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The Forsyte Chronicles #9
One More River
Clare Charwell has just fled her sadistic husband to England. Along the way she has met the charming Tony Croom. When she refuses to return to her husband, he falsely accuses her of adultery with Tony in a highly public court trial.
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First published January 1, 1933
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328 people want to read
About the author
John Galsworthy
2,421 books474 followersLiterary career of English novelist and playwright John Galsworthy, who used John Sinjohn as a pseudonym, spanned the Victorian, Edwardian and Georgian eras.
In addition to his prolific literary status, Galsworthy was also a renowned social activist. He was an outspoken advocate for the women's suffrage movement, prison reform and animal rights. Galsworthy was the president of PEN, an organization that sought to promote international cooperation through literature.
John Galsworthy was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1932 "for his distinguished art of narration which takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga."
In addition to his prolific literary status, Galsworthy was also a renowned social activist. He was an outspoken advocate for the women's suffrage movement, prison reform and animal rights. Galsworthy was the president of PEN, an organization that sought to promote international cooperation through literature.
John Galsworthy was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature in 1932 "for his distinguished art of narration which takes its highest form in The Forsyte Saga."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
December 23, 2021
The ninth and final book in the Forsyte Chronicles. The last trilogy can easily be skipped, though ending with the sixth might feel quite jarring, given what happens at the end of that book. I was on the lookout for details about Fleur and Michael (whose story takes up the entire second trilogy) and we do meet them a bit and learn something about their ongoing lives. I enjoyed the second trilogy mostly because of Michael who is a wonderfully lovable character and has all of the funny lines of which there are many.
March 31, 2016
Here ends Volume 3 of The Forsyte Chronicles. Galsworthy managed to work at least one member of the Forsyte family into the three books of this volume. Otherwise, the story was all about the Charwell family of Condaford Grange - the family of Fleur Forsyte's mother-in-law, Emily Charwell Mont. The reader follows each of her adult nephew and two nieces through a major life-crisis, with the main focus on the middle child, Dinny. The nephew more or less disappears after book one, but for Dinny and her sister, there are happy endings. Galsworthy knows how to write a good story while at the same time commenting on the society of his time. I have been reading this series (nine books and four short stories) since January 2015. Time well spent!
June 30, 2013
Two years ago I read The Barchester Novels. Last year it was A Dance to the Music of Time. This year I've read the whole of The Forsyte Chronicles and I'm not sure that they aren't the best of the three...and I write as a huge fan of Trollope and Powell. It feels a treat and an honour to have read them. I certainly feel a better man for having done so.
I'll miss them.
I'll miss them.
October 16, 2019
Ez a könyv egy olyan világot ábrázol, ami alighanem örökre a múlté*. És ami azt illeti, a könyv egyik legfőbb értékét éppen az adja, hogy Galsworthy ennek tökéletesen tudatában van. Angliában járunk a Nagy Világválság idején: épp letértünk az aranyalapról, és amit eddig biztosnak tartottunk (a tradíciók, a jólét), az egyszeriben kérdésessé válik. A kötet „úriember” szereplői pedig kénytelenek szembesülni azzal, hogy a lovaspólózásnak, meg az andalgásnak a kies vidéki kúriákon alighanem hamarosan vége szakad – ideje lesz lassan valami rendes munka után nézni. Nagyon vonzó számomra, hogy Galsworthy ezt a birodalmi eróziót nem holmi nyavalygásba hempergetve interpretálja, hanem egészséges érdeklődéssel – ami már csak azért is jó, mert ha egy író elveszíti jóindulatú kíváncsiságát a holnap, a változás iránt, akkor általában igen közel kerül a begyöpösödéshez.
A regény nyitójelenetében megismerjük Claire-t, aki épp az imént érkezett Ceylonból utánfutójával, a reménytelenül (?) szerelmes Tonyval. Amit nem hozott magával, az férje, Jerry, aki egy szadista állat, úgyhogy értelemszerűen eszében sincs viszontlátni őt. Jerry azonban nem osztozik ebben az óhajban, és hamarosan meg is jelenik Londonban, hogy gondoskodjon a cselekményről. Innentől kezdve pedig lépésről lépésre közelebb kerülünk a regény második felét meghatározó kulcsmomentumhoz: egy válóperes tárgyalótermi drámához, amin az olvasó bízvást tövig rághatja majd a körmét. Mint ebből is kiderül, a regény feszültségének középpontjában a házasság, a válás, a nő meg a férfi kapcsolatának átalakulása áll egy olyan átmeneti időszakban, ahol a feleség ugyan technikailag faképnél hagyhatja már férjét, de hogy miért is tette (mert lovaglóostorral verte, azért), azt a művelt úri nép magában tartja, hisz meggyőződése, hogy amit vele tesznek, azért neki kell szégyellnie magát.
E könyv egészen biztosan nem olyan nagy volumenű, mint a Forsyte Saga** (például hiányzik belőle egy olyan sokrétű figura, mint Soames Forsyte), úgyhogy sokáig úgy voltam vele, hogy négy csillag. Ám a két női szereplő (Claire, és a még nála is ügyesebben ábrázolt Dinny) eredetisége, finom izgalmassága, a szöveg puhasága, valamint az ebből a puhaságba szinte észrevétlenül belesimuló merészség (ami ma már aligha számítana merészségnek, de akkor!) jobb belátásra hangolt*. Lágy, érzelmes, okos szöveg, látványos szakadék van közte és a XX-XXI. század kortárs prózája között.
* És egy olyan légies textúrával, ami szintúgy alighanem a múlté.
** Amúgy e kötet a Forsyte Saga tágan vett univerzumának része, amit pár felbukkanó Forsyte is jelez – de a nagy eposz ismerete nélkül is élvezhető.
*** Mondjuk ez itt a goodreadsen még mindig csak 4 csillag, mert ugye négy és fél nincs.
A regény nyitójelenetében megismerjük Claire-t, aki épp az imént érkezett Ceylonból utánfutójával, a reménytelenül (?) szerelmes Tonyval. Amit nem hozott magával, az férje, Jerry, aki egy szadista állat, úgyhogy értelemszerűen eszében sincs viszontlátni őt. Jerry azonban nem osztozik ebben az óhajban, és hamarosan meg is jelenik Londonban, hogy gondoskodjon a cselekményről. Innentől kezdve pedig lépésről lépésre közelebb kerülünk a regény második felét meghatározó kulcsmomentumhoz: egy válóperes tárgyalótermi drámához, amin az olvasó bízvást tövig rághatja majd a körmét. Mint ebből is kiderül, a regény feszültségének középpontjában a házasság, a válás, a nő meg a férfi kapcsolatának átalakulása áll egy olyan átmeneti időszakban, ahol a feleség ugyan technikailag faképnél hagyhatja már férjét, de hogy miért is tette (mert lovaglóostorral verte, azért), azt a művelt úri nép magában tartja, hisz meggyőződése, hogy amit vele tesznek, azért neki kell szégyellnie magát.
E könyv egészen biztosan nem olyan nagy volumenű, mint a Forsyte Saga** (például hiányzik belőle egy olyan sokrétű figura, mint Soames Forsyte), úgyhogy sokáig úgy voltam vele, hogy négy csillag. Ám a két női szereplő (Claire, és a még nála is ügyesebben ábrázolt Dinny) eredetisége, finom izgalmassága, a szöveg puhasága, valamint az ebből a puhaságba szinte észrevétlenül belesimuló merészség (ami ma már aligha számítana merészségnek, de akkor!) jobb belátásra hangolt*. Lágy, érzelmes, okos szöveg, látványos szakadék van közte és a XX-XXI. század kortárs prózája között.
* És egy olyan légies textúrával, ami szintúgy alighanem a múlté.
** Amúgy e kötet a Forsyte Saga tágan vett univerzumának része, amit pár felbukkanó Forsyte is jelez – de a nagy eposz ismerete nélkül is élvezhető.
*** Mondjuk ez itt a goodreadsen még mindig csak 4 csillag, mert ugye négy és fél nincs.
October 19, 2015
This is the last in the Forsyte Chronicles series. I read the whole series with a GR friend (thanks for your insight, Anita!) and have really enjoyed reading about the Forsytes (although most of them are not actually very nice people) and the Charwell family in the last 3 books - who were much nicer people and made the last 3 books better than the first 6 for me!
I know this doesn’t seem to be the views of most people who liked Galsworthy’s writing more in the books directly following the Forsytes, but the characters of those stories did make them a bit less enjoyable for me. And I didn’t fully appreciate this until I read the last 3 with much more pleasant characters! They also involve the Forsytes, but not from such a close perspective.
When I finished this one, I felt a little bereft that these stories were over. And a little sad that Anita and I didn’t have a “go-to” series to read together (but never mind, Anita - we’ve still got 44 books in common that we both want to read!).
I know this doesn’t seem to be the views of most people who liked Galsworthy’s writing more in the books directly following the Forsytes, but the characters of those stories did make them a bit less enjoyable for me. And I didn’t fully appreciate this until I read the last 3 with much more pleasant characters! They also involve the Forsytes, but not from such a close perspective.
When I finished this one, I felt a little bereft that these stories were over. And a little sad that Anita and I didn’t have a “go-to” series to read together (but never mind, Anita - we’ve still got 44 books in common that we both want to read!).
November 18, 2021
The journey of the Forsyte and Cherrell family comes to a satisfactory end with this tale centering on Dinny Charwell’s younger sister Clare leaving her husband and his subsequent suit for divorce based on Claire’s alleged affair.
While the plot may be a bit of soap opera material, it works well, serving as a useful tool for Galsworthy’s examination of British upper-class society in the 1930s. His character depictions and insights are excellent as usual. The legal aspects are well-done as Galsworthy, trained as an attorney, deftly writes witness examination and cross-examination. I also appreciated the nuances that Galsworthy depicts, such as portraying Clare’s husband’s sadistic tendencies as a result of sexual desires rather than mere cruelty.
While the plot centers on Clare’s plight, the reader’s focus is still on Dinny, both with her behavior on Claire’s behalf and her struggles to move on after the end of her romance with poet Wilfred Desert, portrayed in the previous novel. The reader sympathizes with her as Dinny is a wonderful heroine, who is unsure what to do with her future.
I was generally pleased by the ending, especially with Dinny’s decision making. I think she has chosen the path best for her wants and desires from life. I was a bit dismayed, though, that the end was told through a letter from Dinny’s uncle rather than through a third person account from Dinny’s perspective.
Overall this End of the Chapter trilogy was a surprisingly good read. Surprising to me since this trilogy is so little read and talked about. As one reviewer commented, the trilogy is about the family of Fleur Forsyte's mother-in-law, Emily Charwell Mont with each of the novels following one of her adult nephew and two nieces through a major life-crisis, with the main focus on the middle child, Dinny. This provided an interesting trio of stories with the overlying storyline involving Dinny’s ultimate fate. The reader also gets a peek at Fleur and Michael Mont as they slide into successful family life while keeping the qualities that make them who they are. Their participation in the family crises, especially in the ultimate resolution of Dinny’s fate, helped make this ending trilogy even more satisfying.
While the plot may be a bit of soap opera material, it works well, serving as a useful tool for Galsworthy’s examination of British upper-class society in the 1930s. His character depictions and insights are excellent as usual. The legal aspects are well-done as Galsworthy, trained as an attorney, deftly writes witness examination and cross-examination. I also appreciated the nuances that Galsworthy depicts, such as portraying Clare’s husband’s sadistic tendencies as a result of sexual desires rather than mere cruelty.
While the plot centers on Clare’s plight, the reader’s focus is still on Dinny, both with her behavior on Claire’s behalf and her struggles to move on after the end of her romance with poet Wilfred Desert, portrayed in the previous novel. The reader sympathizes with her as Dinny is a wonderful heroine, who is unsure what to do with her future.
I was generally pleased by the ending, especially with Dinny’s decision making. I think she has chosen the path best for her wants and desires from life. I was a bit dismayed, though, that the end was told through a letter from Dinny’s uncle rather than through a third person account from Dinny’s perspective.
Overall this End of the Chapter trilogy was a surprisingly good read. Surprising to me since this trilogy is so little read and talked about. As one reviewer commented, the trilogy is about the family of Fleur Forsyte's mother-in-law, Emily Charwell Mont with each of the novels following one of her adult nephew and two nieces through a major life-crisis, with the main focus on the middle child, Dinny. This provided an interesting trio of stories with the overlying storyline involving Dinny’s ultimate fate. The reader also gets a peek at Fleur and Michael Mont as they slide into successful family life while keeping the qualities that make them who they are. Their participation in the family crises, especially in the ultimate resolution of Dinny’s fate, helped make this ending trilogy even more satisfying.
December 20, 2015
Over the River picks up the story about a year and a half on from the events in Flowering Wilderness. Dinny, the daughter of the Charwell/Cherrell family who was left so terribly broken hearted at the end of the previous novel has been living quietly with her family at their country home, never speaking of her lost love, though he remains in her mind.
Dinny’s sister Clare had married Sir Jerry Corven during the course of Flowering Wilderness, a man considerably older and about whom Dinny had nursed private reservations. Upon her marriage Claire had accompanied her husband to Ceylon – where she discovered her husband’s tastes run more toward the sadistic than the loving. Clare returns to England behind his back, and on the ship meets a young man Tony Croom – with whom she begins to spend a good deal of time. Although their relationship continues platonically upon their arrival in England – Tony makes it clear that he has fallen in love with Clare; although Clare makes it clear she doesn’t feel the same.
Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2015/...
Dinny’s sister Clare had married Sir Jerry Corven during the course of Flowering Wilderness, a man considerably older and about whom Dinny had nursed private reservations. Upon her marriage Claire had accompanied her husband to Ceylon – where she discovered her husband’s tastes run more toward the sadistic than the loving. Clare returns to England behind his back, and on the ship meets a young man Tony Croom – with whom she begins to spend a good deal of time. Although their relationship continues platonically upon their arrival in England – Tony makes it clear that he has fallen in love with Clare; although Clare makes it clear she doesn’t feel the same.
Full review: https://heavenali.wordpress.com/2015/...
November 5, 2023
This was a very satisfactory ending to my reading/listening to this series. Those I listened to were all read by David Case who I cannot recommend highly enough as a narrator. I have really enjoyed reading the complete Forsyth Saga in order as my project for a large part of 2023. Dinny Charwell, who is only distantly related to the original family through Michael Mont’s mother became one of my favourite characters.
January 20, 2022
Four and a half stars.
This is the final novel in the nine comprising The Forsyte Chronicles and it's probably my favourite. It deals with the two Charwell girls and the men they love, and how the relationships are resolved. Dinny Charwell is my favourite of all the women in the Forsyte novels and I enjoyed Galsworthy's resolution of her life in its happy/sad way.
As with all the Forsyte novels, Galsworthy gives us a lot of insight into the society of the time with its troubles and joys. This novel is set in post-war depression with Dinny's family trying to get on top financially, while old values continue to conflict with new ones in the girls' personal lives.
The prose is, of course, typical of that era but I find Galsworthy's writing pleasant, though not fast-moving.
An undervalued novel, I feel.
This is the final novel in the nine comprising The Forsyte Chronicles and it's probably my favourite. It deals with the two Charwell girls and the men they love, and how the relationships are resolved. Dinny Charwell is my favourite of all the women in the Forsyte novels and I enjoyed Galsworthy's resolution of her life in its happy/sad way.
As with all the Forsyte novels, Galsworthy gives us a lot of insight into the society of the time with its troubles and joys. This novel is set in post-war depression with Dinny's family trying to get on top financially, while old values continue to conflict with new ones in the girls' personal lives.
The prose is, of course, typical of that era but I find Galsworthy's writing pleasant, though not fast-moving.
An undervalued novel, I feel.
July 28, 2021
Forsyte Chronicles:-
This work developed over a lifetime and began with a simple theme, that of individual's right to life and love, especially those of a woman. The first trilogy, Forsyte Saga, is the most famous of all. There are three trilogies, Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter being the second and the third. The Forsyte 'Change was written as separate stories about the various characters and spans the time from migration of Jolyon Forsyte the original, referred to usually as Superior Dosset, the paterfamilias of the Forsytes, to London from border of Devon and Dorsetshire, onwards well into the time connecting it to the beginning of the second trilogy. The first two trilogies have interconnecting interludes between each of their two parts.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
The Forsyte Saga:-
The Forsyte Saga was not planned as such but developed over years with sequels coming naturally as they did, and human heart and passion and minds within settings of high society of a Victorian and post Victorian England - chiefly London - and its solid base in property.
When it was published it was revolutionary in the theme - a woman is not owned by her husband, and love is not a duty she owes but a bond that is very real however intangible, that cannot be faked.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008.
.......................................................................
A Modern Comedy:-
The second part of Forsyte Chronicles begins - with The White Monkey, first volume of the Modern Comedy - where the Forsyte Saga left off, with a six years gap that includes what was then called the great war and is now known as the first world war. The story here continues with Fleur at the centre and her father, Soames, close to her, with Jon and his mother Irene far away in US.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
End of the Chapter:-
In the third trilogy of Forsyte chronicles the story centres on cousins of Michael Mont, mainly on his mother's side, the Charwells who are socially somewhere bordering on landed gentry and aristocracy, unlike Forsytes who made their way up from farmer to various money making professions (solicitor, investment manager, builders, stockbrokers and more) to artists and gentry of leisure. Being upper caste in England amounts to being bred and brought up to notions of service to the country and accordingly the Charwells are occupied with work dealing with law, church, and so on, when not with actual landownership including caring for the tenants and other residents of the land. Mostly the three parts focus on Dinny, Elizabeth Charwell, an attractive young woman of Botticelli beauty with a sensitive heart and capable mind who cares for not only her own family and clan but anyone around who might need her, and does the care taking actively with initiatives, meeting people and speaking to them, and more.
.......................................................................
Over the River:-
(One More River, the alternative title used in some editions, is due to the original Over The River by the author being made into a film titled One More River.)
In Over the River Clare, the younger sister, returns home from Ceylon after a brief duration of married life, determined not to suffer any more her husband's sadist behaviour. Since she is young and beautiful, there is the expected entanglement with a young man falling in love with her, only she is unable and unwilling to consider any physical contact for now, and is not in love for a while until her own status is clear. But her husband is more than willing to take all possible steps including a divorce court where she is accused of adultery while she is unable to go into why she left him due to her delicacy about exposing her married life and its unsavoury character, and she comes to appreciate her young lover only when threatened with possibility of losing him. Dinny and the clan stand by her, and in the meanwhile another suitor appears for Dinny, who she is able to accept only post news of her first lover being dead and buried in far east on an expedition up a river, a news that makes her seriously ill. It all ends well with both sisters set well with their respective men and the clan at peace, and Fleur has been of borderline help at crucial moments, not the least with her father's money coming in handy to pay for legal costs of the divorce.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013.
...........................................................
...........................................................
One of the major beautiful things about Forsyte Chronicles - all three trilogies, but the first and third in particular - is the love of the author for beauty of England in general and countryside, nature in particular. Very lyrical. The other, more subtle, is the depiction of society in general, upper middle class of English society in particular and the times they lived in in the background, empire on distant horizon until the third trilogy where it is still in background but a bit less distant.
The society changes from the first to the third trilogy but not radically, and in this the author is successful in portrayal of how things might seem radically different superficially but are closer to where progress began, and progress being slow in steps that various people pay heftily during their lives for.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
This work developed over a lifetime and began with a simple theme, that of individual's right to life and love, especially those of a woman. The first trilogy, Forsyte Saga, is the most famous of all. There are three trilogies, Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter being the second and the third. The Forsyte 'Change was written as separate stories about the various characters and spans the time from migration of Jolyon Forsyte the original, referred to usually as Superior Dosset, the paterfamilias of the Forsytes, to London from border of Devon and Dorsetshire, onwards well into the time connecting it to the beginning of the second trilogy. The first two trilogies have interconnecting interludes between each of their two parts.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
The Forsyte Saga:-
The Forsyte Saga was not planned as such but developed over years with sequels coming naturally as they did, and human heart and passion and minds within settings of high society of a Victorian and post Victorian England - chiefly London - and its solid base in property.
When it was published it was revolutionary in the theme - a woman is not owned by her husband, and love is not a duty she owes but a bond that is very real however intangible, that cannot be faked.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008.
.......................................................................
A Modern Comedy:-
The second part of Forsyte Chronicles begins - with The White Monkey, first volume of the Modern Comedy - where the Forsyte Saga left off, with a six years gap that includes what was then called the great war and is now known as the first world war. The story here continues with Fleur at the centre and her father, Soames, close to her, with Jon and his mother Irene far away in US.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
End of the Chapter:-
In the third trilogy of Forsyte chronicles the story centres on cousins of Michael Mont, mainly on his mother's side, the Charwells who are socially somewhere bordering on landed gentry and aristocracy, unlike Forsytes who made their way up from farmer to various money making professions (solicitor, investment manager, builders, stockbrokers and more) to artists and gentry of leisure. Being upper caste in England amounts to being bred and brought up to notions of service to the country and accordingly the Charwells are occupied with work dealing with law, church, and so on, when not with actual landownership including caring for the tenants and other residents of the land. Mostly the three parts focus on Dinny, Elizabeth Charwell, an attractive young woman of Botticelli beauty with a sensitive heart and capable mind who cares for not only her own family and clan but anyone around who might need her, and does the care taking actively with initiatives, meeting people and speaking to them, and more.
.......................................................................
Over the River:-
(One More River, the alternative title used in some editions, is due to the original Over The River by the author being made into a film titled One More River.)
In Over the River Clare, the younger sister, returns home from Ceylon after a brief duration of married life, determined not to suffer any more her husband's sadist behaviour. Since she is young and beautiful, there is the expected entanglement with a young man falling in love with her, only she is unable and unwilling to consider any physical contact for now, and is not in love for a while until her own status is clear. But her husband is more than willing to take all possible steps including a divorce court where she is accused of adultery while she is unable to go into why she left him due to her delicacy about exposing her married life and its unsavoury character, and she comes to appreciate her young lover only when threatened with possibility of losing him. Dinny and the clan stand by her, and in the meanwhile another suitor appears for Dinny, who she is able to accept only post news of her first lover being dead and buried in far east on an expedition up a river, a news that makes her seriously ill. It all ends well with both sisters set well with their respective men and the clan at peace, and Fleur has been of borderline help at crucial moments, not the least with her father's money coming in handy to pay for legal costs of the divorce.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013.
...........................................................
...........................................................
One of the major beautiful things about Forsyte Chronicles - all three trilogies, but the first and third in particular - is the love of the author for beauty of England in general and countryside, nature in particular. Very lyrical. The other, more subtle, is the depiction of society in general, upper middle class of English society in particular and the times they lived in in the background, empire on distant horizon until the third trilogy where it is still in background but a bit less distant.
The society changes from the first to the third trilogy but not radically, and in this the author is successful in portrayal of how things might seem radically different superficially but are closer to where progress began, and progress being slow in steps that various people pay heftily during their lives for.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
October 12, 2017
Forsyte Chronicles:-
This work developed over a lifetime and began with a simple theme, that of individual's right to life and love, especially those of a woman. The first trilogy, Forsyte Saga, is the most famous of all. There are three trilogies, Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter being the second and the third. The Forsyte 'Change was written as separate stories about the various characters and spans the time from migration of Jolyon Forsyte the original, referred to usually as Superior Dosset, the paterfamilias of the Forsytes, to London from border of Devon and Dorsetshire, onwards well into the time connecting it to the beginning of the second trilogy. The first two trilogies have interconnecting interludes between each of their two parts.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
The Forsyte Saga:-
The Forsyte Saga was not planned as such but developed over years with sequels coming naturally as they did, and human heart and passion and minds within settings of high society of a Victorian and post Victorian England - chiefly London - and its solid base in property.
When it was published it was revolutionary in the theme - a woman is not owned by her husband, and love is not a duty she owes but a bond that is very real however intangible, that cannot be faked.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008.
.......................................................................
A Modern Comedy:-
The second part of Forsyte Chronicles begins - with The White Monkey, first volume of the Modern Comedy - where the Forsyte Saga left off, with a six years gap that includes what was then called the great war and is now known as the first world war. The story here continues with Fleur at the centre and her father, Soames, close to her, with Jon and his mother Irene far away in US.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
End of the Chapter:-
In the third trilogy of Forsyte chronicles the story centres on cousins of Michael Mont, mainly on his mother's side, the Charwells who are socially somewhere bordering on landed gentry and aristocracy, unlike Forsytes who made their way up from farmer to various money making professions (solicitor, investment manager, builders, stockbrokers and more) to artists and gentry of leisure. Being upper caste in England amounts to being bred and brought up to notions of service to the country and accordingly the Charwells are occupied with work dealing with law, church, and so on, when not with actual landownership including caring for the tenants and other residents of the land. Mostly the three parts focus on Dinny, Elizabeth Charwell, an attractive young woman of Botticelli beauty with a sensitive heart and capable mind who cares for not only her own family and clan but anyone around who might need her, and does the care taking actively with initiatives, meeting people and speaking to them, and more.
.......................................................................
Over the River:-
(One More River, the alternative title used in some editions, is due to the original Over The River by the author being made into a film titled One More River.)
In Over the River Clare, the younger sister, returns home from Ceylon after a brief duration of married life, determined not to suffer any more her husband's sadist behaviour. Since she is young and beautiful, there is the expected entanglement with a young man falling in love with her, only she is unable and unwilling to consider any physical contact for now, and is not in love for a while until her own status is clear. But her husband is more than willing to take all possible steps including a divorce court where she is accused of adultery while she is unable to go into why she left him due to her delicacy about exposing her married life and its unsavoury character, and she comes to appreciate her young lover only when threatened with possibility of losing him. Dinny and the clan stand by her, and in the meanwhile another suitor appears for Dinny, who she is able to accept only post news of her first lover being dead and buried in far east on an expedition up a river, a news that makes her seriously ill. It all ends well with both sisters set well with their respective men and the clan at peace, and Fleur has been of borderline help at crucial moments, not the least with her father's money coming in handy to pay for legal costs of the divorce.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013.
...........................................................
...........................................................
One of the major beautiful things about Forsyte Chronicles - all three trilogies, but the first and third in particular - is the love of the author for beauty of England in general and countryside, nature in particular. Very lyrical. The other, more subtle, is the depiction of society in general, upper middle class of English society in particular and the times they lived in in the background, empire on distant horizon until the third trilogy where it is still in background but a bit less distant.
The society changes from the first to the third trilogy but not radically, and in this the author is successful in portrayal of how things might seem radically different superficially but are closer to where progress began, and progress being slow in steps that various people pay heftily during their lives for.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
This work developed over a lifetime and began with a simple theme, that of individual's right to life and love, especially those of a woman. The first trilogy, Forsyte Saga, is the most famous of all. There are three trilogies, Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter being the second and the third. The Forsyte 'Change was written as separate stories about the various characters and spans the time from migration of Jolyon Forsyte the original, referred to usually as Superior Dosset, the paterfamilias of the Forsytes, to London from border of Devon and Dorsetshire, onwards well into the time connecting it to the beginning of the second trilogy. The first two trilogies have interconnecting interludes between each of their two parts.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
The Forsyte Saga:-
The Forsyte Saga was not planned as such but developed over years with sequels coming naturally as they did, and human heart and passion and minds within settings of high society of a Victorian and post Victorian England - chiefly London - and its solid base in property.
When it was published it was revolutionary in the theme - a woman is not owned by her husband, and love is not a duty she owes but a bond that is very real however intangible, that cannot be faked.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008.
.......................................................................
A Modern Comedy:-
The second part of Forsyte Chronicles begins - with The White Monkey, first volume of the Modern Comedy - where the Forsyte Saga left off, with a six years gap that includes what was then called the great war and is now known as the first world war. The story here continues with Fleur at the centre and her father, Soames, close to her, with Jon and his mother Irene far away in US.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
End of the Chapter:-
In the third trilogy of Forsyte chronicles the story centres on cousins of Michael Mont, mainly on his mother's side, the Charwells who are socially somewhere bordering on landed gentry and aristocracy, unlike Forsytes who made their way up from farmer to various money making professions (solicitor, investment manager, builders, stockbrokers and more) to artists and gentry of leisure. Being upper caste in England amounts to being bred and brought up to notions of service to the country and accordingly the Charwells are occupied with work dealing with law, church, and so on, when not with actual landownership including caring for the tenants and other residents of the land. Mostly the three parts focus on Dinny, Elizabeth Charwell, an attractive young woman of Botticelli beauty with a sensitive heart and capable mind who cares for not only her own family and clan but anyone around who might need her, and does the care taking actively with initiatives, meeting people and speaking to them, and more.
.......................................................................
Over the River:-
(One More River, the alternative title used in some editions, is due to the original Over The River by the author being made into a film titled One More River.)
In Over the River Clare, the younger sister, returns home from Ceylon after a brief duration of married life, determined not to suffer any more her husband's sadist behaviour. Since she is young and beautiful, there is the expected entanglement with a young man falling in love with her, only she is unable and unwilling to consider any physical contact for now, and is not in love for a while until her own status is clear. But her husband is more than willing to take all possible steps including a divorce court where she is accused of adultery while she is unable to go into why she left him due to her delicacy about exposing her married life and its unsavoury character, and she comes to appreciate her young lover only when threatened with possibility of losing him. Dinny and the clan stand by her, and in the meanwhile another suitor appears for Dinny, who she is able to accept only post news of her first lover being dead and buried in far east on an expedition up a river, a news that makes her seriously ill. It all ends well with both sisters set well with their respective men and the clan at peace, and Fleur has been of borderline help at crucial moments, not the least with her father's money coming in handy to pay for legal costs of the divorce.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013.
...........................................................
...........................................................
One of the major beautiful things about Forsyte Chronicles - all three trilogies, but the first and third in particular - is the love of the author for beauty of England in general and countryside, nature in particular. Very lyrical. The other, more subtle, is the depiction of society in general, upper middle class of English society in particular and the times they lived in in the background, empire on distant horizon until the third trilogy where it is still in background but a bit less distant.
The society changes from the first to the third trilogy but not radically, and in this the author is successful in portrayal of how things might seem radically different superficially but are closer to where progress began, and progress being slow in steps that various people pay heftily during their lives for.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
March 30, 2018
BBC Audiobook, wonderful rendition of the ninth and final segment of the Forsytes family saga.
December 29, 2017
You know the feeling. You want to finish the book but you know that in doing so you come to the end of an unforgettable read. This is very much how I felt as this wonderful series of 9 books came to a conclusion. As always Galsworthy takes a family crisis and uses it to explore England's attitudes and mores. This one charts the subtly changing views on divorce and relationships through the silliness of Clare as she returns from Ceylon after having run from her sadistic husband. His behaviour is literally "unspeakable" and this stiff upper lip response from Clare together with a contrasting belief in being able to live life freely and without regard for the accepted convention allows Galsworthy to paint a picture of different perspectives between young and old and the different classes. The family gathers around to support Clare with varying degrees of enthusiasm. As always the prose is wonderful highlighting Galsworthy's obvious love of the English countryside and his fascination with the emotional rollercoaster, both at personal level and across the upper middle class of the time.Superb.
July 12, 2012
A very satisfying ending to the series. Beautifully written, as always, and quite funny at times. Galsworthy always cuts to the heart of the matter, perfectly. "It was very restful, except that one ached a bit because it was green and beautiful. Queer, that 'beauty' ache!"
June 12, 2018
very glad I read the chronicles. I found their 1930s attitudes the most interesting. The characters in the last 3 novels could not match the Forsyte family. But they were still very good novels. All 9 novels make one 'must read'.
June 16, 2025
The last of the last trilogy of "The Forsyte Chronicles" John Galsworthy's "One More River" finishes up the Cherrell family, an old family saga. Fleur Forsyte Mont married into this family, Michael Mont's father, Sir Lawrence. His wife Em is a Cherrell, her nieces from her retired General brother is the main focus of this story. In the prior two books, Clare had married and it has been 14 months and Dinny had helped in two other trials concerning her family members and lost her lover, fiance after his disgrace out East. Fleur and Michael have two children and only a vague mention of Jon Forsyte.
Really the only Forsyte character besides Fleur is a cousin Roger who is a lawyer and is part of the trial. So it seems a trial must be present for Galsworthy to feel the story complete. I must say I am happy that I am almost finished with these Chronicles, though it has quite a merit in looking at England's changes as the twentieth century is played out. What I find extremely depressing is the loss of faith in God in so many and the thinking socialism is going to solve England's problems in this series.
Story in short- Dinny is the strength of her family helping her sister Clare after she leaves an abusive military husband, returning to England and many troubles ahead. Will Dinny ever get over Wilfred Desert?
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert
Dinny is silently grieving the loss of Desert after she found out that her lover had drowned out East, so she feels it knowing it will never be. He had found peace prior to his death and wishes Dinny the same. Dinny is helping out with Hurbert’s son who stays in England while he serves out East with Jean following her husband. Dinny helps Clare after she comes back from Ceylon leaving her husband never going back to him. He crossed the line in abusive behavior during sex. Clare feels embarrassed and cannot go back to him. Clare meets a man that is not wealthy but in love with her, Tony Crom meet her on a ship. Clare knows he loves her but she just wants to be friends. Only letting him kiss her on the check. Clare’s husband has her followed and when they had car trouble they stayed in the car all night which few believed that nothing took place. The detective has seen them and uses it in court. A lawsuit brought by the husband, who wanted her to come back with him. All testified and the jury did not believe Clare. Tony felt embarrassed and after when the case had only damage to pay for the expenses though both Clare and Tony are poor. Fleur pays for the expenses and tells Dinny. Clare offers herself up to Tony after since he suffered but he saw she was just giving herself as she did for her husband, he feels disgusted and leaves. Clare tells Dinny she is free but ends up seeing Tony later, finding him different and they become lovers, uncertain when she will get a divorce. When Tony left her in disgust, I really liked him but that soon dropped some after he starts it up with Clare again. Dinny had talked to Tony's employer knowing him from the Wilfred Desert troubles when Muskham had fought Desert because of his position. So Tony who was going to leave England after the trial decides to stay with Muskham and work his horses, Tony was happy to be back. Clare works for Dornford who is in love with Dinny, she finally decides to marry.
Really the only Forsyte character besides Fleur is a cousin Roger who is a lawyer and is part of the trial. So it seems a trial must be present for Galsworthy to feel the story complete. I must say I am happy that I am almost finished with these Chronicles, though it has quite a merit in looking at England's changes as the twentieth century is played out. What I find extremely depressing is the loss of faith in God in so many and the thinking socialism is going to solve England's problems in this series.
Story in short- Dinny is the strength of her family helping her sister Clare after she leaves an abusive military husband, returning to England and many troubles ahead. Will Dinny ever get over Wilfred Desert?
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert
Dinny is silently grieving the loss of Desert after she found out that her lover had drowned out East, so she feels it knowing it will never be. He had found peace prior to his death and wishes Dinny the same. Dinny is helping out with Hurbert’s son who stays in England while he serves out East with Jean following her husband. Dinny helps Clare after she comes back from Ceylon leaving her husband never going back to him. He crossed the line in abusive behavior during sex. Clare feels embarrassed and cannot go back to him. Clare meets a man that is not wealthy but in love with her, Tony Crom meet her on a ship. Clare knows he loves her but she just wants to be friends. Only letting him kiss her on the check. Clare’s husband has her followed and when they had car trouble they stayed in the car all night which few believed that nothing took place. The detective has seen them and uses it in court. A lawsuit brought by the husband, who wanted her to come back with him. All testified and the jury did not believe Clare. Tony felt embarrassed and after when the case had only damage to pay for the expenses though both Clare and Tony are poor. Fleur pays for the expenses and tells Dinny. Clare offers herself up to Tony after since he suffered but he saw she was just giving herself as she did for her husband, he feels disgusted and leaves. Clare tells Dinny she is free but ends up seeing Tony later, finding him different and they become lovers, uncertain when she will get a divorce. When Tony left her in disgust, I really liked him but that soon dropped some after he starts it up with Clare again. Dinny had talked to Tony's employer knowing him from the Wilfred Desert troubles when Muskham had fought Desert because of his position. So Tony who was going to leave England after the trial decides to stay with Muskham and work his horses, Tony was happy to be back. Clare works for Dornford who is in love with Dinny, she finally decides to marry.
December 4, 2022
Flowering Wilderness/One More River
These last two volumes complete the 9-volume “Forsyte Saga”. The first and second trilogies offer an affectionate satire of the British upper-middle class of the Edwardian Age as it comes to grips with the loosening of Imperial ties, growing pressure against the patriarchal society of the time, and the trauma of the Great War. The third trilogy, called “The End of the Chapter” continues the theme of women struggling against the constraints of their assigned roles, but also is almost a love letter to the beauties of rural England, traditional standards of conduct, and the old county estates and families.
In all three volumes of the last trilogy, we see the world through the eyes of Dinny Charwell (pronounced Cherrell, we are carefully instructed), who is a cousin-by-marriage of Fleur Forsyte, who was the center of the second trilogy. In all three volumes the problem of the plot is presented by the return to Britain of a man of good family who has, while serving at an Imperial outpost, behaved in a way unbecoming to his position as a representative of the British Empire. In “Maid in Waiting” (reviewed separately) it was Dinny’s brother, in “Flowering Wilderness” it is her lover, and in “One More River” it is her brother-in-law. But in each case, it is the impact of these acts on the women in the family which is highlighted.
Interspersed with the plot are page-long dithyrambs to the beauties of nature in general and English nature in particular – the rustle of leaves, the cooing of pigeons, the swoop of an owl. Each of the characters finds peace and poetry in moments of solitude in nature. It’s a bit odd to find these paeans to simplicity interspersed with the issues of sex and social norms. If you enjoyed the first two trilogies, you will of course want to complete your feast of Galsworthy – however you may find the last couple of courses a bit on the sweet side compared to what has been served up before.
These last two volumes complete the 9-volume “Forsyte Saga”. The first and second trilogies offer an affectionate satire of the British upper-middle class of the Edwardian Age as it comes to grips with the loosening of Imperial ties, growing pressure against the patriarchal society of the time, and the trauma of the Great War. The third trilogy, called “The End of the Chapter” continues the theme of women struggling against the constraints of their assigned roles, but also is almost a love letter to the beauties of rural England, traditional standards of conduct, and the old county estates and families.
In all three volumes of the last trilogy, we see the world through the eyes of Dinny Charwell (pronounced Cherrell, we are carefully instructed), who is a cousin-by-marriage of Fleur Forsyte, who was the center of the second trilogy. In all three volumes the problem of the plot is presented by the return to Britain of a man of good family who has, while serving at an Imperial outpost, behaved in a way unbecoming to his position as a representative of the British Empire. In “Maid in Waiting” (reviewed separately) it was Dinny’s brother, in “Flowering Wilderness” it is her lover, and in “One More River” it is her brother-in-law. But in each case, it is the impact of these acts on the women in the family which is highlighted.
Interspersed with the plot are page-long dithyrambs to the beauties of nature in general and English nature in particular – the rustle of leaves, the cooing of pigeons, the swoop of an owl. Each of the characters finds peace and poetry in moments of solitude in nature. It’s a bit odd to find these paeans to simplicity interspersed with the issues of sex and social norms. If you enjoyed the first two trilogies, you will of course want to complete your feast of Galsworthy – however you may find the last couple of courses a bit on the sweet side compared to what has been served up before.
November 15, 2020
The last novel in the Forsyte Saga, this book mostly concerns Dinny Charwell's sister Clare, who has fled her husband Gerald after 18 months of marriage, because as we learn, he enjoys sexual sado-masochistic games. She flees their home in Ceylon and books passage back to England. On the boat she meets the handsome, but poor, Tony Croom.
Clare and Tony are thick as thieves on the boat, stupidly thinking that none of this will get back to Clare's husband. Of course it does, and he puts a detective on their trail, with the upshot being a divorce suit with Tony being named co-respondent. Of course the Charwell family is shocked to their knees, and also of course, it is Dinny who gets them all through it.
I found Clare to be extremely selfish as well as somewhat dim as to the consequences of her own actions. If this was the only plot in the book it would be a sad ending for the three trilogies that were Galsworthy's life work. this are however, redeemed when Dinny finally finds a man she can truly love which makes it a happy ending all round.
July 2, 2017
This is the final (9th) novel in the FORSYTE CHRONICLES, and caps off the trilogy sub-set titled END OF THE CHAPTER. Found this more engaging than Book 8.
Claire Cherrill is the focus. She has left her kinky husband of 17 months, in Ceylon. She bolted, as the expression goes. The novel has a lot of angst, as did book 8, but I really took to the characters. Set in 1930s London, there are legal repercussions and a court case accusing Claire of adultery. In adultery cases, truth is not as persistent as is the appearance of misbehaviour outside of the marriage vows. The author was a solicitor, and I really enjoyed insight into the process of a civil trial.
I found Claire more engaging than her sister, Dinny. But Dinny is very important to the story, as she tries to navigate her world with the demise of her one, TRUE love affair with poet Wilfred Desert. These women want to settle DOWN, but they won't settle FOR... at least not initially.
Claire Cherrill is the focus. She has left her kinky husband of 17 months, in Ceylon. She bolted, as the expression goes. The novel has a lot of angst, as did book 8, but I really took to the characters. Set in 1930s London, there are legal repercussions and a court case accusing Claire of adultery. In adultery cases, truth is not as persistent as is the appearance of misbehaviour outside of the marriage vows. The author was a solicitor, and I really enjoyed insight into the process of a civil trial.
I found Claire more engaging than her sister, Dinny. But Dinny is very important to the story, as she tries to navigate her world with the demise of her one, TRUE love affair with poet Wilfred Desert. These women want to settle DOWN, but they won't settle FOR... at least not initially.
July 28, 2021
Forsyte Chronicles:-
This work developed over a lifetime and began with a simple theme, that of individual's right to life and love, especially those of a woman. The first trilogy, Forsyte Saga, is the most famous of all. There are three trilogies, Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter being the second and the third. The Forsyte 'Change was written as separate stories about the various characters and spans the time from migration of Jolyon Forsyte the original, referred to usually as Superior Dosset, the paterfamilias of the Forsytes, to London from border of Devon and Dorsetshire, onwards well into the time connecting it to the beginning of the second trilogy. The first two trilogies have interconnecting interludes between each of their two parts.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
The Forsyte Saga:-
The Forsyte Saga was not planned as such but developed over years with sequels coming naturally as they did, and human heart and passion and minds within settings of high society of a Victorian and post Victorian England - chiefly London - and its solid base in property.
When it was published it was revolutionary in the theme - a woman is not owned by her husband, and love is not a duty she owes but a bond that is very real however intangible, that cannot be faked.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008.
.......................................................................
A Modern Comedy:-
The second part of Forsyte Chronicles begins - with The White Monkey, first volume of the Modern Comedy - where the Forsyte Saga left off, with a six years gap that includes what was then called the great war and is now known as the first world war. The story here continues with Fleur at the centre and her father, Soames, close to her, with Jon and his mother Irene far away in US.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
End of the Chapter:-
In the third trilogy of Forsyte chronicles the story centres on cousins of Michael Mont, mainly on his mother's side, the Charwells who are socially somewhere bordering on landed gentry and aristocracy, unlike Forsytes who made their way up from farmer to various money making professions (solicitor, investment manager, builders, stockbrokers and more) to artists and gentry of leisure. Being upper caste in England amounts to being bred and brought up to notions of service to the country and accordingly the Charwells are occupied with work dealing with law, church, and so on, when not with actual landownership including caring for the tenants and other residents of the land. Mostly the three parts focus on Dinny, Elizabeth Charwell, an attractive young woman of Botticelli beauty with a sensitive heart and capable mind who cares for not only her own family and clan but anyone around who might need her, and does the care taking actively with initiatives, meeting people and speaking to them, and more.
.......................................................................
Over the River:-
(One More River, the alternative title used in some editions, is due to the original Over The River by the author being made into a film titled One More River.)
In Over the River Clare, the younger sister, returns home from Ceylon after a brief duration of married life, determined not to suffer any more her husband's sadist behaviour. Since she is young and beautiful, there is the expected entanglement with a young man falling in love with her, only she is unable and unwilling to consider any physical contact for now, and is not in love for a while until her own status is clear. But her husband is more than willing to take all possible steps including a divorce court where she is accused of adultery while she is unable to go into why she left him due to her delicacy about exposing her married life and its unsavoury character, and she comes to appreciate her young lover only when threatened with possibility of losing him. Dinny and the clan stand by her, and in the meanwhile another suitor appears for Dinny, who she is able to accept only post news of her first lover being dead and buried in far east on an expedition up a river, a news that makes her seriously ill. It all ends well with both sisters set well with their respective men and the clan at peace, and Fleur has been of borderline help at crucial moments, not the least with her father's money coming in handy to pay for legal costs of the divorce.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013.
...........................................................
...........................................................
One of the major beautiful things about Forsyte Chronicles - all three trilogies, but the first and third in particular - is the love of the author for beauty of England in general and countryside, nature in particular. Very lyrical. The other, more subtle, is the depiction of society in general, upper middle class of English society in particular and the times they lived in in the background, empire on distant horizon until the third trilogy where it is still in background but a bit less distant.
The society changes from the first to the third trilogy but not radically, and in this the author is successful in portrayal of how things might seem radically different superficially but are closer to where progress began, and progress being slow in steps that various people pay heftily during their lives for.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
This work developed over a lifetime and began with a simple theme, that of individual's right to life and love, especially those of a woman. The first trilogy, Forsyte Saga, is the most famous of all. There are three trilogies, Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter being the second and the third. The Forsyte 'Change was written as separate stories about the various characters and spans the time from migration of Jolyon Forsyte the original, referred to usually as Superior Dosset, the paterfamilias of the Forsytes, to London from border of Devon and Dorsetshire, onwards well into the time connecting it to the beginning of the second trilogy. The first two trilogies have interconnecting interludes between each of their two parts.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
The Forsyte Saga:-
The Forsyte Saga was not planned as such but developed over years with sequels coming naturally as they did, and human heart and passion and minds within settings of high society of a Victorian and post Victorian England - chiefly London - and its solid base in property.
When it was published it was revolutionary in the theme - a woman is not owned by her husband, and love is not a duty she owes but a bond that is very real however intangible, that cannot be faked.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008.
.......................................................................
A Modern Comedy:-
The second part of Forsyte Chronicles begins - with The White Monkey, first volume of the Modern Comedy - where the Forsyte Saga left off, with a six years gap that includes what was then called the great war and is now known as the first world war. The story here continues with Fleur at the centre and her father, Soames, close to her, with Jon and his mother Irene far away in US.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
End of the Chapter:-
In the third trilogy of Forsyte chronicles the story centres on cousins of Michael Mont, mainly on his mother's side, the Charwells who are socially somewhere bordering on landed gentry and aristocracy, unlike Forsytes who made their way up from farmer to various money making professions (solicitor, investment manager, builders, stockbrokers and more) to artists and gentry of leisure. Being upper caste in England amounts to being bred and brought up to notions of service to the country and accordingly the Charwells are occupied with work dealing with law, church, and so on, when not with actual landownership including caring for the tenants and other residents of the land. Mostly the three parts focus on Dinny, Elizabeth Charwell, an attractive young woman of Botticelli beauty with a sensitive heart and capable mind who cares for not only her own family and clan but anyone around who might need her, and does the care taking actively with initiatives, meeting people and speaking to them, and more.
.......................................................................
Over the River:-
(One More River, the alternative title used in some editions, is due to the original Over The River by the author being made into a film titled One More River.)
In Over the River Clare, the younger sister, returns home from Ceylon after a brief duration of married life, determined not to suffer any more her husband's sadist behaviour. Since she is young and beautiful, there is the expected entanglement with a young man falling in love with her, only she is unable and unwilling to consider any physical contact for now, and is not in love for a while until her own status is clear. But her husband is more than willing to take all possible steps including a divorce court where she is accused of adultery while she is unable to go into why she left him due to her delicacy about exposing her married life and its unsavoury character, and she comes to appreciate her young lover only when threatened with possibility of losing him. Dinny and the clan stand by her, and in the meanwhile another suitor appears for Dinny, who she is able to accept only post news of her first lover being dead and buried in far east on an expedition up a river, a news that makes her seriously ill. It all ends well with both sisters set well with their respective men and the clan at peace, and Fleur has been of borderline help at crucial moments, not the least with her father's money coming in handy to pay for legal costs of the divorce.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013.
...........................................................
...........................................................
One of the major beautiful things about Forsyte Chronicles - all three trilogies, but the first and third in particular - is the love of the author for beauty of England in general and countryside, nature in particular. Very lyrical. The other, more subtle, is the depiction of society in general, upper middle class of English society in particular and the times they lived in in the background, empire on distant horizon until the third trilogy where it is still in background but a bit less distant.
The society changes from the first to the third trilogy but not radically, and in this the author is successful in portrayal of how things might seem radically different superficially but are closer to where progress began, and progress being slow in steps that various people pay heftily during their lives for.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
July 28, 2021
Forsyte Chronicles:-
This work developed over a lifetime and began with a simple theme, that of individual's right to life and love, especially those of a woman. The first trilogy, Forsyte Saga, is the most famous of all. There are three trilogies, Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter being the second and the third. The Forsyte 'Change was written as separate stories about the various characters and spans the time from migration of Jolyon Forsyte the original, referred to usually as Superior Dosset, the paterfamilias of the Forsytes, to London from border of Devon and Dorsetshire, onwards well into the time connecting it to the beginning of the second trilogy. The first two trilogies have interconnecting interludes between each of their two parts.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
The Forsyte Saga:-
The Forsyte Saga was not planned as such but developed over years with sequels coming naturally as they did, and human heart and passion and minds within settings of high society of a Victorian and post Victorian England - chiefly London - and its solid base in property.
When it was published it was revolutionary in the theme - a woman is not owned by her husband, and love is not a duty she owes but a bond that is very real however intangible, that cannot be faked.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008.
.......................................................................
A Modern Comedy:-
The second part of Forsyte Chronicles begins - with The White Monkey, first volume of the Modern Comedy - where the Forsyte Saga left off, with a six years gap that includes what was then called the great war and is now known as the first world war. The story here continues with Fleur at the centre and her father, Soames, close to her, with Jon and his mother Irene far away in US.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
End of the Chapter:-
In the third trilogy of Forsyte chronicles the story centres on cousins of Michael Mont, mainly on his mother's side, the Charwells who are socially somewhere bordering on landed gentry and aristocracy, unlike Forsytes who made their way up from farmer to various money making professions (solicitor, investment manager, builders, stockbrokers and more) to artists and gentry of leisure. Being upper caste in England amounts to being bred and brought up to notions of service to the country and accordingly the Charwells are occupied with work dealing with law, church, and so on, when not with actual landownership including caring for the tenants and other residents of the land. Mostly the three parts focus on Dinny, Elizabeth Charwell, an attractive young woman of Botticelli beauty with a sensitive heart and capable mind who cares for not only her own family and clan but anyone around who might need her, and does the care taking actively with initiatives, meeting people and speaking to them, and more.
.......................................................................
Over the River:-
(One More River, the alternative title used in some editions, is due to the original Over The River by the author being made into a film titled One More River.)
In Over the River Clare, the younger sister, returns home from Ceylon after a brief duration of married life, determined not to suffer any more her husband's sadist behaviour. Since she is young and beautiful, there is the expected entanglement with a young man falling in love with her, only she is unable and unwilling to consider any physical contact for now, and is not in love for a while until her own status is clear. But her husband is more than willing to take all possible steps including a divorce court where she is accused of adultery while she is unable to go into why she left him due to her delicacy about exposing her married life and its unsavoury character, and she comes to appreciate her young lover only when threatened with possibility of losing him. Dinny and the clan stand by her, and in the meanwhile another suitor appears for Dinny, who she is able to accept only post news of her first lover being dead and buried in far east on an expedition up a river, a news that makes her seriously ill. It all ends well with both sisters set well with their respective men and the clan at peace, and Fleur has been of borderline help at crucial moments, not the least with her father's money coming in handy to pay for legal costs of the divorce.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013.
...........................................................
...........................................................
One of the major beautiful things about Forsyte Chronicles - all three trilogies, but the first and third in particular - is the love of the author for beauty of England in general and countryside, nature in particular. Very lyrical. The other, more subtle, is the depiction of society in general, upper middle class of English society in particular and the times they lived in in the background, empire on distant horizon until the third trilogy where it is still in background but a bit less distant.
The society changes from the first to the third trilogy but not radically, and in this the author is successful in portrayal of how things might seem radically different superficially but are closer to where progress began, and progress being slow in steps that various people pay heftily during their lives for.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
This work developed over a lifetime and began with a simple theme, that of individual's right to life and love, especially those of a woman. The first trilogy, Forsyte Saga, is the most famous of all. There are three trilogies, Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter being the second and the third. The Forsyte 'Change was written as separate stories about the various characters and spans the time from migration of Jolyon Forsyte the original, referred to usually as Superior Dosset, the paterfamilias of the Forsytes, to London from border of Devon and Dorsetshire, onwards well into the time connecting it to the beginning of the second trilogy. The first two trilogies have interconnecting interludes between each of their two parts.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
The Forsyte Saga:-
The Forsyte Saga was not planned as such but developed over years with sequels coming naturally as they did, and human heart and passion and minds within settings of high society of a Victorian and post Victorian England - chiefly London - and its solid base in property.
When it was published it was revolutionary in the theme - a woman is not owned by her husband, and love is not a duty she owes but a bond that is very real however intangible, that cannot be faked.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008.
.......................................................................
A Modern Comedy:-
The second part of Forsyte Chronicles begins - with The White Monkey, first volume of the Modern Comedy - where the Forsyte Saga left off, with a six years gap that includes what was then called the great war and is now known as the first world war. The story here continues with Fleur at the centre and her father, Soames, close to her, with Jon and his mother Irene far away in US.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
End of the Chapter:-
In the third trilogy of Forsyte chronicles the story centres on cousins of Michael Mont, mainly on his mother's side, the Charwells who are socially somewhere bordering on landed gentry and aristocracy, unlike Forsytes who made their way up from farmer to various money making professions (solicitor, investment manager, builders, stockbrokers and more) to artists and gentry of leisure. Being upper caste in England amounts to being bred and brought up to notions of service to the country and accordingly the Charwells are occupied with work dealing with law, church, and so on, when not with actual landownership including caring for the tenants and other residents of the land. Mostly the three parts focus on Dinny, Elizabeth Charwell, an attractive young woman of Botticelli beauty with a sensitive heart and capable mind who cares for not only her own family and clan but anyone around who might need her, and does the care taking actively with initiatives, meeting people and speaking to them, and more.
.......................................................................
Over the River:-
(One More River, the alternative title used in some editions, is due to the original Over The River by the author being made into a film titled One More River.)
In Over the River Clare, the younger sister, returns home from Ceylon after a brief duration of married life, determined not to suffer any more her husband's sadist behaviour. Since she is young and beautiful, there is the expected entanglement with a young man falling in love with her, only she is unable and unwilling to consider any physical contact for now, and is not in love for a while until her own status is clear. But her husband is more than willing to take all possible steps including a divorce court where she is accused of adultery while she is unable to go into why she left him due to her delicacy about exposing her married life and its unsavoury character, and she comes to appreciate her young lover only when threatened with possibility of losing him. Dinny and the clan stand by her, and in the meanwhile another suitor appears for Dinny, who she is able to accept only post news of her first lover being dead and buried in far east on an expedition up a river, a news that makes her seriously ill. It all ends well with both sisters set well with their respective men and the clan at peace, and Fleur has been of borderline help at crucial moments, not the least with her father's money coming in handy to pay for legal costs of the divorce.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013.
...........................................................
...........................................................
One of the major beautiful things about Forsyte Chronicles - all three trilogies, but the first and third in particular - is the love of the author for beauty of England in general and countryside, nature in particular. Very lyrical. The other, more subtle, is the depiction of society in general, upper middle class of English society in particular and the times they lived in in the background, empire on distant horizon until the third trilogy where it is still in background but a bit less distant.
The society changes from the first to the third trilogy but not radically, and in this the author is successful in portrayal of how things might seem radically different superficially but are closer to where progress began, and progress being slow in steps that various people pay heftily during their lives for.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
July 28, 2021
Forsyte Chronicles:-
This work developed over a lifetime and began with a simple theme, that of individual's right to life and love, especially those of a woman. The first trilogy, Forsyte Saga, is the most famous of all. There are three trilogies, Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter being the second and the third. The Forsyte 'Change was written as separate stories about the various characters and spans the time from migration of Jolyon Forsyte the original, referred to usually as Superior Dosset, the paterfamilias of the Forsytes, to London from border of Devon and Dorsetshire, onwards well into the time connecting it to the beginning of the second trilogy. The first two trilogies have interconnecting interludes between each of their two parts.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
The Forsyte Saga:-
The Forsyte Saga was not planned as such but developed over years with sequels coming naturally as they did, and human heart and passion and minds within settings of high society of a Victorian and post Victorian England - chiefly London - and its solid base in property.
When it was published it was revolutionary in the theme - a woman is not owned by her husband, and love is not a duty she owes but a bond that is very real however intangible, that cannot be faked.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008.
.......................................................................
A Modern Comedy:-
The second part of Forsyte Chronicles begins - with The White Monkey, first volume of the Modern Comedy - where the Forsyte Saga left off, with a six years gap that includes what was then called the great war and is now known as the first world war. The story here continues with Fleur at the centre and her father, Soames, close to her, with Jon and his mother Irene far away in US.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
End of the Chapter:-
In the third trilogy of Forsyte chronicles the story centres on cousins of Michael Mont, mainly on his mother's side, the Charwells who are socially somewhere bordering on landed gentry and aristocracy, unlike Forsytes who made their way up from farmer to various money making professions (solicitor, investment manager, builders, stockbrokers and more) to artists and gentry of leisure. Being upper caste in England amounts to being bred and brought up to notions of service to the country and accordingly the Charwells are occupied with work dealing with law, church, and so on, when not with actual landownership including caring for the tenants and other residents of the land. Mostly the three parts focus on Dinny, Elizabeth Charwell, an attractive young woman of Botticelli beauty with a sensitive heart and capable mind who cares for not only her own family and clan but anyone around who might need her, and does the care taking actively with initiatives, meeting people and speaking to them, and more.
.......................................................................
Over the River:-
(One More River, the alternative title used in some editions, is due to the original Over The River by the author being made into a film titled One More River.)
In Over the River Clare, the younger sister, returns home from Ceylon after a brief duration of married life, determined not to suffer any more her husband's sadist behaviour. Since she is young and beautiful, there is the expected entanglement with a young man falling in love with her, only she is unable and unwilling to consider any physical contact for now, and is not in love for a while until her own status is clear. But her husband is more than willing to take all possible steps including a divorce court where she is accused of adultery while she is unable to go into why she left him due to her delicacy about exposing her married life and its unsavoury character, and she comes to appreciate her young lover only when threatened with possibility of losing him. Dinny and the clan stand by her, and in the meanwhile another suitor appears for Dinny, who she is able to accept only post news of her first lover being dead and buried in far east on an expedition up a river, a news that makes her seriously ill. It all ends well with both sisters set well with their respective men and the clan at peace, and Fleur has been of borderline help at crucial moments, not the least with her father's money coming in handy to pay for legal costs of the divorce.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013.
...........................................................
...........................................................
One of the major beautiful things about Forsyte Chronicles - all three trilogies, but the first and third in particular - is the love of the author for beauty of England in general and countryside, nature in particular. Very lyrical. The other, more subtle, is the depiction of society in general, upper middle class of English society in particular and the times they lived in in the background, empire on distant horizon until the third trilogy where it is still in background but a bit less distant.
The society changes from the first to the third trilogy but not radically, and in this the author is successful in portrayal of how things might seem radically different superficially but are closer to where progress began, and progress being slow in steps that various people pay heftily during their lives for.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
This work developed over a lifetime and began with a simple theme, that of individual's right to life and love, especially those of a woman. The first trilogy, Forsyte Saga, is the most famous of all. There are three trilogies, Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter being the second and the third. The Forsyte 'Change was written as separate stories about the various characters and spans the time from migration of Jolyon Forsyte the original, referred to usually as Superior Dosset, the paterfamilias of the Forsytes, to London from border of Devon and Dorsetshire, onwards well into the time connecting it to the beginning of the second trilogy. The first two trilogies have interconnecting interludes between each of their two parts.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
The Forsyte Saga:-
The Forsyte Saga was not planned as such but developed over years with sequels coming naturally as they did, and human heart and passion and minds within settings of high society of a Victorian and post Victorian England - chiefly London - and its solid base in property.
When it was published it was revolutionary in the theme - a woman is not owned by her husband, and love is not a duty she owes but a bond that is very real however intangible, that cannot be faked.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008.
.......................................................................
A Modern Comedy:-
The second part of Forsyte Chronicles begins - with The White Monkey, first volume of the Modern Comedy - where the Forsyte Saga left off, with a six years gap that includes what was then called the great war and is now known as the first world war. The story here continues with Fleur at the centre and her father, Soames, close to her, with Jon and his mother Irene far away in US.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
End of the Chapter:-
In the third trilogy of Forsyte chronicles the story centres on cousins of Michael Mont, mainly on his mother's side, the Charwells who are socially somewhere bordering on landed gentry and aristocracy, unlike Forsytes who made their way up from farmer to various money making professions (solicitor, investment manager, builders, stockbrokers and more) to artists and gentry of leisure. Being upper caste in England amounts to being bred and brought up to notions of service to the country and accordingly the Charwells are occupied with work dealing with law, church, and so on, when not with actual landownership including caring for the tenants and other residents of the land. Mostly the three parts focus on Dinny, Elizabeth Charwell, an attractive young woman of Botticelli beauty with a sensitive heart and capable mind who cares for not only her own family and clan but anyone around who might need her, and does the care taking actively with initiatives, meeting people and speaking to them, and more.
.......................................................................
Over the River:-
(One More River, the alternative title used in some editions, is due to the original Over The River by the author being made into a film titled One More River.)
In Over the River Clare, the younger sister, returns home from Ceylon after a brief duration of married life, determined not to suffer any more her husband's sadist behaviour. Since she is young and beautiful, there is the expected entanglement with a young man falling in love with her, only she is unable and unwilling to consider any physical contact for now, and is not in love for a while until her own status is clear. But her husband is more than willing to take all possible steps including a divorce court where she is accused of adultery while she is unable to go into why she left him due to her delicacy about exposing her married life and its unsavoury character, and she comes to appreciate her young lover only when threatened with possibility of losing him. Dinny and the clan stand by her, and in the meanwhile another suitor appears for Dinny, who she is able to accept only post news of her first lover being dead and buried in far east on an expedition up a river, a news that makes her seriously ill. It all ends well with both sisters set well with their respective men and the clan at peace, and Fleur has been of borderline help at crucial moments, not the least with her father's money coming in handy to pay for legal costs of the divorce.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013.
...........................................................
...........................................................
One of the major beautiful things about Forsyte Chronicles - all three trilogies, but the first and third in particular - is the love of the author for beauty of England in general and countryside, nature in particular. Very lyrical. The other, more subtle, is the depiction of society in general, upper middle class of English society in particular and the times they lived in in the background, empire on distant horizon until the third trilogy where it is still in background but a bit less distant.
The society changes from the first to the third trilogy but not radically, and in this the author is successful in portrayal of how things might seem radically different superficially but are closer to where progress began, and progress being slow in steps that various people pay heftily during their lives for.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
July 28, 2021
Forsyte Chronicles:-
This work developed over a lifetime and began with a simple theme, that of individual's right to life and love, especially those of a woman. The first trilogy, Forsyte Saga, is the most famous of all. There are three trilogies, Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter being the second and the third. The Forsyte 'Change was written as separate stories about the various characters and spans the time from migration of Jolyon Forsyte the original, referred to usually as Superior Dosset, the paterfamilias of the Forsytes, to London from border of Devon and Dorsetshire, onwards well into the time connecting it to the beginning of the second trilogy. The first two trilogies have interconnecting interludes between each of their two parts.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
The Forsyte Saga:-
The Forsyte Saga was not planned as such but developed over years with sequels coming naturally as they did, and human heart and passion and minds within settings of high society of a Victorian and post Victorian England - chiefly London - and its solid base in property.
When it was published it was revolutionary in the theme - a woman is not owned by her husband, and love is not a duty she owes but a bond that is very real however intangible, that cannot be faked.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008.
.......................................................................
A Modern Comedy:-
The second part of Forsyte Chronicles begins - with The White Monkey, first volume of the Modern Comedy - where the Forsyte Saga left off, with a six years gap that includes what was then called the great war and is now known as the first world war. The story here continues with Fleur at the centre and her father, Soames, close to her, with Jon and his mother Irene far away in US.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
End of the Chapter:-
In the third trilogy of Forsyte chronicles the story centres on cousins of Michael Mont, mainly on his mother's side, the Charwells who are socially somewhere bordering on landed gentry and aristocracy, unlike Forsytes who made their way up from farmer to various money making professions (solicitor, investment manager, builders, stockbrokers and more) to artists and gentry of leisure. Being upper caste in England amounts to being bred and brought up to notions of service to the country and accordingly the Charwells are occupied with work dealing with law, church, and so on, when not with actual landownership including caring for the tenants and other residents of the land. Mostly the three parts focus on Dinny, Elizabeth Charwell, an attractive young woman of Botticelli beauty with a sensitive heart and capable mind who cares for not only her own family and clan but anyone around who might need her, and does the care taking actively with initiatives, meeting people and speaking to them, and more.
.......................................................................
Over the River:-
(One More River, the alternative title used in some editions, is due to the original Over The River by the author being made into a film titled One More River.)
In Over the River Clare, the younger sister, returns home from Ceylon after a brief duration of married life, determined not to suffer any more her husband's sadist behaviour. Since she is young and beautiful, there is the expected entanglement with a young man falling in love with her, only she is unable and unwilling to consider any physical contact for now, and is not in love for a while until her own status is clear. But her husband is more than willing to take all possible steps including a divorce court where she is accused of adultery while she is unable to go into why she left him due to her delicacy about exposing her married life and its unsavoury character, and she comes to appreciate her young lover only when threatened with possibility of losing him. Dinny and the clan stand by her, and in the meanwhile another suitor appears for Dinny, who she is able to accept only post news of her first lover being dead and buried in far east on an expedition up a river, a news that makes her seriously ill. It all ends well with both sisters set well with their respective men and the clan at peace, and Fleur has been of borderline help at crucial moments, not the least with her father's money coming in handy to pay for legal costs of the divorce.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013.
...........................................................
...........................................................
One of the major beautiful things about Forsyte Chronicles - all three trilogies, but the first and third in particular - is the love of the author for beauty of England in general and countryside, nature in particular. Very lyrical. The other, more subtle, is the depiction of society in general, upper middle class of English society in particular and the times they lived in in the background, empire on distant horizon until the third trilogy where it is still in background but a bit less distant.
The society changes from the first to the third trilogy but not radically, and in this the author is successful in portrayal of how things might seem radically different superficially but are closer to where progress began, and progress being slow in steps that various people pay heftily during their lives for.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
This work developed over a lifetime and began with a simple theme, that of individual's right to life and love, especially those of a woman. The first trilogy, Forsyte Saga, is the most famous of all. There are three trilogies, Modern Comedy and End of the Chapter being the second and the third. The Forsyte 'Change was written as separate stories about the various characters and spans the time from migration of Jolyon Forsyte the original, referred to usually as Superior Dosset, the paterfamilias of the Forsytes, to London from border of Devon and Dorsetshire, onwards well into the time connecting it to the beginning of the second trilogy. The first two trilogies have interconnecting interludes between each of their two parts.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
The Forsyte Saga:-
The Forsyte Saga was not planned as such but developed over years with sequels coming naturally as they did, and human heart and passion and minds within settings of high society of a Victorian and post Victorian England - chiefly London - and its solid base in property.
When it was published it was revolutionary in the theme - a woman is not owned by her husband, and love is not a duty she owes but a bond that is very real however intangible, that cannot be faked.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008.
.......................................................................
A Modern Comedy:-
The second part of Forsyte Chronicles begins - with The White Monkey, first volume of the Modern Comedy - where the Forsyte Saga left off, with a six years gap that includes what was then called the great war and is now known as the first world war. The story here continues with Fleur at the centre and her father, Soames, close to her, with Jon and his mother Irene far away in US.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
End of the Chapter:-
In the third trilogy of Forsyte chronicles the story centres on cousins of Michael Mont, mainly on his mother's side, the Charwells who are socially somewhere bordering on landed gentry and aristocracy, unlike Forsytes who made their way up from farmer to various money making professions (solicitor, investment manager, builders, stockbrokers and more) to artists and gentry of leisure. Being upper caste in England amounts to being bred and brought up to notions of service to the country and accordingly the Charwells are occupied with work dealing with law, church, and so on, when not with actual landownership including caring for the tenants and other residents of the land. Mostly the three parts focus on Dinny, Elizabeth Charwell, an attractive young woman of Botticelli beauty with a sensitive heart and capable mind who cares for not only her own family and clan but anyone around who might need her, and does the care taking actively with initiatives, meeting people and speaking to them, and more.
.......................................................................
Over the River:-
(One More River, the alternative title used in some editions, is due to the original Over The River by the author being made into a film titled One More River.)
In Over the River Clare, the younger sister, returns home from Ceylon after a brief duration of married life, determined not to suffer any more her husband's sadist behaviour. Since she is young and beautiful, there is the expected entanglement with a young man falling in love with her, only she is unable and unwilling to consider any physical contact for now, and is not in love for a while until her own status is clear. But her husband is more than willing to take all possible steps including a divorce court where she is accused of adultery while she is unable to go into why she left him due to her delicacy about exposing her married life and its unsavoury character, and she comes to appreciate her young lover only when threatened with possibility of losing him. Dinny and the clan stand by her, and in the meanwhile another suitor appears for Dinny, who she is able to accept only post news of her first lover being dead and buried in far east on an expedition up a river, a news that makes her seriously ill. It all ends well with both sisters set well with their respective men and the clan at peace, and Fleur has been of borderline help at crucial moments, not the least with her father's money coming in handy to pay for legal costs of the divorce.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013.
...........................................................
...........................................................
One of the major beautiful things about Forsyte Chronicles - all three trilogies, but the first and third in particular - is the love of the author for beauty of England in general and countryside, nature in particular. Very lyrical. The other, more subtle, is the depiction of society in general, upper middle class of English society in particular and the times they lived in in the background, empire on distant horizon until the third trilogy where it is still in background but a bit less distant.
The society changes from the first to the third trilogy but not radically, and in this the author is successful in portrayal of how things might seem radically different superficially but are closer to where progress began, and progress being slow in steps that various people pay heftily during their lives for.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013.
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
.......................................................................
October 1, 2024
Of the three Cherrell books this was the best. Less of the chest thumping Englishman. A very good insight into divorce courts of the time.
Ultimately his love affairs were too romantic and didn't ring true. Trollope was more realistic in the Barchester novels.
The novel, as all the previous ones do, focuses heavily on nature, but we never see the protagonist's having to pick their steps across mud or clean Muddy boots, although Dinny once wore a waterproof. They even fling themselves on the grass at the slightest opportunity.
As a farmer's daughter I'd pick my spots judiciously.
But .. there was no Irene in this trilogy. For this we must be grateful
Ultimately his love affairs were too romantic and didn't ring true. Trollope was more realistic in the Barchester novels.
The novel, as all the previous ones do, focuses heavily on nature, but we never see the protagonist's having to pick their steps across mud or clean Muddy boots, although Dinny once wore a waterproof. They even fling themselves on the grass at the slightest opportunity.
As a farmer's daughter I'd pick my spots judiciously.
But .. there was no Irene in this trilogy. For this we must be grateful
January 17, 2022
This is tauted as the 9th book in the series. But the last 3 books are quite separate from the first six.
I understand Galsworthy died before this book was published and I wonder if his plan was to continue the saga and bring the characters together.
Galsworthy is a fantastic writer and has an ingenious talent for telling a gripping story whilst incorporating social details from the time that are otherwise hard to come by.
I understand Galsworthy died before this book was published and I wonder if his plan was to continue the saga and bring the characters together.
Galsworthy is a fantastic writer and has an ingenious talent for telling a gripping story whilst incorporating social details from the time that are otherwise hard to come by.
October 29, 2018
A very satisfying end to the 9 book series. The lead character, Clare, is well done, an her sister Dinny, who is the heroine of the last three books, really comes into her own. The two sisters problems in love, largely due to their own particularly psychology (no spoilers here) are moving. The divorce case is dramatically rendered. And. Fleur saves the day!
November 5, 2018
All is well that ends well.
This last book in the great Forsyte Saga has a little bit of everything reoccurring in these nine books - wit and snap, a woman in a bad relationship, a woman in love, court drama, Fleur being sharp as a knife, British history, a look into the future, poetry, a love letter to England...
This last book in the great Forsyte Saga has a little bit of everything reoccurring in these nine books - wit and snap, a woman in a bad relationship, a woman in love, court drama, Fleur being sharp as a knife, British history, a look into the future, poetry, a love letter to England...
June 1, 2021
Tricky. The themes of love (and sex) slightly miss the mark, but there are some fantastic characterisations in there. Galsworthy is as good at description of the country as the city, and the court scenes were unexpectedly gripping. It's nice to read a novel where the ties that bind people are properly investigated, loyalty and fondness and community in all their variety, not simply transactional.
August 18, 2017
A return to form at the end of this series which rounds off with a theme not unlike that of the opening book - matrimonial problems, the divorce courts, love and loss, peppered with a sprinkling of social issues thrown in for good measure. Satisfying.
June 5, 2017
The Saga concludes with a whimper.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews