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Lady Darlington
Blends romance and adventure to provide a tale of Edwardian England concerning the members of the House of Darlington
419 pages, Hardcover
First published November 1, 1971
83 people want to read
About the author
Fred Mustard Stewart
21 books29 followersAmerican popular novelist, several of whose books were filmed.
Stewart came to be best known for his intercontinental sagas. Year in, year out, the 600-page mark didn't daunt him, a far cry as this was from early hopes as life as a concert pianist, something which had inspired his 1st novel The Mephisto Waltz (1968) which also began his lucrative connection with the film industry. Born in Anderson, IN, he was the son of a banker &, after the Lawrenceville school, near Princeton, NJ, he studied history at Princeton University & later piano at the Juilliard School in Manhattan. By the 1960s, he realised he wasn't going to succeed as a pianist & with marriage to a literary agent, Joan Richardson, in 1967, he began to write, & found immediate success with The Mephisto Waltz.
With The Methuselah Enzyme, Stewart showed wit, but it was clear that it wasn't Henry James. There was, however, a certain charm to Six Weeks (1976), told by a married aspirant for a Democratic senatorial nomination who becomes infatuated with a cold-cream heiress, largely at the behest of her 11-year-old, would-be nymphet daughter who, beset by cancer, has less than two months to live. Nabokov it isn't, but certainly better than the 1982 film with Dudley Moore & Mary Tyler Moore.
Stewart came to be best known for his intercontinental sagas. Year in, year out, the 600-page mark didn't daunt him, a far cry as this was from early hopes as life as a concert pianist, something which had inspired his 1st novel The Mephisto Waltz (1968) which also began his lucrative connection with the film industry. Born in Anderson, IN, he was the son of a banker &, after the Lawrenceville school, near Princeton, NJ, he studied history at Princeton University & later piano at the Juilliard School in Manhattan. By the 1960s, he realised he wasn't going to succeed as a pianist & with marriage to a literary agent, Joan Richardson, in 1967, he began to write, & found immediate success with The Mephisto Waltz.
With The Methuselah Enzyme, Stewart showed wit, but it was clear that it wasn't Henry James. There was, however, a certain charm to Six Weeks (1976), told by a married aspirant for a Democratic senatorial nomination who becomes infatuated with a cold-cream heiress, largely at the behest of her 11-year-old, would-be nymphet daughter who, beset by cancer, has less than two months to live. Nabokov it isn't, but certainly better than the 1982 film with Dudley Moore & Mary Tyler Moore.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 15, 2016
Great romance story for those interested in that type of book.
"Set against the backdrop of Edwardian England during 1908/09, teeming with character and incident, high romance and suspense, its action ranges through great country and city houses, the halls of parliament, the grand salons and private rooms of the social, political and cultural leaders of the day."
"Set against the backdrop of Edwardian England during 1908/09, teeming with character and incident, high romance and suspense, its action ranges through great country and city houses, the halls of parliament, the grand salons and private rooms of the social, political and cultural leaders of the day."
February 8, 2019
The Fred Mustard Stewart collection has been complete for some time now on my book shelves. They stare at me daily, reminding me it's time to, you know, actually read them! But college life is crazy, I'm trying to write more and ugh, I just was in a reading slump.
Attempting to push myself out of the slump, I browsed my collection and chose a relatively "smaller" book Lady Darlington. I also chose this book because it had romance and I am trying to expand on my genre horizons.
The book is set in England during the early 1900's. It begins with Margaret a nurse beginning her new job at Ellendon Abbey to work for Lady Darlington, the wife of Charles Darlington. Lady Darlington, or Caroline, is known for her nasty treatment of previous nursing staff, current household staff, and her own husband. Refusing to leave her bed and having no real illness to speak of, her behavior is peculiar and mysterious to the new nurse.
As the story progresses, you learn of Caroline's motives, Margaret's naive personality and Charles' ability to bring almost any woman to bed. It is your typical love triangle with a touch of suspense, murder and complete plot twists you were not at all expecting!
This is the notorious emotional rollercoaster that Fred Mustard Stewart loves to give his readers. I love how this man writes for many reasons, but my absolute favorite thing is how he writes dialogue between characters. Every dialogue scene, especially those of intense drama, were written so realistically.
My only complaint is the ending. It was so random and upsetting it's almost as if he was rushed to wrap up the book just to say he finished it. That's my only reason for not giving it a full five stars.
If you enjoy romantic thrillers with some political and historical fiction mixed in, you'll enjoy this book!
4 out of 5 stars from me!!
Attempting to push myself out of the slump, I browsed my collection and chose a relatively "smaller" book Lady Darlington. I also chose this book because it had romance and I am trying to expand on my genre horizons.
The book is set in England during the early 1900's. It begins with Margaret a nurse beginning her new job at Ellendon Abbey to work for Lady Darlington, the wife of Charles Darlington. Lady Darlington, or Caroline, is known for her nasty treatment of previous nursing staff, current household staff, and her own husband. Refusing to leave her bed and having no real illness to speak of, her behavior is peculiar and mysterious to the new nurse.
As the story progresses, you learn of Caroline's motives, Margaret's naive personality and Charles' ability to bring almost any woman to bed. It is your typical love triangle with a touch of suspense, murder and complete plot twists you were not at all expecting!
This is the notorious emotional rollercoaster that Fred Mustard Stewart loves to give his readers. I love how this man writes for many reasons, but my absolute favorite thing is how he writes dialogue between characters. Every dialogue scene, especially those of intense drama, were written so realistically.
My only complaint is the ending. It was so random and upsetting it's almost as if he was rushed to wrap up the book just to say he finished it. That's my only reason for not giving it a full five stars.
If you enjoy romantic thrillers with some political and historical fiction mixed in, you'll enjoy this book!
4 out of 5 stars from me!!
September 7, 2018
This book is a fine cocktail of suspense,murder and romance! Quite enjoyable!
April 10, 2025
J's Book-In my library
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews