The House of Vandekar

by Evelyn Anthony

Three generations of women grapple with a legacy of secrets, lies, love, and loss  Ashton. The place dreams are made of?   For most of her life, Nancy Vandekar has been haunted by the same disturbing nightmare in which a menacing figure in the shadows calls out her mother’s Diana. When Nancy found love, she thought she’d left her past far behind. But now a capricious twist of fate brings her back to Ashton. The magnificent family home masks a legacy of damning secrets, illicit love, suicide, and violence that casts its long shadow over three generations of women.   First, there’s Nancy’s grandmother Alice, the spirited American beauty whose passionate wartime romance has far-reaching consequences for those who come after her. Then Diana, the vivacious debutante whose sexual obsession nearly destroys them all. And finally Nancy, the last remaining heir. She alone can restore the Vandekar name. But is she ready to face the truth about her family?   Spanning decades of extraordinary change, The House of Vandekar paints an indelible portrait of three unforgettable women.

Genres: Fiction, Thriller

368 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Evelyn Anthony was the pen name of Evelyn Bridgett Patricia Stephens Ward-Thomas,

Started her career as a writer of historical fiction, later switched to writing contemporary thrillers, often with an espionage theme.

She met Michael Ward-Thomas on a double date in The Dorchester and both were attracted to each other.] He worked for the Consolidated African Selection Trust. They switched partners and were married a few months later.

They bought Horham Hall in 1968 but found that it was costly and sold it in 1976 and moved to Naas, County Kildare where she had relatives. Increased income from her writing allowed her to buy Horham Hall back in 1982.

In 1994 she became High Sheriff of Essex, the firswt woman in over 700 years to hold this office.

In 1995 her daughter Kitty died of a heroin overdose, leading Evelyn to not write for another seven years.

In 2004 her husband died of a stroke.

She was survived by her children Susan, Anthony, Ewan, Christian and Luke as well as 16 grandchildren.

NB:Some sources give Ms Anthonys year of birth as 1926.

Additional information added from Wikipedia

Reviews

[justine · Rating 5 out of 5]

A haunting drama of a privileged family torn by dark secrets and unsaid pain that tears each of them apart. A very depressing story. It kills me to imagine this kind of tragedy could actually happen in real life. But then I guess it could. The most haunting thing is that the Vandekars had everything imaginable: good looks, power, wealth, and fame. But all these didn't keep them from being extremely unfortunate with relationships and they were never happy. They were supposed to be a family. They pretended to be, but they never actually were.

They all lived with many buried pains, which eventually led to their demise. But the greatest tragedy was that the reason for it all was actually a lie. It just haunts me that they destroyed each other and their lives for something they believed was true but later turned out to be a lie. All of their lives gone for nothing.

The ending was supposed to be happy, I think. But the haunting aura of the whole story couldn't be changed by just one paragraph of implied hope for a better future.

[Blubonnet1 · Rating 1 out of 5]

11/27/10

[Gabriela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of my favourite novels by Ms Anthony’s. 3.5 stars

[Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book starts out with Nancy & David getting to know each other and David is so impressed that he sets up a weekend stay out of town. This is where the book hits the wall. Memories of the place they are in.. and then we start with the flashback of the story. From Grandmother to the present. The amazing story of the Vandakar's is wonderful. Money, power, fame, and more. Alice is my favorite character the matriarch and a powerful woman that always holds her ground. Hugo the husband who was rich beyond control and was into politics and business ventures. There children ... what a pair these 2 were and then their marriages and their mysteries and secrets. It seemed to go on and on in a good way. but then the red headed women arrives... before you know it there is scandals' and more. Then back to the present and the climax .. I enjoyed the storyline and the building of each character. This book is based in England so it's a little different.

[Brenda Hawley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A real soap opera with multi-generational problems.. a fun read.

[John Whitney]

Excellent family saga mystery with adult themes of adultery, nymphomania alcoholism and betrayal, with a nice twist at the end.

[Ibitayo Aishat Salami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of love, power and 3 Generations...

Interesting and intriguing. The power of love, the strength of resilience. God's gift to the mother - to influence and mould her offspring and generations to come...