The Inheritance

by Nina Bell

You never really know your family until there's something to fight over... Three warring sisters: Felicity, the eldest, a journalist most comfortable in a war zone, Helena, in the middle, an actress concerned above all with creating the perfect appearance, and Bramble who just wants to be a champion like her father, Olympic horseman Edward Beaumont - whatever she has to do. One inheritance: Brought together by Edwards's death, family secrets threaten to spill as the sisters battle their enemies - and each other - but it takes another tragic death before they discover the real value of the Beaumont inheritance.

704 pages, Hardcover

First published December 4, 2008

Reviews

[Charlene Carabott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging story and it was interesting to read all about eventing and the work involved behind the scenes. Did drag on a bit at times though and the characters were quite cliché in some cases; Helena comes to mind!

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

For me this would have been a much more enjoyable read had it not been so horse based. I read far more about dressage and cross country racing than I would ever want to know! I am actually a fan of horse racing and have read plenty of books about this subject in the past (by Jenny Pitman, John Francome etc) but this was just an overload of detail. If you take the storyline back to its basics, 3 sisters coming together again after the death of their father and how they deal with their grief, each other and the ghosts of the past, not to mention the divisions concerning the inheritance of a large house, that would have been enough of a story. Some of the characters were quite engaging, and most were very well written and believable although I found Bramble, one of the main characters (and the 'goody goody' sister) extremely irritating a lot of the time - I just wanted to shake her and shout "noooo don't do it"! At 503 pages, I think the book is a little overlong and you probably could have cut at least 50 pages easily without spoiling the story.

[Hsiau Wei · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Inheritance by Nina Bell is my second book after her latest book that Hubby bought for me; Sisters In Law. I bought this book after reading her first book. Anyhow, the Inheritance tells the story of three sisters; Felicity who left her home soon after some disagreements with her father (which was reveal almost at the end of the book), Helena who is rather selfish and ambitious and Bramble, the youngest among the three sisters, who is also a widow with a daughter, Savannah, who hates herself's outlook.

All three sisters were tied together with an inheritance left by their father. Conflicts among sisters over the pasts and the inheritance was the main story plot. The story plot grews with the involvement of Jez and Nat in Bramble's life which has make Bramble's life becomes more complicated, the pasts that came back to haunt Felicity and Helena, who was confronted with an alchoholic husband and the threat of bankruptcy looming above her head.

There was surprise elements incorporated in the book whereby the

[Michele · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review would have more stars if it weren't for a major part of its plot. Three sisters inherit property that includes stables. The youngest wants to continue running them, as her father did for decades before he died. Except the big thrust of the business is "eventing" with horses. Honestly, it is one of the most boring things I've ever heard of or read about. In fact, there was another book whose main character participated in the sport, and it was so boring I quit reading halfway through. It's beyond me why anyone wants to do eventing but much more curious is why any writer thinks it is even remotely near interesting enough to write about and expect readers to enjoy. The characters were well developed and mostly believable, and the plot device of needing to reach a consensus in order to split the estate were well done. If not for the dreary details about eventing it would have been 4 or 5 stars.

[Lynda Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book.
A real page turner. A great summer read.
As I was reading I was thinking that this would make a great TV Movie/Drama.
This is the first Nina Bell book that I have read. I will be adding her other books to my to read wish list.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think the book was overly long and all the detail on eventing could have be cut back. If you like horses though, you'd probably enjoy it more than I did. Sorry to say I won't be rushing to read anymore of Nina Bell's novels based on this effort.

[Beth Lloyd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Took some getting into. Too horsey to begin with. Turned out to be ok. Wouldn't rush to read another one of hers.

[Jen D. · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story focuses more on the stables than the description implied, but that didn't bother me, I thought it was a well written family drama, a really good summer read.

[Beth Gosser · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book the characters are very solid and there are enough plot twists to keep it very interesting