something of an outsider / loner.
The feelings of being different, wanting something more and searching for the unknown continue through the book alongside a recurring theme of rejected children across the generations.
Covers a lot of history, personalities from the UK to Egypt, Singapore, Africa and back to the UK with Sarah, the central character carrying on the story into the 20th century.
A good read, may be factual, but also thoroughly enjoyable. I'm looking forward to Book 2.
The book begins with a bastard child from the "Lord of the Manor" being palmed off on the head-gardener who takes on the mother of the child as his wife and is rewarded with a cottage in the village. Physical characteristics give the game away and the whole village gossips about the true father of the child, making him something of an outsider / loner.
The feelings of being different, wanting something more and searching for the unknown continue through the book alongside a recurring theme of rejected children across the generations.
Covers a lot of history, personalities from the UK to Egypt, Singapore, Africa and back to the UK with Sarah, the central character carrying on the story into the 20th century.
A good read, may be factual, but also thoroughly enjoyable. I'm looking forward to Book 2.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews