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Starbridge #4
Scandalous Risks
In the overheated 1960s in the English town of Starbridge, young Venetia Flaxton edges closer to a love affair with Neville Aysgarth, who is Dean of the Cathedral and old enough to be her father. His hidden emotional past and her moral conflict in the present lead them deeper and deeper into the mysteries of the human heart and soul.
477 pages, Paperback
First published July 22, 1990
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471 people want to read
About the author
Susan Howatch
94 books559 followersSusan Howatch (b. 1940) is a British novelist who has penned bestselling mysteries, family sagas, and other novels. Howatch was born in Surrey, England. She began writing as a teen and published her first book when she moved to the United States in 1964. Howatch found global success first with her five sagas and then with her novels about the Church of England in the twentieth century. She has now returned to live in Surrey.
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January 27, 2023
Third Reading Summary: Venetia Flaxton attempts to find meaning in her life and instead finds a disastrous romance.
One of the significant complaints I have with the Starbridge series is that it is oriented primarily toward clergy healing and restoration without as much attention to the harm that clergy can often cause. Scandalous Risks is both an illustration of that complaint and an exemption to that idea. As I said with my post on Ultimate Prizes, this is part of a single story arc that starts with the earlier book and then mostly plays out to a conclusion in Scandalous Risks, but has threads that continue into Mystical Paths, Absolute Truths, and the spinoff trilogy that starts with Wonder Worker.
In writing about the first three books, I largely stayed away from the details of the plot, but this is a book I think I have to write about the plot. If you do not want to know anything about the plot, you should stop reading here.
Venetia Flaxton is the youngest daughter of Lord Flaxton, one of the local aristocrats in the Starbridge disease. Lord Flaxton is an atheist, but he strongly supports the Church of England as a cultural institution for its support of English culture. He is also one of Stephen Aysgarth's closest friends, the Ultimate Prizes' main character. Stephen is old enough to be Venetia's father. He first meets her when Venetia is nine and Stephen is the Archdeacon of Starbridge. At the point of their meeting, Stephen is a widower with five children.
The book is framed as Venetia retelling the story from 1988, but the story she is telling is of 1963 when she was 23, unmarried, and without direction. Stephen is six years into being the Dean (head pastor) of the Starbridge Cathedral. The story is told as a type of romantic tragedy. It is clear from the start that Venetia and Stephen will eventually have a covert affair and that it will destroy Venetia and harm Stephen.
All the series' books have a theoretical thread and usually a specific book or author that runs through the book. In this case, it is Honest to God by Bishop John Robinson. That book criticizes traditional Christian theology and introduces moral and ethical relativism to a popular English-speaking audience. Aysgarth, as the series' liberal character, is all for Honest to God. As they move closer toward an affair, Stephen attempts to justify it using the "Love Ethic" of Honest to God to make the affair more palatable. Stephen and Venetia are attracted to one another. Still, as the story plays out, they are attracted not just to each other as individuals but because the other can fulfill a need within themselves. Stephen does not know of the sexual relationship between his mentor, Alex Jardine, and Lyle Christie (she eventually marries Charles Ashworth at the end of the first book). There is a parallelism in this Venetia and Stephen's relationship that carries out as Lyle attempts to mentor Venetia.
Part of my frustration with the character of Stephen, as presented in the series, is that it is the liberals that attempt to justify their illicit affairs theologically. In contrast, the other characters tend to have short-term affairs. All affairs are problematic for clergy and their roles as clergy. Still, as much as Howatch attempts to illustrate the three-part thread of the Church of England (low church, broad church, Anglo-Catholic or conservative, liberal and mystical, depending on your frame), I think Howatch fails to keep those threads running evenly.
As a reader, Venetia is harmed more than almost any other main character in the series. And it isn't just short-term harm, but a level of harm that runs through decades of the series. In my mind, one of the issues is historical. In the book, if she had been born about three decades later, she may have been called to ordination. There is certainly a hint in that direction. (Women were first ordained in 1994 in the Church of England.) As with the other books, this book helps to set up both the fifth and sixth book because Nick, in book five, continues to tell the story as he becomes Venetia's "Talisman," and Lyle's attempt to help Venetia leads her to a prayer ministry that is a center of the story of book six.
I want to affirm the orientation toward grace in the series. Howatch illustrates how we are all imperfect and how God can redeem our imperfections. But I think it sometimes goes too far and minimizes harm, especially to women. There are places where the series identifies that God is not the cause of sin and doesn't condone or desire people to do evil. But there are also times when that seems to be less clear. In Mystical Paths, toward the end of the book, there is this dialogue:
Nicholas is lamenting his behavior, and in some ways, the affirmation of God redeeming everything can be read as specifically allowing sin. Contextually, Nicholas is being told not to wallow in guilt, which is important. But there is some balance where guilt is appropriately acknowledged, and there is an attempt to make things right, even if not all things can be made right.
_________
Short review: This is the fourth in the Church of England Series by Susan Howatch. These books could be read independently and/or out of order, but you will get a lot more out of the books if you read them all and in order. As I am writing this I have finished all six. Scandalous Risks is the only of the six narrated by a woman. It starts about 15 years after the end of Ultimate Prizes. Ultimate Prizes was about Neville and his desire to marry Dido, which did not turn out that well, but he did find a semblance of purpose in his marriage and some stability in his faith and calling. But Neville did not stop drinking and did not stop taking the 'scandalous risks'. So in this book Venetia, a young socialite that is looking around for purpose and meaning and God happens to find Neville. He is one of the best friends of her father (and the father of one of her best friends.) But she starts to see him in a new way. They fall in love and have an affair. So this book is about the pain (and joys) of the affair.
If I had to quickly describe the focus of the series is it about how sin separates us from God and detracts from our ability to fulfill our calling as God intends. I have read that others thought this was one of the weaker books of the series. But I think it is more that this is the least hopeful book of the series. Because it does not end with redemption in the same way that the others do. Book five starts essentially right at the end of this book. But it did not bring this book to a satisfying conclusion yet either. My hope is that Venetia is still in the spin-off series that starts with High Fliers.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/scandalous-risks/
As with the other books in the series, while I liked them before, I liked them even more on the second reading
One of the significant complaints I have with the Starbridge series is that it is oriented primarily toward clergy healing and restoration without as much attention to the harm that clergy can often cause. Scandalous Risks is both an illustration of that complaint and an exemption to that idea. As I said with my post on Ultimate Prizes, this is part of a single story arc that starts with the earlier book and then mostly plays out to a conclusion in Scandalous Risks, but has threads that continue into Mystical Paths, Absolute Truths, and the spinoff trilogy that starts with Wonder Worker.
In writing about the first three books, I largely stayed away from the details of the plot, but this is a book I think I have to write about the plot. If you do not want to know anything about the plot, you should stop reading here.
Venetia Flaxton is the youngest daughter of Lord Flaxton, one of the local aristocrats in the Starbridge disease. Lord Flaxton is an atheist, but he strongly supports the Church of England as a cultural institution for its support of English culture. He is also one of Stephen Aysgarth's closest friends, the Ultimate Prizes' main character. Stephen is old enough to be Venetia's father. He first meets her when Venetia is nine and Stephen is the Archdeacon of Starbridge. At the point of their meeting, Stephen is a widower with five children.
The book is framed as Venetia retelling the story from 1988, but the story she is telling is of 1963 when she was 23, unmarried, and without direction. Stephen is six years into being the Dean (head pastor) of the Starbridge Cathedral. The story is told as a type of romantic tragedy. It is clear from the start that Venetia and Stephen will eventually have a covert affair and that it will destroy Venetia and harm Stephen.
All the series' books have a theoretical thread and usually a specific book or author that runs through the book. In this case, it is Honest to God by Bishop John Robinson. That book criticizes traditional Christian theology and introduces moral and ethical relativism to a popular English-speaking audience. Aysgarth, as the series' liberal character, is all for Honest to God. As they move closer toward an affair, Stephen attempts to justify it using the "Love Ethic" of Honest to God to make the affair more palatable. Stephen and Venetia are attracted to one another. Still, as the story plays out, they are attracted not just to each other as individuals but because the other can fulfill a need within themselves. Stephen does not know of the sexual relationship between his mentor, Alex Jardine, and Lyle Christie (she eventually marries Charles Ashworth at the end of the first book). There is a parallelism in this Venetia and Stephen's relationship that carries out as Lyle attempts to mentor Venetia.
Part of my frustration with the character of Stephen, as presented in the series, is that it is the liberals that attempt to justify their illicit affairs theologically. In contrast, the other characters tend to have short-term affairs. All affairs are problematic for clergy and their roles as clergy. Still, as much as Howatch attempts to illustrate the three-part thread of the Church of England (low church, broad church, Anglo-Catholic or conservative, liberal and mystical, depending on your frame), I think Howatch fails to keep those threads running evenly.
As a reader, Venetia is harmed more than almost any other main character in the series. And it isn't just short-term harm, but a level of harm that runs through decades of the series. In my mind, one of the issues is historical. In the book, if she had been born about three decades later, she may have been called to ordination. There is certainly a hint in that direction. (Women were first ordained in 1994 in the Church of England.) As with the other books, this book helps to set up both the fifth and sixth book because Nick, in book five, continues to tell the story as he becomes Venetia's "Talisman," and Lyle's attempt to help Venetia leads her to a prayer ministry that is a center of the story of book six.
I want to affirm the orientation toward grace in the series. Howatch illustrates how we are all imperfect and how God can redeem our imperfections. But I think it sometimes goes too far and minimizes harm, especially to women. There are places where the series identifies that God is not the cause of sin and doesn't condone or desire people to do evil. But there are also times when that seems to be less clear. In Mystical Paths, toward the end of the book, there is this dialogue:
“You’ll be a much better priest now than you would have been if all this hadn’t happened. You’ll be a real priest, not a replica-priest, a man experienced in horror and suffering, not a mere boy who’s spent his life wrapped in cotton wool.”
“So you’re saying that out of all that tragedy and death—”
“—will come life and truth. Your life, Nicholas, and your truth. And in your life and in your truth, Christian’s tragedy will be redeemed.”
Nicholas is lamenting his behavior, and in some ways, the affirmation of God redeeming everything can be read as specifically allowing sin. Contextually, Nicholas is being told not to wallow in guilt, which is important. But there is some balance where guilt is appropriately acknowledged, and there is an attempt to make things right, even if not all things can be made right.
_________
Short review: This is the fourth in the Church of England Series by Susan Howatch. These books could be read independently and/or out of order, but you will get a lot more out of the books if you read them all and in order. As I am writing this I have finished all six. Scandalous Risks is the only of the six narrated by a woman. It starts about 15 years after the end of Ultimate Prizes. Ultimate Prizes was about Neville and his desire to marry Dido, which did not turn out that well, but he did find a semblance of purpose in his marriage and some stability in his faith and calling. But Neville did not stop drinking and did not stop taking the 'scandalous risks'. So in this book Venetia, a young socialite that is looking around for purpose and meaning and God happens to find Neville. He is one of the best friends of her father (and the father of one of her best friends.) But she starts to see him in a new way. They fall in love and have an affair. So this book is about the pain (and joys) of the affair.
If I had to quickly describe the focus of the series is it about how sin separates us from God and detracts from our ability to fulfill our calling as God intends. I have read that others thought this was one of the weaker books of the series. But I think it is more that this is the least hopeful book of the series. Because it does not end with redemption in the same way that the others do. Book five starts essentially right at the end of this book. But it did not bring this book to a satisfying conclusion yet either. My hope is that Venetia is still in the spin-off series that starts with High Fliers.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/scandalous-risks/
As with the other books in the series, while I liked them before, I liked them even more on the second reading
June 25, 2010
The titles of the books make them sound like something just a shade below the tabloids. However, if you take into consideration the characters are all clergy and their families, friends, and associates, the extreme nature of the adjectives used will give you a better frame of reference.
The books are about learning to live as God would have us in the world He created as these particular churchmen view that world and their place in it.
The 'scandalous' risks seem tame by contemporary standards. That they aren't to the characters is the redeeming nature of Howatch's writing. Actions are seen in light of the Gospel. However, in this particular book, the Dean's view of the central message of Love is at odds with his old nemesis, and now Bishop, Charles Ashworth.
It's 1963 and a popular book on theology has just been published called, Honest to God and it has set the C of E on its ears. Did St. Augustine real mean it when he wrote that we can love God and do what we will?
It's easy to hear Saint Augustine's remark as: "Love God and do what you will."
It's more appropriate to Augustine's original meaning to put the emphasis on the first two words: "Love God and do what you will."
Howatch gets it right in this story! Superb!
The books are about learning to live as God would have us in the world He created as these particular churchmen view that world and their place in it.
The 'scandalous' risks seem tame by contemporary standards. That they aren't to the characters is the redeeming nature of Howatch's writing. Actions are seen in light of the Gospel. However, in this particular book, the Dean's view of the central message of Love is at odds with his old nemesis, and now Bishop, Charles Ashworth.
It's 1963 and a popular book on theology has just been published called, Honest to God and it has set the C of E on its ears. Did St. Augustine real mean it when he wrote that we can love God and do what we will?
It's easy to hear Saint Augustine's remark as: "Love God and do what you will."
It's more appropriate to Augustine's original meaning to put the emphasis on the first two words: "Love God and do what you will."
Howatch gets it right in this story! Superb!
August 16, 2014
"SCANDALOUS RISKS", the fourth novel in the Starbridge Series set in the English town of Starbridge, begins in 1988 with the reappearance there of Venetia Flaxton, a woman of aristocratic background, who had abruptly left town 25 years earlier. Venetia goes on to share with the reader her experiences of that pivotal and decisive year in her life: 1963. Then, aged 26, unsure of what she wanted to make of herself and increasingly restless living with her parents in their palatial residence, Venetia --- who had always been headstrong, often locking horns in spirited debates with her atheistic, Victorian father, a member of the House of Lords -- had left home after leaving a job he had secured for her. It - a job working at Liberal Party headquarters - was a job that she absolutely loathed! Indeed, as Venetia boldly asserted to her father: 'I'm off to Starbridge to meditate on God and contemplate Eternity --- which is exactly what you ought to be doing at your age!'
Once situated in Starbridge (sharing temporary residence with Marina Markhampton, a popular "society lady" whose beauty few men could resist), Venetia set about remaking herself. She reintroduced herself to an old childhood friend, Primrose Aysgarth, and Primrose's father Dean Aysgarth, a high-ranking figure in the Church of England in his early 60s. Aysgarth, a kindly, avuncular man with a taste for good whisky and modern art, was representative of the rising liberal wing of the Church of England at that time, which was challenging the traditional strictures and practices stoutly defended by the "old order" (represented by Bishop Charles Ashworth, a contemporary of Aysgarth, who previously made an appearance about 20 years earlier in the third novel in the Starbridge Series: Ultimate Prizes).
Starbridge, while on the surface an old town famed for its great medieval cathedral, is seething with religious, political, and sexual intrigues. Venetia herself becomes caught up in one of these intrigues when she falls deeply in love with Aysgarth (whom she referred to affectionally as "Mr Dean"), who gladly reciprocates. For Aysgarth is in an unhappy marriage with Dido, a neurotic yet canny woman. So both of them have to take considerable pains to keep their relationship discreet. For if even a hint of it became known in Starbridge, both of them would face utter ruin.
Aysgarth and Venetia found places a fair distance from the heart of Starbridge to meet once a week, where they shared their burning passion for each other. They also, when time and opportunity allowed, wrote love letters to each other, which I, as a person who grew up long before the advent of e-mail, enjoyed reading because they were so eloquent and heartfelt.
Yet the dream-like world in which both Aysgarth and Venetia sustained their love will find itself faced with challenges neither can ignore.
Any reader who loves a novel with vividly realized characters and a strong, compelling storyline, will savor "SCANDALOUS RISKS." So, sit back, relax with a juice or drink, and you'll soon be fully absorbed in this rich and dramatic tale of lives transformed amid crisis and controversy.
Once situated in Starbridge (sharing temporary residence with Marina Markhampton, a popular "society lady" whose beauty few men could resist), Venetia set about remaking herself. She reintroduced herself to an old childhood friend, Primrose Aysgarth, and Primrose's father Dean Aysgarth, a high-ranking figure in the Church of England in his early 60s. Aysgarth, a kindly, avuncular man with a taste for good whisky and modern art, was representative of the rising liberal wing of the Church of England at that time, which was challenging the traditional strictures and practices stoutly defended by the "old order" (represented by Bishop Charles Ashworth, a contemporary of Aysgarth, who previously made an appearance about 20 years earlier in the third novel in the Starbridge Series: Ultimate Prizes).
Starbridge, while on the surface an old town famed for its great medieval cathedral, is seething with religious, political, and sexual intrigues. Venetia herself becomes caught up in one of these intrigues when she falls deeply in love with Aysgarth (whom she referred to affectionally as "Mr Dean"), who gladly reciprocates. For Aysgarth is in an unhappy marriage with Dido, a neurotic yet canny woman. So both of them have to take considerable pains to keep their relationship discreet. For if even a hint of it became known in Starbridge, both of them would face utter ruin.
Aysgarth and Venetia found places a fair distance from the heart of Starbridge to meet once a week, where they shared their burning passion for each other. They also, when time and opportunity allowed, wrote love letters to each other, which I, as a person who grew up long before the advent of e-mail, enjoyed reading because they were so eloquent and heartfelt.
Yet the dream-like world in which both Aysgarth and Venetia sustained their love will find itself faced with challenges neither can ignore.
Any reader who loves a novel with vividly realized characters and a strong, compelling storyline, will savor "SCANDALOUS RISKS." So, sit back, relax with a juice or drink, and you'll soon be fully absorbed in this rich and dramatic tale of lives transformed amid crisis and controversy.
June 15, 2024
Exceptional
August 16, 2018
I didn't actually read the whole book.
It was very small print and was not holding my interest.
This book was book 4 of a six book series about the Church of England in the twentieth century.
It takes place in a small English city which is home to a beautiful Cathedral.
The person who takes the Scandalas Risks was the married archdeacon, minister of the Cathedral.
He had a love connection with a woman thirty years his junior. She was the daughtwer of a local prominent gentleman.
The book starts with the woman returning to the Cathedral. The archdeacon is now dead.
It then proceeds with the woman telling the story of her past.
It was very small print and was not holding my interest.
This book was book 4 of a six book series about the Church of England in the twentieth century.
It takes place in a small English city which is home to a beautiful Cathedral.
The person who takes the Scandalas Risks was the married archdeacon, minister of the Cathedral.
He had a love connection with a woman thirty years his junior. She was the daughtwer of a local prominent gentleman.
The book starts with the woman returning to the Cathedral. The archdeacon is now dead.
It then proceeds with the woman telling the story of her past.
January 12, 2020
Fourth in the six volume Starbridge series, Scandalous Risks is the only one with a female protagonist, Venetia Flaxton, a young noblewoman who finds herself wrestling with the "new morality" of the 1960s and ultimately entangled in an affair with a high ranking Anglican cleric. As she does with the other books in the series, Howatch weaves theology, philosophy, church politics, and personal spiritual crisis into a layered story that asks as many questions as it answers. In this book, Howatch gives particular attention to Christianity in terms of love as well as modern man's attempts to redefine historic Christian sexual ethic.
June 2, 2012
just finished sobbing my way thru the end of this great book. love this whole series but Venetia breaks my heart...She deals with a lot of issues that many modern women do.
May 8, 2020
My 2nd time reading, but this time within the context of the series:
Such a fascinating look at the way we can lie to ourselves.
I really didn't care for Neville Aysgarth in the previous book, Ultimate Prizes, and I REALLY didn't like him in this one. Ultimate Prizes was from his POV, so even if I didn't like him, I could see his perspective. This book is told from Venetia's POV and Aysgarth's lying to himself hurts everyone around him. Venetia's perspective doesn't really make much sense either, but you can tell how sucked into the illicit relationship she is.
What is so interesting about this series is how lovely the peripheral figures seem, and how horrid the main characters are. And in the next book we'll see that the peripheral figures really have a lot of their own faults.
This is the series I hate to love. I don't really like many of the characters, but the look into motivations at relationships are fascinating.
From my review on Bookcrossing: December 05, 2005
Intense!
Some random thoughts:
From the moment I began reading this book, I doubted that I would finish it. But, for lack of something better to do, I plugged away at it...and then I was hooked. The characters suddenly emerged and I found myself fascinated by their spiraling descent downwards as they continued to take scandalous risks. I became frustrated as they became caught in a trap they could not escape.
Although there is one character, through her conversations and letters, I got a fascinating look at the perceptions held by each character for the others in the book. Each character has its own strengths and weaknesses; though I was sad sometimes to learn of the weaknesses of characters I admired.
Though there is despair in this book, there can be redemption.
There's a lot of theology in this book. Half of the book is a discussion of a theological book that was written in the 60s, when this book was set.
How is it that everyone in this book is so smart and clever and witty?
An excellent book. However, I did not rate it *too* highly because I doubt I would reread such an emotionally exhausting book.
(One question though: What in the world is Pre-Raphealite hair? And how does every single character in this book spot it from a mile away?)
Such a fascinating look at the way we can lie to ourselves.
I really didn't care for Neville Aysgarth in the previous book, Ultimate Prizes, and I REALLY didn't like him in this one. Ultimate Prizes was from his POV, so even if I didn't like him, I could see his perspective. This book is told from Venetia's POV and Aysgarth's lying to himself hurts everyone around him. Venetia's perspective doesn't really make much sense either, but you can tell how sucked into the illicit relationship she is.
What is so interesting about this series is how lovely the peripheral figures seem, and how horrid the main characters are. And in the next book we'll see that the peripheral figures really have a lot of their own faults.
This is the series I hate to love. I don't really like many of the characters, but the look into motivations at relationships are fascinating.
From my review on Bookcrossing: December 05, 2005
Intense!
Some random thoughts:
From the moment I began reading this book, I doubted that I would finish it. But, for lack of something better to do, I plugged away at it...and then I was hooked. The characters suddenly emerged and I found myself fascinated by their spiraling descent downwards as they continued to take scandalous risks. I became frustrated as they became caught in a trap they could not escape.
Although there is one character, through her conversations and letters, I got a fascinating look at the perceptions held by each character for the others in the book. Each character has its own strengths and weaknesses; though I was sad sometimes to learn of the weaknesses of characters I admired.
Though there is despair in this book, there can be redemption.
There's a lot of theology in this book. Half of the book is a discussion of a theological book that was written in the 60s, when this book was set.
How is it that everyone in this book is so smart and clever and witty?
An excellent book. However, I did not rate it *too* highly because I doubt I would reread such an emotionally exhausting book.
(One question though: What in the world is Pre-Raphealite hair? And how does every single character in this book spot it from a mile away?)
August 1, 2021
So this is the fourth of a series. The first 3 focus on 3 clergymen who are widowed young and ambitious and then face a hard time, have good spiritual consoling, marry a young beautiful lady and live happily ever after . Well actually not the 3rd guy, because he shows back in up this book and wasn't quite rehabilitated. Its narrated by a young worldly woman about her relationship with him and doesn't end all peachy and is actually somewhat depressing, but is also kinda a cliff hanger for the next book (which of course I have reserved at the library and will 'waste' more afternoon rest times when I could be doing something productive!)
Another great read with different aspects of theology discussed. My favorite line from Jon Darrow (by far my fave of the characters) about two sides of a debate-Where do you stand in the... debate? "Beyond it...beyond all the words lies the Word which dwarfs them all." Good to keep in mind with all the debating that is going on these days.
Second reading - though I didn't remember much of the details, I had many of the same thoughts. This breaks the mold of reformed characters and happy endings. I mostly just wanted it to end, the stupid choices and suffering, at least her endings are so beautiful. A lot less theology (and more drinking and pining), though interestingly since my first reading I have listened to others' thoughts processing the German theologists about God being the Ground of our Being and that the rejecting a 3 tiered world...
Again I was struck by the beauty and importance of being 'beyond' in debates.
Another great read with different aspects of theology discussed. My favorite line from Jon Darrow (by far my fave of the characters) about two sides of a debate-Where do you stand in the... debate? "Beyond it...beyond all the words lies the Word which dwarfs them all." Good to keep in mind with all the debating that is going on these days.
Second reading - though I didn't remember much of the details, I had many of the same thoughts. This breaks the mold of reformed characters and happy endings. I mostly just wanted it to end, the stupid choices and suffering, at least her endings are so beautiful. A lot less theology (and more drinking and pining), though interestingly since my first reading I have listened to others' thoughts processing the German theologists about God being the Ground of our Being and that the rejecting a 3 tiered world...
Again I was struck by the beauty and importance of being 'beyond' in debates.
November 24, 2015
Into the 1960s (1963 to be precise), and Aysgarth is now Dean of Starbridge, and remains resolutely Low Church. Being set in the 1960s (viewed from 1988) gives the clue that the plot centres on the New Morality, and the inevitable sex, grief, pain, and desperate desire for a happy ending to it all. What I’ve written there may sound exquisitely trite; which most emphatically the plot of this beautifully written novel is not.
The real-life then Bishop of Woolwich (John Robinson) comes in for some healthy criticism (pg.198):
“ ‘… I [the Bishop of Starbridge] think I’m making a valid comment on the origins of his compulsion to slate the Church, pander to atheists and attempt to redesign God to suit some mythical variety of homo sapiens which he’s pleased to describe as ‘modern man’. I’m afraid his current antics only remind me of those younger people who rebel against their conventional middle-class families by becoming rabid Marxists’ “
The real-life then Bishop of Woolwich (John Robinson) comes in for some healthy criticism (pg.198):
“ ‘… I [the Bishop of Starbridge] think I’m making a valid comment on the origins of his compulsion to slate the Church, pander to atheists and attempt to redesign God to suit some mythical variety of homo sapiens which he’s pleased to describe as ‘modern man’. I’m afraid his current antics only remind me of those younger people who rebel against their conventional middle-class families by becoming rabid Marxists’ “
November 21, 2021
Continuing my re-read of the Starbridge series. This is the fourth book and for me, the saddest of them all so far. Venetia has to wait so long for redemption, and she has at least two near misses where she almost crossed the threshold but is grabbed back. Interesting, per Wikipedia, Howatch based Venetia’s journey on the real life of Venetia Stanley – different era but the parallels are there.
Any good will I built up for Neville Aysgarth (now Dean of Starbridge) is completely erased by the events of this book. Such a hypocritical a**hole. It is, however, so interesting to read all of these so closely together. The conservative assumptions 26 year Venetia makes about the older generation are fantastic (and way off base), since the reader knows exactly what this generation got up to 20 years ago.
Any good will I built up for Neville Aysgarth (now Dean of Starbridge) is completely erased by the events of this book. Such a hypocritical a**hole. It is, however, so interesting to read all of these so closely together. The conservative assumptions 26 year Venetia makes about the older generation are fantastic (and way off base), since the reader knows exactly what this generation got up to 20 years ago.
June 20, 2020
I remembered not having liked this book as well as others in the series when I read it before, and for a large part of the book I wondered why that had been, as it seemed very engrossing. I don't want to think it is because this is the only one narrated by a woman. It may be because, unlike the others (at least the first three which I have just reread), it does not have a significant portion devoted to the person in trouble finding the way back to God. There is just the barest hint at the end, but no more. What I like in the other books is not just the discussion of theology and how it relates to our lives, but how it not only shows the Christian perspective on how we mess up our lives but also the process of redemption, not just the initial repentance but the slow and difficult changes in attitudes and habits.
August 4, 2020
3.5 stars
Well, after somewhat redeeming himself by the end of Ultimate Prizes, Neville ("Stephen") Aysgarth has sunk to new lows in Scandalous Risks. Ugh, I really can't stand that guy. I came to like Venetia quite a bit, even while wanting to shake her. And I really liked the new perspective on Lyle Ashworth. One of my favorite things about this series is how each book not only connects to all the others, but gives you a completely different picture of characters from previous books.
Well, after somewhat redeeming himself by the end of Ultimate Prizes, Neville ("Stephen") Aysgarth has sunk to new lows in Scandalous Risks. Ugh, I really can't stand that guy. I came to like Venetia quite a bit, even while wanting to shake her. And I really liked the new perspective on Lyle Ashworth. One of my favorite things about this series is how each book not only connects to all the others, but gives you a completely different picture of characters from previous books.
July 18, 2015
Venetia Flaxton falls for the most unavailable man in her orbit when she and the Dean of Starbridge Cathedral's lives entwine for book four of Susan Howatch's six novel series on the Church of England. I remain a sucker for a book where the Spiritual Director is the hero of the story. Even as Bishop Robinson's little book "Honest to God" stirs a theological debate in 1963 England, the sexless adultery personifies the problems with the radically liberal approach to faith.
February 1, 2022
This is fourth in Howatch's series about the Church of England. Or rather, about the people who make up the Church of England. Venetia, the narrator, is a young socialite of the 1960s trying to find meaning, purpose and even God. She finds, instead, Neville (who featured in the previous book), dean of the Cathedral. Neville is much older than Venetia but none-the-less becomes exceedingly attractive to her as she does to him. He's a married man but that does not stop him from taking the scandalous risk and becoming quite emmeshed with Venetia. This book has much to say about the risks we take and how we fool ourselves into believing such risks to be necessary and even redemptive. I was thrilled to have a female protagonist in this book who, honestly, makes a case for female clergy. There was much to reflect on and Howatch does not disappoint in her command of theology and church history. I look forward to Book 5!!!
July 26, 2021
This was very very boring.It was unlike the author because I have read some of her books.However, I managed to finish it.
August 9, 2022
SO so book. Couldn't finish
June 25, 2007
This is the fourth book in the Starbridge series and is narrated by Venetia Flaxton, a young woman of intellect and means but no direction, and centers around her strange affair in 1963 with 61-year-old Neville Aysgarth, dean of Starbridge Cathedral.
This book had me grinding my teeth in frustration with Neville. Everything Jon did in the previous book to help him get back on a correct spiritual path seems to go down the drain with his obsession with Venetia. Marrying Dido was the worse possible thing he could have done both for himself personally and also for his children. Because he doesn't love her but feels guilty for marrying her he overcompensates by doting on her while suppresses his own needs and desires. This conflict ends up being a recipe for a disaster for not only himself and his family but has disastrous consequences for Venetia as well.
To compound his problems Neville also indulges in high risk behaviours managing the cathedral. Much is made in this book about his alcoholism but personally I thought his addiction to adrenalin and to living on the edge of disaster was a bigger problem.
In the background of all this drama we see the return of Charles and Lyle Ashworth, the main characters in Glittering Images. Charles is now the Bishop of Starbridge and represents the conservative wing of the CoE, a position which puts him into conflict with Neville over the cathedral management.
Meanwhile, the offspring of the older characters are romping though the 1960's putting additional grey in their parents hair and courting disasters of their own.
This book had me grinding my teeth in frustration with Neville. Everything Jon did in the previous book to help him get back on a correct spiritual path seems to go down the drain with his obsession with Venetia. Marrying Dido was the worse possible thing he could have done both for himself personally and also for his children. Because he doesn't love her but feels guilty for marrying her he overcompensates by doting on her while suppresses his own needs and desires. This conflict ends up being a recipe for a disaster for not only himself and his family but has disastrous consequences for Venetia as well.
To compound his problems Neville also indulges in high risk behaviours managing the cathedral. Much is made in this book about his alcoholism but personally I thought his addiction to adrenalin and to living on the edge of disaster was a bigger problem.
In the background of all this drama we see the return of Charles and Lyle Ashworth, the main characters in Glittering Images. Charles is now the Bishop of Starbridge and represents the conservative wing of the CoE, a position which puts him into conflict with Neville over the cathedral management.
Meanwhile, the offspring of the older characters are romping though the 1960's putting additional grey in their parents hair and courting disasters of their own.
February 20, 2020
This is book #4 in Susan Howatch's 'Starbridge Series'. It is narrated by Venetia Flaxton who made a quick appearance as a young child in Book #3, 'Ultimate Prizes'--which tells the story of Neville Aysgarth. Fast forward 20 years and the action takes place in the early 1960s when Venetia, now a young adult, falls in love with Aysgarth, a married clerical and father of her best friend. It is a complicated story, but that is what Howatch does best. Just when you think you might lose interest, she throws you a curve and you are once again addicted to her storytelling. Characters from the previous three books also make their appearances and it is a great treat to see where they have ended up. When I started the series, I didn't think I was going to like it, but each book is better than the last one. In Book #4, we are introduced to Nick Darrow who is the son of Jonathan Darrow, a mystic. Nick seems to have inherited his father's psychic abilities, but he remains in the background as the affair of Venetia and Neville unfolds despite Nick's warnings. Book #5 tells Nick's story and I can't wait to dig in!
October 31, 2017
All of Susan Howatch books are in the end potboilers featuring Christians and academics losing themselves then coming back for redemption. This one and "The Heartbreaker" are perhaps the saddest of them all. The idea of sin has been re-framed for the times and in many cases moved away from personal morality and accountability to a higher power. Howatch of course isn't buying. Where she seems very contemporary is in her portrait of a gifted and academic woman who is condemned to life as an upper class twit surrounded by intellectual men. When she is seduced by one who really should know better she is drawn into the most intense experience of her life. Venetia Flaxton is one of the most complete and well drawn of Howatch's characters and perhaps the reason why the St. Benets series focused more on women. Her tale in some ways is the most moralistic told my Howatch (and that is saying a lot) and I suspect most reflects her potential fear: "that could have been me" Wonderful work.
November 15, 2013
I went back and forth on this a lot. It's too long, too slow, it gets a little confusing because it's so slow I didn't always pay attention. The author chose to call two important characters Aysgarth and Ashworth and that annoyed me.
But the heart of the book concerns moral choices and moral risks and a whole lotta crap about philosophical moral hair-splitting and even trends in belief. I liked that, I liked looking at slow dissections of spiritual discourse; don't see that a lot. As for the heroine--she was okay, not really someone I could identify with, and for me the conclusion was a little unconvincing. I don't know if I would ever go with the rest of the books in this group; probably not. But I don't regret spending time with this one.
But the heart of the book concerns moral choices and moral risks and a whole lotta crap about philosophical moral hair-splitting and even trends in belief. I liked that, I liked looking at slow dissections of spiritual discourse; don't see that a lot. As for the heroine--she was okay, not really someone I could identify with, and for me the conclusion was a little unconvincing. I don't know if I would ever go with the rest of the books in this group; probably not. But I don't regret spending time with this one.
February 22, 2018
Hard to put your finger on what's so great about these theological-psychological clerical bonkbusters* - something to do with the hectic pace, the compulsive picking apart of human personalities, everything clicking into place pleasingly as you turn the pages. This one has a particularly pleasing sense of ambiguity in the resolution.
*not really a bonkbuster
*not really a bonkbuster
October 3, 2018
Wonderful, tragic. How we fool ourselves into thinking what we *want* is what is good or good for us.
December 29, 2017
Very scandalous, indeed! This, the 4th in the "Church of England" series, is a rather gripping story, this time emphasizing the certain and devastating effects of sin, whether the sin is acknowledged as sin or not. It also interweaves, among other things, a debate involving liberal and conservative theologies, clearly showing the inadequacies and impossibility of dealing with sin without true repentance. Justification by rationalization just doesn't cut it! A rather tragic story overall.
Some of the memorable characters . . .:
Neville Aysgarth [a.k.a. the deluded one]
"Adultery is prima facie wrong. That we all know. But if, for example, a married man found himself in a truly loving relationship with a woman who was not his wife, there would be no adultery because he would love that woman enough to abstain from any behavior which was morally wrong."
Lyle Ashworth
" I know it's quite wrong for a bishop's wife to be so cynical, but at least I'm being entirely honest when I say that in my opinion a man in the grip of a grand passion can always work out a way to circumvent his moral beliefs. He'd still hold those particular beliefs, of course, but he'd decide his case wasn't covered by the rules. There's nothing like a grand passion for encouraging self-deception on an epic scale."
Venetia Flaxton
"And as she talked on, telling him about her plans, it suddenly dawned on me not only that she was in love with him, but that the unsupervised stay in a beautiful house, the placing of herself against the ravishing backdrop of the Cathedral, the exact nature of the social event which would inevitably lure him from Oxford--all had been planned long before she left London. It seemed I had met yet another slave to a one-sided grand passion. No wonder we had discovered we were soul-mates."
Some of the memorable characters . . .:
Neville Aysgarth [a.k.a. the deluded one]
"Adultery is prima facie wrong. That we all know. But if, for example, a married man found himself in a truly loving relationship with a woman who was not his wife, there would be no adultery because he would love that woman enough to abstain from any behavior which was morally wrong."
Lyle Ashworth
" I know it's quite wrong for a bishop's wife to be so cynical, but at least I'm being entirely honest when I say that in my opinion a man in the grip of a grand passion can always work out a way to circumvent his moral beliefs. He'd still hold those particular beliefs, of course, but he'd decide his case wasn't covered by the rules. There's nothing like a grand passion for encouraging self-deception on an epic scale."
Venetia Flaxton
"And as she talked on, telling him about her plans, it suddenly dawned on me not only that she was in love with him, but that the unsupervised stay in a beautiful house, the placing of herself against the ravishing backdrop of the Cathedral, the exact nature of the social event which would inevitably lure him from Oxford--all had been planned long before she left London. It seemed I had met yet another slave to a one-sided grand passion. No wonder we had discovered we were soul-mates."
August 11, 2023
This is narrated by my all time favorite narrator, Sian Thomas, so overall the experience was lovely. The first half of the book kept me completely entralled, but I found the letters penned between Venetia and Aysgarth became a little sappy for me and I was turned off by their ability to justify and call bad behavior acceptable. Though I'm sure that was an intent on the author's part, but it went on a tad too long for me. I did find the theological debate over the book Honest to God by Bishop John Robinson quite fascinating. 3.5 stars rounding up
November 18, 2021
After reading the first 3 in the Starbridge series, and liking the books, I thought book number 4 of the series would be worthy of reading. I did not like it all. It was tedious and the protoganist Venetia was a person I could not like. She was too rich, and put herself in the high realm of aristocracy and looked down at those who served her. By page 186, I didn't care what happened to her and/or to the Dean of Starbridge. It will be a long while before I read book umber 5 in the series.
December 28, 2023
I love the psychological depth of Susan Howatch’s characters. And having read about the inner lives of the other main characters in previous books, there’s the realistic phenomena of the current narrator speculating on the private lives of these characters (and getting it wrong). Don’t we all do that? We see a person’s outer persona and think we can suss out their inner lives.
P.S. The Goodreads app crashed yet again in writing this review :(
P.S. The Goodreads app crashed yet again in writing this review :(
June 23, 2021
My fourth novel in the Starbridge series by Susan Howatch. As always, I enjoy flowing through the historical and cultural changes that Howatch highlights. She weaves a narration of temptation, spiritual shortcoming, and disasterous choices certain clerical characters choose, making victims of people they should protect.
April 20, 2024
There are a lot of words in this book. It is basically an essay about the moral struggle human beings face, specifically in this case, Christians. At times it read like a text book. I could have done without that. But I see what the author was doing. I skimmed through those parts, pausing here and there to gather a thought provoking kernel. For me, the ending saved it. I was moved.
January 25, 2019
A bit boring...
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