Inheritance: A Novel

by Evelyn Toynton

In this luminous novel about romance and illusion--and what's left of love when they're stripped away--an American Anglophile is drawn into the lives of a disintegrating aristocratic family.

After the sudden death of her husband, Annie Devereaux flees to England, site of the nostalgic fantasies her father spun for her before he deserted the family. A chance encounter in London leads Annie to cancel her return to New York and move in with Julian, the disaffected, moody son of Helena Denby, a famous British geneticist. As their relationship progresses, Annie meets Julian's sisters Isabel and Sasha, each of them fragile in her own way, and becomes infatuated with visions of their idyllic childhood in England's West Country. But the more she uncovers about Julian's past, the more he explodes into rage and violence. Finally tearing herself away, Annie winds up adrift in London, rescued from her loneliness only when she and Isabel form an unexpected bond.

Slowly, with Isabel as her reluctant guide, Annie learns of the emotional devastation that Helena's warped arrogance, her monstrous will to dominate, inflicted on her children. The family who once embodied Annie's idealized conception of England is actually caught in a nightmare of betrayal and guilt that spirals inexorably into tragedy.

Genres: Fiction, Romance

272 pages, Paperback

First published September 17, 2019

About the author

Evelyn Toynton's work has appeared in Harper's, The Atlantic, The Times Literary Supplement, The New York Times Book Review, and The American Scholar. Her novel Modern Art, loosely based on the story of Lee Krasner and Jackson Pollock, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her most recent novel is The Oriental Wife, published in 2011. She lives in Norfolk, England.

Reviews

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't always have to like the main character, but I enjoy unlikable main characters who DO things, as opposed to the unnamed first-person narrator here, who doesn't have much agency and doesn't take much initiative and doesn't seem to know who she is and what she wants and who is just a hot mess. The narrator is an American young woman who is newly widowed and shows up in England in 1986 with a lot of exalted, romantic notions of England and what she'll find there. She gets involved with a truly messed-up aristocratic family, which in the 1980s consists of a tough, elderly mother who is a researcher, an adult daughter who is a professor, an adult son who is just an asshole, and another adult daughter who struggles with extreme mental health issues. First the narrator is in a truly awful live-in relationship with Julian, then she seems to have a not very enjoyable but still somehow worth it to her in ways I don't understand friendship with Isabel, and then she still seems to go on obsessing about the family in a helpless sort of way. I found it to be a depressing book, and I think what kept me reading was that I (sadly) recognize my younger self in the main character. I kept wanting some personal growth for her and it never seemed to happen. I left the book feeling that she's just going to go on following her husband around for the rest of her life, without ever figuring out what she really wants. I think a lot of women fall into similarly hampered lives and this was realistic to me in that way but I kind of hated it and liked it at the same time. This review is also a hot mess. But that reflects the main character, so.

[Katamataka · Rating 1 out of 5]

Enjoyed the beginning and some interest and insight, but the end goes from tragic to trigger-warning yucky. Spoiler alert, none of the perps gets the slightest come-uppance or changes at all. I admit I am an adult who likes YA fiction, because in the best you have character and maybe historical learning. So I like a little redemption, though I don't expect it. This one, however, draws the reader into betrayed and beaten characters only to deliver a brutal headkick at the end.

[Deb Ford · Rating 2 out of 5]

A tedious meandering read

I couldn’t wait for this book to end. You know it’s not good when you wish the book would be over already.

[Julie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this novel had too much to slog through to get to the riveting ending. Sorry, but not recommended.

[Julie Failla Earhart · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inheritance in this novel is not what readers may assume it is; there’r nothing to do with physical assets.

When Annie Devereaux’s husband suddenly dies she then has the opportunity to follow her wildest dreams. She leaves New York and moves to London with no plan but to live like the Brits do.

Shortly after her arrival, she meets Julian and moves in with him. As their relationship drags on, he becomes more and more abusive.

Then the narrative shifts. Annie has made friends with Julian’s sister, Isabel. While this section is mostly about Isabel, reads get to learn more about what makes Julian Julian.

The narrative shifts again, but I didn’t get it. I’m not sure where the author was going, or even what she was talking about. Section Three did not tie into Sections One and Two, leaving me lost and dazed. Therefore, “Inheritance” receives 2 out of 5 stars in Julie’s world.

[Sylvia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story, told in bits pieces by an American outsider, of an upper crust British family. There’s layers of scandals, love affairs gone wrong, madness and more. The ending was surprising, the writing very good and the characters complex.

[Tiffany E-P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I expected. Not at all. I thought Sasha went mad because of the mother. But when the truth comes out at the end, it explains a lot. I didn’t like Annie as the narrator, but she did speak truthfully and frankly about a lot of things that we aren’t always honest with ourselves about

[Sally]

Listed on a PRH Library Marketing email

[Jocelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Other Press for the ARC.

Dysfunctional upper crust British family and an American widow who becomes involved with them.

[Debi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read it by mistake

[Beth Grzesiak · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not a fan of books about would-be writers wanting to write a book... this turned me off as early as chapter three.

[Liz McSpadden · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was hard to get thru. I finished it, but definitely not worth reading for me.

[Johanna · Rating 2 out of 5]

There was way too much going on. Very hard to follow and confusing.