Umbrella: A Pacific Tale

Tales of History and Imagination #1

by Ferdinand Mount

Ferdinand Mount's novel brings alive Lord Aberdeen, the Victorian Prime Minister blamed by many for the mismanagement of the Crimean War. Surrounding Lord Aberdeen is a fascinating cast of characters: his cousin Lord Byron, lampooning him in verse; Napoleon and Josephine (giving him "a glimpse of rotting yellow teeth"); Sheridan, slyly applauding his amateur performance in The Rivals; Metternich, whom he admires; and Florence Nightingale getting the better of his life-long rival, Lord "Cupid" Palmerston.A portrait of a man increasingly at odds with his times, Umbrella provides a superb picture of nineteenth-century life. The horrors of war are matched by exquisite domestic details of life in Mayfair. And the umbrella? His first was a hefty green object fit for a strong young man. His second was black, and with age became leaky. Stylish, elegant, fast-moving, every page interesting, Umbrella is suffused with wisdom and civilized compassion, a work of romance in the best sense.

Genres: Historical Fiction

224 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Ferdinand Mount was born in 1939. For many years he was a columnist at the Spectator and then the Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Times. In between, he was head of the Downing Street Policy Unit and then editor of the Times Literary Supplement. He is now a prize-winning novelist and author of, most recently, the bestselling memoir Cold Cream. He lives in London.

Reviews

[Edward Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a truly beautiful little book.