Markham Thorpe

by Giles Waterfield, Unknown Author

Servants know everything. Never trust them. Never fall in love.Ellen, a young maid in the 1840s, enters service at the declining Markham a house where the relationship between masters and servants is not quite as it should be. There's one clear reason for this, sitting bang in the middle of this mess of sex, power, money and the charismatic housekeeper, Mrs Rundell, whose agendas are complex and whose enemies are growing...

Genres: Historical Fiction, British Literature, Fiction

Audio CD

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Giles Waterfield was an independent curator and writer, Director of Royal Collection Studies and Associate Lecturer at the Courtauld Institute of Art. He was formerly Director of Dulwich Picture Gallery. He was a trustee of the Charleston Trust and a member of the National Trust Arts Panel and the Advisory Panel of the National Heritage Memorial Fund.

Giles curated exhibitions including Art Treasures of England and The Artist’s Studio. His publications include Soane and After, Palaces of Art, Art for the People, and Art Treasures of England. He delivered the Paul Mellon Lectures on regional museums in Victorian Britain in 2007 and his book The People's Galleries will be published in 2015. He published four novels.

Reviews

[Pumeza · Rating 4 out of 5]

suprise suprise. this book really took me by suprise. the exploration of the master and slave relations was done absolutely perfectly. the ending was not what i expected, a bit rushed if i can put it like that. i don't want to give away too much, nut it is worth a read.

[Leah Lindeman · Rating 3 out of 5]

The quiet desperation of the characters fleshed throughout the novel was the most compelling trait of the story. As a reader, I could feel the tension between the upstairs and downstairs. Their relationship was definitely unorthodox.

Although I was hoping for a grander ending, the style of denouement was in line with the rest of the book. A good read overall:)

[Bachyboy · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first third of this book was so tedious, I almost gave up. It did improve though and Ellen the main character had a bit more gumption than usual for a Victorian housemaid. I found the whole thing disappointing as I had liked the previous Waterfield I read.

[Valentina Paro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Romanzo dalle ambientazioni alla Downton Abbey, consigliato a chi ama il genere

[Emma · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's easy to see that Waterfield was trying to write the classic Victorian suspense novel set in a big house and revolving around the machinations of the housekeeper, an homage to 'Rebecca' perhaps. Unfortunately the suspense never really came through and the housekeeper didn't seem capable of plotting a coup d'etat. Meanwhile Ellen, newly arrived as a maid in the household, is an unwitting pawn in her aunt's, the housekeeper, plans for social advancement. The outcome arrived as a bit of an anti-climax and the novel as a whole never really seemed to achieve what it was so clearly trying to do.

[Kat · Rating 1 out of 5]

A pretty lame and weak story. Sounds promising but is slow to progress and fairly boring with a predictable ending. Also, why does Ellen go from prim and proper to, all of a sudden, jumping into the bed of Mr. James. Makes no sense whatsoever and, although the author had already lost my interest by then, that turn of event sealed the deal - ridiculous and nobody should waste their time on this dreary read.

[Susy Tomasiello · Rating 2 out of 5]

Una storia che parte in modo lento, poi diventa un pò più interessante quando c'è la scoperta di un assassino e poi diventa di nuovo noioso. Una lettura che non è riuscita ad appassionarmi del tutto,
Il personaggio di James di cui mi aspettavo tanto, diventa un burattino nelle mani di sua sorella e non mi piace. Ellen la protagonista e voce narrante potrebbe essere un bel personaggio ma nemmeno lei mi ha convinto del tutto.
Una lettura, per quanto mi riguarda, che è bocciata.

[Michelle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Completely agree with the last reviewer - the language, style and plot seemed was flimsy - needed further editing and refining to make the plot and characters plausible. Shame as the story concept appeared to have potential.

[Fiona Brichaut · Rating 2 out of 5]

Over-hyped. There are many contemporary writers who set their novels in the 19C way more successfully than this. The tone was wrong, the language was wrong and the plot was flimsy.

[Luciabo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mah! Si fa leggere, ma la storia è un po' stiracchiata.

[Linda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Downton abbey similarity...nothing soecial