Ashenden Park

by Elizabeth Wilhide, Miguel Temprano García (Translator)

Cuando su tía Reggie fallece, Charlie y su hermana Ros heredan Ashenden Park, una mansión de arquitectura palladiana construida en 1775 y deben decidir si quedársela o venderla.

Con una seductora escritura que atraviesa más de dos siglos, conoceremos a los que construyeron la casa, la habitaron, la amaron y a aquellos que intentaron cambiarla para sus propios fines. Las paredes de Ashenden Park tienen voz y nos hablan de todos ellos: del arquitecto que dirigió la construcción, la gran familia victoriana que la habitó durante cuarenta años, la doncella que se vio tentada a robar una baratija para solucionar sus problemas, un especulador de la era del Jazz que organizó una fabulosa búsqueda del tesoro, los soldados que la utilizaron como refugio durante la Segunda Guerra Mundial y la historia de Reggie y Hugo, la joven pareja que la restauró en 1950, después de la guerra. Ashenden Park es un retrato evocador de una mansión que siente y vive como cualquiera de sus habitantes.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, British Literature, Romance, Architecture, Literary Fiction

411 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Elizabeth Wilhide is the author of many books on design and interiors and two novels. Born in the United States, she now resides in London.

Reviews

[Darla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was like a series of short stories starring Ashendon. It was intriguing to follow the house through the years and see characters from previous chapters pop up in unexpected ways. Enjoyed it!

[☮Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Basildon Park is an actual Georgian mansion with acres of lawn and gardens, which was rescued from ruin in the mid 1950s. If you read this book about a house called Ashenden, you are essentially reading about Basildon Park. If you saw the Keira Knightley version of Pride and Prejudice, this house hosted the Netherfield Ball. The author formerly has written decorating books; this is her first novel.

The whole story about the building of the house, finding and transporting the immense Bath stones needed to create it, and then narratives of all the families who have owned and worked at the manor since its completion I found simply fascinating. Some stories were better than others, but all held my attention and contained unique and well-developed characters, Ashenden being the main one. We’ve all heard how England’s castles fell into ruin due to the expensive upkeep; well, so did the large manor homes. We have the builder lovingly taking on the huge, difficult project that was Ashenden, and then the home through the years 1775 - 2010 going from owner to owner, falling into disrepair, serving as a hospital during WWI, then a POW camp during WWII, finally being restored again years later, and now in present day with Charles and his sister having inherited the money pit, grappling with what to do with it.

The author's writing flowed well and I appreciated her sly wit. Thank you goodreads First Reads for this very excellent book!

[Shelley Fearn · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a lover of period dramas (need I mention Downton Abbey?) I was anxious to sink my teeth into a book tracing the history of a country estate.

I had time this weekend and purposely had kept this book to have a good relaxing read with a glass of sherry and classical music in the background. Then I started the book. What a disappointment.

It was a collection of vignettes highlighting the history of the house from 1775 to the present. Wilhide failed to tie the components together with any depth. The bits were too short and not detailed enough to evoke any true interest in the characters.

I got it that the main character was the house. However, instead of developing the house as a character, it seemed to me the Wilhide's main purpose was to impress us with her knowledge of architectural details. Perhaps it was written as a homage to her architect husband (the jacket makes a point of referring to her marriage to an "architect husband".

Too bad.

[Éowyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really thought this sounded like the kind of book that would be right up my street, but unfortunately I found it didn't meet my expectation and was, in all in all, a bit of a disappointment.

It's the story of a country house, built in the Palladian style, and the people who live in it. To be honest, I found it rather dreary and depressing and the house never really seems properly loved and seen in all its glory. Each chapter is a separate short story or vignette, often trying to link characters from one to the other to try and keep a sense of continuity, but not always working. So many of the character were just plain unpleasant and if there was someone you did want to know something more about, well you are bound to be disappointed. Life isn't all roses, but this just seemed to have too much unhappiness and misfortune in it. also, some of the architecture of the house is described in great detail, but I never felt it strong enough to be a 'character' in the book as I expected.

[Bookread2day · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book so easy to read. Normally mansion's are inherited from generation to generation. I loved how Elizabeth Wilhide has thought about changing the sequence here & added all different people owning Ashenden. One family who own Ashenden have a land line, mobile phone & the classic email. The roof starts to leak. Bills stsrt to mount up, Heating bills & repair bills. The family then have to make an emotional decision do they keep Ashenden or do they sell.? Highly recommend buying this book. You can buy this on penguin book site.

[Katherine Gypson · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's funny how a book can sometimes find you during just the right set of days. I usually read one book a week and end up starting a new one over the weekend. Last Sunday, having finished all of the available books in Phillip Rock's "Passing Bells" trilogy and craving more books along the lines of "big English country house" stories, I remembered that I had an advance e-galley of yet another book marketed to Downton Abbey lovers.

As much as I love Downton Abbey, the comparison to Ashenden isn't fair and I suspect will lead many readers to underestimate and even pass over this gorgeously written novel-in-stories. The novel begins quite slowly with the rather-underwritten brother and sister Charlie and Ros who have just inherited the over two hundred year-old house from their childless aunt. I actually started this book a few months ago when I first received it and didn't continue due to my disinterest in the first chapter. Fortunately, I pressed on this time around and got to the second chapter that goes back to the construction of the house in 1775. I expected a kind of Edward Rutherfurd gallop across history but instead felt as though I was reading a very good collection of short stories, all loosely linked by place and poetic connections across time.

Wilhide wisely doesn't overdo the genealogical connections between stories, breaking up the ownership of the house while subtly alluding to the passage of time and generations. The main treat here is the beautiful writing, each story somehow capturing the language of each time from 1775 to 1844 to 1909 to 1976. The stories are a good combination of bitter and sweet and have a breathtaking sense of the passage of time and both the permanence and impermance of life. The writing was quietly poetic without being over-bearing, such as in this passage set in 1966 "Lavender clings to laundered sheets folded on the cedar shelves of linen closets. Vases of velvety roses sit on tables polished with beeswax. On summer evenings, the sweet perfume of nightscented stocks drifts through open windows...."

I happened to be reading this book during a time of incredible stress and upset at work - it was a very real comfort to come home to these stories and contemplate a deeper sense of life. As with any collection of short stories, there are weak moments. Oddly enough, I felt the book sagged a bit in the 1909 and 1916 sections - precisely the time periods that Downton Abbey fans would be interested in.

That's a small quibble about what is already one of my favorite books of the year - almost certainly a book that I'll want to buy a physical copy of and set on my bookshelf alongside other beloved novels.

Disclaimer: I received an advance copy of this book for review purposes.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A friend of mine recently dealt with the sale of her childhood home, dating to the late 1700’s, disposing/relocating her 100 year old mother’s 70+ years of collections, memories, sagging floors, failing heating system, faulty wiring - all within the constraints of the local historical preservation society. Against all odds, a young man and his partner bought the house and is restoring it, honoring its past, affirming its place in the future, and I can’t imagine the cost.
All this is to establish a context for this novel I stumbled across and could not stop reading. The details of building, deterioration, and rebuilding are revealed in words and images that only this author, so knowledgeable about design and architecture, could write about so skillfully.
From 1775-2010, from the initial architect, family, extended staff, those whose eyes were focused on family and those, on avarice, self serving, residents by design or accident, this is a novel rich in history, intrigue and humanity. The earliest stages, transporting the stone from Bath and drying it appropriately for cutting and building, captured my attention. The use of the magnificent house by family and military, with the author’s knowledge of history, enriched the plot…”The house contains time. Its walls hold stories.”…”but what is missing are the people to inhabit it.”…”The house slips through the fingers of the family who commissioned it, slips right away from them forever…and in the nick of time, saved.”…”an ominous blood pulses but the house, which is serving honor and is saving it.” Beginning in 1775, each chapter captured the social mores, politics and the universal human issues of the period. Some chapters were brief enough to surface narrow thinking and prejudice and others, broad enough to explain so much more.
How naïve we are in the US about what is involved for a nation to heal from war fought on its soil, physically and emotionally, the impact of a bomb detonated years after the war’s end, the lives changed, the stately homes damaged far beyond what England’s National Trust can assume for responsibility and debt. In the end, war was the challenge, not simply the passage of time. The human cost of war seems overwhelming; to consider one’s “responsibility” to save artifacts is overwhelming to me. Yet, here, saving a history, in the end, prevailed.

[Rory O'Connor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ashenden is being marketed as a novel for fans of Downton Abbey. This is accurate in regards to the novel’s focus on a grand old house and its inhabitants. However, it is also more than simply a grand house and a grand family. The novel is composed of a series of short stories involving the inhabitants (of all social standing) of the house. Each story is linked by characters and, of course, the house itself.

Elizabeth Wilhide is an acclaimed author on design and interiors. This is evident in the wonderful way she handled the detail and presence of Ashenden estate. The house in the novel is based on the resurrection of Basildon Park, which is Netherfield Hall in 2005’s Pride and Prejudice. Given her background in non-fiction, it is pleasantly surprising how well she handles the human aspect of the novel. The characters are not just the previous owners of Ashenden, they can be anyone who’s connected with the house – sons, daughters, housekeepers, soldiers, etc.

"When someone died, you missed their physical presence first, the warmth in the bed, all the tones and shadings of their speech, the footsteps or sighs or rustlings in the next room, even the irritations and annoyances. You missed these things as if your skin had been peeled off in long, bleeding strips. When all that became less painful, you still missed their mind, the consciousness that partnered with yours, that gave you bifocal vision."

While the novel is not necessarily memorable, it is very enjoyable. Within the story, the house bears witness to two and a half centuries. The reader gets vignettes of history and society through the eyes of the residents. These glimpses provide evocative and intriguing insights into modern British history. The writing is intelligent, witty, and subtle. If you’re a fan of Downton Abbey, you’ll most certainly enjoy Ashenden. However, it is also likely to appeal to fans of historical fiction, social observation, and intelligent writing.

[Phair · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5* A decidedly different kind of book and I liked it a lot. Copied down several quotes that I wanted to remember. I do wish I had made notes about the various people who were part of the house's history as there were so many connections from period to period. One of the things I liked most was the way each chapter began with a paragraph that almost felt like it was from the house's point of view, or maybe from the pov of "history". Those sections have such an otherworldly feel, almost a peaceful feeling that despite human frailties the world and art live on. The human stories were all interesting but never allowed you to become too involved before history moved on to the next era. Excellent.

[K · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ashenden: A Novel by Elizabeth Wilhide


When Downton Abbey finished its third season I needed that “English Manor” fix and I found Ashenden, a new book by Elizabeth Wilhide. This is her first novel though she is the author of more than twenty books on interior design and architecture. And her love of those subjects shines in this book where the main character is an old manor. Yes, a manor home is the main character. So while Downton Abbey might focus on the “upstairs / downstairs” human life Ashenden focuses on how life connected to the manor.

Each chapter in the book is a different time period in Ashenden’s life. So we follow from the manor home’s “infancy” as the first building materials arrive and are put into place to the present as it has aged, sometimes gracefully but other times not so gracefully. As I moved through the book I began to really care for Ashenden and would keep on hoping that it would make it through another owner or event in fine shape. And the manor home did bloom and wilt as its presence touched various owners, servants, or nearby townsmen. And what is interesting is that certain characters and their families will skip in and out of the various stories through the years, either as a minor character or the focus character of the specific chapter.

The book starts in 2010 with siblings Charlie and Roz suddenly finding themselves owners by inheritance of the huge, old and now neglected Ashenden Park. They have come to the manor to decide its fate and end up arguing over whether to sell it or keep it. Like any other grand old home the upkeep is astronomical and worse, the National Trust can’t afford to take it over. When Roz discovers a large stash of the manor’s history in their uncle’s old desk the real story begins. We jump to 1775 and James Woods, an accomplished Yorkshire architect has been hired to build a fine Palladian stone manor in the countryside by Sir Frederick More, an impoverished aristocrat. Money is always tight but Woods doesn’t skimp on the details or on the materials, including the beautiful yellow bath stone that will make up the skin of the manor.

From there we follow Ashenden into 1796 with the More family problems coming to a crisis and then 1844 with a new family, the Henderson’s, trying to breath new life into an incomplete Ashenden. The family and the manor blossom until, with another chapter the year 1889 brings servant problems. We then jump to 1909 and while the manor has passed into a new generation of Henderson’s money is again the problem due to aristocratic style gambling.

The years keep coming and the manor takes on new forms: 1916 and a World War I officer hospital, 1929 and the roaring 20’s party with a new owner, 1938 and the bank crashes, 1946 and World War II, 1951 brings the Lyells as new owners, 1966 and former glory, 1976 era of protests, and then back to 2010 with Charlie and Roz continuing to wonder if this is the last chance for a very old and once again neglected manor.

The description of the manor starts each chapter and gives a hint to the subject of that year. As an example the description at the start of the 1951 chapter describes how many of the great homes are too expensive to manage and so are ultimately disappearing. “There are many ways of killing a house. You can set fire to it, you can flood it, you can tear it down to get your hands on the land where it stands. Or you can pulverize it with bombs, which is how two million homes have been lost in the blitz. These are quick methods. Slower methods work just as well in the long term and require absolutely no effort. Nothing: that’s all you have to do. Let nature take its course. It will. Nature is strong enough to topple stone, given time. All around the country, the great houses are dying. Four or five a week and their deaths are slow and lingering.”

The house reaches it’s zenith in 1966 and the manor home is described as follows: “Lavender clings to laundered sheets folded on the cedar shelves of the linen closet. Vases of velvety roses sit on tables polished with beeswax. On summer evenings, the sweet perfume of night-scented stocks drifts through open windows, blended with the astringency of cut grass, the sharp acid twist of lemon in a gin and tonic. From the kitchen com warm savory aromas of bread, coffee, and roast chicken, which mingle with a faint hint of wood smoke and damp dog. Contentment, order, and well-being: the house smells of it. Breathes it in. Inhales and exhales.”

Lastly, it is the winter of 2010 and Reggie, the last and longest owner of the manor, knows it is time for her to leave this world. She recognizes the connection of past lives to Ashenden, including herself: “If these are ghosts, they are friendly ones, who slip past in the thin cold air and leave no disturbance or sadness behind. It’s the gentlest form of haunting, really, a smile fading from a face, or a forgotten tune playing in the next room. Ghosts are only to be expected when the house contains so much time. So much of your own life too, over half a century. The house is your skin, your memory, your thoughts. It’s family; all that you’ve loved.”

The author, in acknowledgments, notes that Ashenden is actually based on a real manor: Basildon Park in Berkshire. Basildon Park is part of the National Trust (unlike poor Ashenden) since 1978 and can be found at this link: http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/basil....

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lame but I guess not that bad

[Colleen Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really 4.5. I reviewed this book for www.luxuryreading.com.

After their elderly aunt dies and leaves them her large country estate of Ashenden, Charlie and his sister, Ros, move into the home to determine whether they should keep it or sell it. The estate is in quite a state of disrepair and neither Charlie, a photographer living in New York, or Ros, a doctor living outside of Reading, can afford to keep it.

Weaved into the center of Charlie and Ros’ story line is the house’s history and that of its occupants. It’s the human experience with all its highs and lows unfolding around the stone and mortar of the home, giving life and breath to what otherwise would remain inanimate. Without the people there would be no Ashenden, and without Ashenden’s influence the people wouldn’t be the same.

Ashenden is unlike any other novel I have read before and I found it thoroughly captivating. The author obviously has a great knowledge and love of architecture and design and it shines through the descriptions of the estate and its surroundings like a proud parent talking about a beloved child. It was a wholly original experience to see how the house left its mark on each person that came into contact with it and on the flip side how each person influenced the estate, whether that be for better or worse. There was continuity from one generation to the next, showing how the various occupants left their mark, either physically or figuratively, and influenced the ones that followed. This perspective really helped me feel immersed in the estate’s history and to feel present in the lives of the people surrounding it.

Another unique and interesting perspective is how Ashenden went beyond the changes with the house and its occupants to show how it fit in with the changes happening in England as a whole over the course of the life of the estate. For examples, when the wealth and influence of the titled began to decline so did Ashenden; the rise of self-made fortunes saw the rise in Asheden’s glory; and with the destruction and decay brought on by the two World Wars came the decay of the estate. It is an incredible way to track the progress of one small part against the backdrop of the whole of a country.

There is so much for a reader to love about Ashenden. Anyone interested in English history, architecture or the human experience – both upstairs and downstairs – would enjoy this book. I can’t imagine someone not finding something to enjoy in its layered story lines and I will, for one, miss my time spent at Ashenden.

[Nicole | The Readerly Report · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ashenden is a charming historical read that concerns itself with the generations of owners and servants living in a manor house built in the English countryside in 1775. Beginning in the present when siblings Charlie and Ros inherit Ashenden upon the death of their great aunt, it meanders back to when its foundations were first carefully chosen and laid. Charlie and his sister must decide whether to sell it, or keep it for future generations of their family to enjoy. Charlie is happily married and settled in the United States, and sees the expense of the old mansion as prohibitive, but Ros is determined to save it, and has mapped out what she thinks is a plausible plan for its restoration.

Wilhide fills the story with history and atmosphere - the novel and its vignettes show the house in war time, poverty and at the height of its glory. Even as Ashenden, the novel explores how former owners have gained and lost the house and surrounding property, Ashenden itself is the star of the show, so much so that its almost pointless to bother getting attached to the people who live, work and die there. Their stories are picked up on a whim and dropped just as quickly, with some coming to more satisfying resolutions than others. Home restoration and architecture are prominently considered within the narrative, and readers who enjoy those details will find them in this pleasant, though rambling meditation on the history of a historic house.

[The Book Maven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Many of us have always dreamed of inheriting a grand old house…but in today’s Britain, that dream might just be more of a nightmare, as Charlie and his sister Ros find out when their aunt dies and bequeaths to them the 250-year-old house called Ashenden. In addition to the house, they have inherited the obligations that come with it—the upkeep and the essential renovations and restorations.

As Charlie and Ros argue and struggle to think of a solution (sell and give up the history; keep and beggar themselves?) the history of the house unfolds, revealing the inevitable secrets, scandals, hopes, heartbreaks, and lives that unfolded within Ashenden’s long-neglected walls. As the various stories unfold, you become not wrapped up so much in the subjects of the story or even the eventual fate of the house, but how the history of a country can unfold in a micro scale.
Ultimately, this was an entertaining, but not engrossing read.

Because it wasn’t too lengthy, and because it covered so many little plots, each story felt more like an appetizer than a substantial feast. It’s a pleasant way to pass the days until the next season of Downton Abbey, but if you want something a little more involved, try Cynthia Harrod-Eagles’ Morland Dynasty Series.

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ashenden is a fascinating story about a grand old house and its occupants. In the opening chapter Charlie and Ros find out they have inherited an English country house which is in desperate need of repairs. Charlie wants to sell while Ros wants to keep and fix up. This book reads like a series of interconnecting short stories beginning in 1775 with the construction of the house and ending in 2010 with Charlie and Ros making a decision as to the fate of this beautiful mansion. Each chapter is a story of the people who have either resided in this house or are connected in some way to the history of this historic mansion.. All the lives in this story were interesting and compelling but the most important and endearing character was the house itself. I admired how it survived and stood strong through two and a half centuries.

Ashendon is a beautifully written story with vivid details that takes the reader on a sentimental trip through history. I fell in love with this English Mansion.

I won this book through Goodreads.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really loved the premise of this book. Going through the history of the house was fascinating and I especially loved the paragraphs at the beginning of each chapter telling the house's "feelings" (as I put it). I wasn't entirely sold on the modern story, though. I couldn't quite come to like either of the modern characters and I was rather sad that neither of them fought harder for the house. It seemed to me that the modern story was a little disconnected from the earlier history of the house. I found I enjoyed the stories from the beginning of the house's history much more than I enjoyed the more recent stories; maybe it was the characters I liked better or maybe it was the era that the stories were taking place. I enjoyed this book enough that I'll check out the next novel by the author.

[Patt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ashenden is an unusual book since the main character is a house. The author traces the history of this English country house from its construction in 1775 all the way to the present. Along the way we meet the inhabitants, both upstairs and downstairs. As a fan of the tv series, Downton Abbey and in the past, Upstairs Downstairs, I really enjoyed this book. I loved the descriptions of the house itself and the small vignettes of the residents and the workers whose lives were touched by it. Built, restored, loved, and lived in, this house had a character all its own.

*This book was received at no cost through the Goodreads First Read program.

[Dianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A history of Ashenden, an 18th century English country house, from conception in the late 1700's to present day, 2010. This elaborate home passes from one owner to another, steeped in history. I appreciated the ties to historical events, and it was interesting to read about how the house itself evolved and changed from owner to owner and era to era. But as much as I tried to love it, the stories within the story were at times unfinished, lacking in details, confusing. Since the main character is this beautiful mansion and ends up in the hands of someone who appreciates it as the architect had envisioned, I give it 3 stars.

[Claire Fuller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this book. It works best as a collection of short stories linked by a house (and sometimes characters turning up again), rather than a novel, but that made it all the better for me. It was the early ones in the house's history that I enjoyed the most: the tragedy of the architect, Georgiana More's disgrace, and Dulcie, who finally learns to be happy. The history didn't weigh these pieces down - they were about people living out their lives at a certain time. The two book-ends and the story set in 1976 didn't work quite so well for me.

[Diana · Rating 1 out of 5]

I started this, but I could not bring myself to finish it. 1. The language was appalling (swearing and private moments that should never have been made public). 2. The prose dragged on. I started reading it because I was interested in "another good English historical fiction book." Unfortunately, I was disgusted with it before I ran across anything remotely "English historical fiction."

If you can muscle your way past the gag reflex on this one, by all means...

[Sharen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this novel. The author manages to capture the voices of each era beautifully. She weaves the stories of the various families tied to the house with a deft touch. The result is fascinating. Elizabeth Wilhide's extensive knowledge of landscape and architectural details add authenticity to the novel, however she also possesses an intelligent and witty style, which lightens the tone where need be. Delightful!

[Naomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only thing that I can say about this book was that it was a series of short stories with a house as the central character. I am still baffled by the Downton Abbey reference unless it was done to "market" the book to garner more sales because, in my humble opinion, there was nothing DA about this book!

[Misfit]

Have this out from the library, but taking a closer look at the reviews mentioning it's more a collection of stories about a house, tells me it isn't going to be a good fit for me. Moving on, life is too short.

[Terry · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting tale of the life of a wonderful house. The book is a collection of interconnected stories with the house itself as the main character. An enjoyable read.

[Lee Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it right off then had a couple of chapters with too many architectural details. Once I got past that I loved the book.

[Colleen Semanek · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It was a neat concept of the story of the house and its inhabitants.

[Blodeuedd Finland]

It was boring, and I got annoyed at the descriptions

[Imation · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me sobran el primer y el último capítulo.

[Louisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I finally finished reading Ashenden. As a Covid19 shelter in place read it was ok, but I would have given up if I had any more interesting books in my house. Although I am generally a fan of vignettes and varied speakers, I just couldn’t settle in and enjoy this. The authors style is not pro, so it must have been the story line that leaves me flat. Ashenden is a two hundred plus years history of an English estate and the people it housed. Many of the owners were less than happy and less than wise in handling their money, so the overall tone is fatalistic. LIke the English people, the house endures. It endures unscrupulous owners, unhappy owners, owners who run through their money like water, and fortunately for the reader, one or two owners who were happy, responsible, and loved the estate and all it stands for. The basic tale is that a brother and sister inherit the estate from their aunt and uncle in 2010 and need to decide what to do with it - keep, turn into a hotel, or sell. They have happy memories of Ashenden but not enough money to restore the house and grounds to their former glory. The house was built in 1775, designed by famed architect James Woods for a merchant. Over the years the house saw many residents, some of them owners, others staff or military men who recuperated from injuries. In spite of all reversals of fortune, the house endures the nineteenth, twentieth, and the first two decades of the twenty-first centuries. Unfortunately, few of the characters made a lasting impression on me, and the estate itself was less than memorable.

[Elizabeth (Miss Eliza) · Rating 1 out of 5]

*Special Content only on my blog, Strange and Random Happenstance during Downton Denial (February 2015)

Time and neglect have been brought to bear on Ashenden Park. Occasionally loved and cared for, the great estate has fallen into the hands of two siblings after the death of their aunt. They don't know what they should do with this giant white elephant they have inherited. Going back through time to the houses beginning in 1775, James Woods is finishing the architectural touches for his new masterpiece to be wrought in Bath stone, though little does he know that tragedy will personally strike him and his employers will never finish the house. It's 1844 and a new family cares for and loves Ashenden, it is the home of their dreams and their children love it well, but their grandson is feckless. 1938, the house is once again in disrepair, cut up and sold for whatever money the current owner can get for a ceiling or a mantelpiece. 1946, the war arrives and a man who is a prisoner lives where one day he will return a house to lost glory for the aunt of two siblings. Ever rising and falling in it's luck will Ashenden Park be glorious ever again?

It takes a lot to make a house memorable in literature. I don't think it's something that you can set out to do, it's something that happens over time. Manderley, Number Four Privet Drive, Tara, Pemberley, all these places are held in the hearts of readers. We imagine what it would be like to go there, to walk through the woods, to gaze at the family portraits, to be immersed in the world of our favorite story. To us readers these are tangible places that we can visit, if only in our imaginations or between the covers of our favorite book. To have the conceit of following a house through time is at once intriguing and sheer folly. If Ashenden proves anything it's that the engendering of a house in literature can not be forced on us.

In order to fall for a literary house you have to fall for the story. A house itself isn't a story unless it's peopled. Would Hill House be evil and menacing without inhabitants? No, it couldn't be because there's no one to interact with it's bricks and mortar, there's no Eleanor. The house just sits there waiting for occupants. Why yes, Asheden does become occupied, but by having the narrative spread out decades apart over a hundred plus years with different characters there is no way to become invested in the story. The house is an empty vessel and here are some people who occupy it, but don't bother getting too invested in them, they'll be gone soon enough. If there had only been some overarching plot separate from the house itself, like in Mark Gatiss's Crooked House that weaves together hauntings of Geap Manor over a two hundred year period to a conclusive denouement, well, that might have been something I could have worked with, but sadly there wasn't.

As for these people who flit through Ashenden over time. I couldn't have cared less about them. Rarely were they nice or kind, usually they were self centered jack-offs. The way the book is written it's really just intertwined short stories. I'm not the biggest fan of short stories. I like scope. I like having a beautifully built world that I can immerse myself in, which is why I like television and miniseries more then movies.  Short stories are hard to invest in unless they are perfectly crafted little jewels that can stand on their own. By having the stories linked through Ashenden this is never possible. Each story with a jerk and a bump leads to the next and the next, with ever more unlikable characters that I didn't want to invest my time in.

But the short narratives weren't the most annoying thing. What really got me was this fine breadcrumb trail of characters and even objects that Wilhide wove through the book. So to recap, lots of unlikable characters I don't like and don't care to remember are peppered throughout the history of Ashenden like little Easter Eggs. Somebody hold me back. Sure, it's a cute idea, a way to link past and present, but sometimes cute ideas should not be employed because they annoy the heck out of your readers. It's gimmicky and gets maddening real fast. That stupid brown cow pitcher, and I have to say, I actually liked a pitcher of a brown cow more then anything else in this book. I liked an inanimate object more then the people. Um, that's a problem.

This is Wilhide's first fiction book, having written a plethora of books on design and architecture, and I have to say it shows. She was unable to create an engaging book. If her goal was to show the "living history" of the house, well, I guess she did that. Wilhide was able to show how the house changed and adapted over time from it's construction to it's current state of dilapidation, but it was a depressing show and tell that felt like I was reading about the slow death of the house sinking further into despair. Never did it feel like she was exulting the house, never once giving it the people it deserved. A pop star? Please no. Anyone who was nice to the house was skimmed over. One of those nice persons was name Florence Henderson, and I hope that this was historical, because otherwise, WTF Wildhide! No.

Houses all have stories to tell. But does this mean that the stories should be told? No it doesn't. What got me most was that anytime you almost felt invested the story would shift, much in the way Jeffery Eugenides Middlesex did, and you were back at square one, usually with an even more unsavory cast of characters. If you set out to do something unique and different go all in. Go epic, go centuries of detail and dirt. Don't reign yourself in, and don't under any circumstance ellipses over time with little introductory paragraphs at the start of each chapter that are ethereal and dreamlike but are really the type of amateurish and indulgent writing that should have been cut.