Novel Houses: Twenty Famous Fictional Dwellings

by Christina Hardyment

Many beloved novels have place at their heart—and often even in their title. Novel Houses visits unforgettable dwellings in twenty legendary works of English and American fiction, exploring how Uncle Tom’s Cabin came to start the American Civil War, why Bleak House is used as the name of a happy home, and what Jane Austen had in mind when she worked out the plot for Mansfield Park . Taking up the importance of 221B Baker Street to Sherlock Holmes, and of Bag-End to the hobbits who called it home, the book also sheds fresh light on Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights , Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast , and the real-life settings of Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca and E. M. Forster’s Howards End . Throughout, the book invites us to consider how houses, while so fundamental to these stories, also reveal much about their authors’ passions and preoccupations. A winning combination of literary criticism, geography, and biography, this is an entertaining and insightful celebration of beloved novels and the extraordinary role that houses play—whether grand or small, unique or ordinary, real or imagined.
 

Genres: Nonfiction, Books About Books, History, Literary Fiction, Adult

240 pages, Hardcover

Published December 19, 2019

About the author

Christina Hardyment read history at Newnham College, Cambridge, and has twice held the Alistair Horne Historians' Writing Fellowship at St. Antony's College, Oxford. She is a writer and broadcaster with wide interests, and lives in Oxford, England.

Reviews

[Beth Bonini · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is, admittedly, something of an exaggeration to call this introduction The House as Hero, but the phrase stuck fast in my mind: it sums up so succinctly what I feel about fictional places that act as guardians and springboards, inspirations and anchorages. Home is a recurring theme: childhood homes, home under threat, homes lost and home regained.

Like author Christina Hardyment, I am fascinated by houses in books - especially when they act as an important character, even 'hero' in the story. My favourite sort of novelistic houses are the ones that act as a heart's anchor for generations of families, particularly when they offer comfort and nurture to the guests fortunate enough to shelter in them for a while. Hardyment takes a far broader approach, though, and she attempts - with twenty different literary houses - to show the many different ways a house can be used as a device in a plot. Her houses are arranged in a historical chronological order, with Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto (1764) appearing first and J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter' series serving as the final book end.

Each chapter is given a title, or theme: for instance, Manderley in Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca is described as a 'House of Secrets'. The chapters vary in how successful they are at illustrating the author's chosen theme and that does give an unevenness to the book. Each chapter is made up of similar elements, though: some plot exposition, some background on the author, and in most cases, the real-life house (or houses) which inspired the fictional one in the story. In some chapters, these three elements are braided together very effectively: E.M. Forster's Howards End (1910), described as 'Anchorage', comes immediately to mind. The chapter on J.R.R. Toilkien 'Deep Roots' was excellent, too. In other chapters, though, I got rather tangled up in the plot and lost both the thread and the interest in the author's exegesis.

I would definitely warn readers who detest *plot spoilers* that the author has a tendency to give too much of the plot away. I think she could have expanded on her theme without doing so. In general, I liked the second half of the book better than the first half. In most cases, the chapters I disliked most described books I hadn't read - but that wasn't always the case. I thought the Mansfield Park chapter was weak - way too much plot exposition - even though this is a book I'm familiar with. Conversely, the Gormenghast chapter was so vividly described and I've not read Marvin Peake's famous post-war 'gothic' trilogy.

My overall feelings/thoughts about this book are probably weaker than 4 stars - let's say 3.75 stars. To be fair, though, it did give me lots of information - particularly about the real houses which inspired the fictional ones - which was both interesting and welcome. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind a slightly more academic style of writing, especially -and really only - if houses in fiction are of particular interest.

[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've spent many months dipping in and out of this book, yet when I finished it I went back and read a couple of chapters again straight away. It's an interesting read, it compares fictional houses from novels with the real houses that inspired them. There is also a potted history of the authors of the books.
There are some real favourites, including the houses in Pride and Prejudice, Wuthering Heights, JRR Tolkien's Bag End, Howard's End and many more. The entry for Howard's End grabbed me the most and the piece about E M Forster.
It's a lovely read, especially if you're a fan of these novels.

[Bronwyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. Looking at what makes a good literary house a character itself was really enjoyable. I knew (having read or seen an adaptation of some sort) all but four of the twenty books discussed. Three are American and seventeen British, but as someone who loves British books, I liked this. I’m interested in those four now, and want to revisit the others as well. I liked that previous houses were brought back where necessary with later ones - having the book be chronological made so much sense and allowed the development of the houses to become more clear. I also liked the last few being fantasy stories, showing home is universal. It’s a light book overall, but there’s still a lot to think about.

[Kirk]

I read the Intro and the JA chapter featuring Mansfield Park. I hope to read other chapters later.

[Maura Heaphy Dutton · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was slightly disappointing. It's a beautiful book: my copy is destined to be a Christmas present (well, yes, I read it first. Quality control ...), and I'm very satisfied that it will be a welcome gift. But the content (with one or two exceptions) felt slight, and going over familiar old ground.

In fairness, Hardyment does exactly what she promises to do -- so, before buying, it might be worth having a quick, sneaky read of her Introduction. (Yes, I do that, too ... ) Each chapter looks at a house that is crucial to a well-known novel. Almost like a character in its own right. The definition of "house" can be stretched. (Hogwarts? I suppose, as a boarding school, Harry Potter lives there, but ...) And Hardyment is clear that she isn't going for deep analysis: she recaps the plot of the novel, tells you a bit about the author, a bit about the house it was based on. (Again, sometimes stretching a point to breaking: the cabin in Uncle Tom's Cabin doesn't exist in reality, it was based on Stowe's romanticised rendering of a slave cabin. And we ALL know that 221B Baker Street didn't even exist as an address until the tourism industry got hold of it ...) And that's about it.

Now, I didn't need this book to be deep, or rigorous, but I did need it to have ... a point, And that's where I felt this didn't work. What it the point? What is it for? Characters in books live in houses, usually, so there are houses in books. Sometimes the house in books are based on real houses, or an author's rendering of a Platonic Ideal (or nightmarish opposite) of a home. OK -- but where does that take us? The selection: 20 novels (and houses) that span 250-odd years. Seventeen are British, three are from the USA: why?

My favorite chapters -- imho, the best chapters -- are the ones on Wuthering Heights, because I actually learned something that I did not know ... The chapter on Howards End, because Hardyment clearly relates to E.M. Foster, and his love of Rooks Nest, the house that Howards End was based on. She fondly recalls having tea with Foster when she was a Cambridge undergraduate, when he was living his last years at King's College Cambridge, and the connection she made with him clearly shows. And finally, the chapter on Cold Comfort Farm, just because I love Cold Comfort Farm, and any excuse to read about it is a delight ...

Would make a great Christmas present ...

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book! The author feels like a kindred spirit and each essay on a different house is expertly constructed. It’s so clear that the author loves the books she is writing about and has read each book numerous times. She treats the authors with great dignity in the biographical details that pop up in each essay. (She even met Forster as a Cambridge student in the 60s!) Some of my favorite writers are covered here, like Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, E.M Forster, Evelyn Waugh, J.R.R. Tolkien and J.K. Rowling, but the essays about the books I haven’t read were just as interesting. The connection between the type of house that was in a book and the author’s own life was fascinating. Of course authors draw on the worlds they know and their own connections to place, so each fictional house becomes both a reflection of that author and something that entirely transcends the author and takes on its own life in the story. Also, as a person who has always loved home and whose greatest ambition is to have my own Howards End or Bag End, this topic was certainly always going to appeal to me.

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable read and has given me a number of places I will be going to see along with reminders of beautiful books read; along with books to add to the to read list.

[Tara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Beginning with an interesting premise, Novel Houses explores 20 different abodes as described in famous literature. What inspired their authors? Were there real-life counterparts? From Bag End to Hogwarts, Manderley and Gormenghast, the book covers a wide range in time and genre. But I think ultimately the idea was superior to its execution. For most of the authors, I would say that their inspiration fell into 2 camps: either a place they longed for that they had lost, perhaps from their childhood, or a place they had always wanted to possess; or a personification of a character or a character within itself, in their story. Nothing particularly groundbreaking here. But the real downfall of the book was the sheer number of spoilers, none of which were warned about anywhere in the book. The author gave away major plot points in just about every chapter, quite unnecessarily to achieve her goal of giving life and meaning to the dwellings. I would not recommend this book to anyone who intends to read these novels but has not done so yet. The spoilers are so egregious, I must deduct a star from my rating.

[Ronald Koltnow · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a solid 3 1/2 stars. The settings of novels tell us a great deal. We see where and how the action will unfold, and we see inside the mind of the author. Christina Hardyment tackles both sides of that issue. She examines houses in fiction from Walpole’s CASTLE OF OTRANTO to Hogwarts, with stops along the way at Mansfield Park, Bleak House, Howard’s End, and several others. She gives us a plot synopsis, especially how the setting informs the action, descriptions of the place, and insight into the real historical locations the authors immortalized in their work. This is a book to read piecemeal, a chapter at a time. If you read it straight through you get a touch of house fatigue. The biggest flaw in the book is that Hardyment does not cover Blandings Castle, from the work of P. G. Wodehouse. Blandings is the fictional house in which I would most want to live.

[Micebyliz]

I just loved this book!!! I wish i were the kind of scholar who could research and write this sort of thing :) It's so much fun!!! The connections between authors and literature that i had not known and the reasons certain metaphors were used--it's all so delicious!! really!!! I could not be happier. I wish i had not read it so fast but i couldn't help myself.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are an enthusiastic reader of classic novels, mainly British, you may have wondered what some of the houses and buildings which feature in well-known novels actually looked like. Even if nothing like them ever existed in reality, such as Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast, it would be interesting to know which buildings may have inspired them. If a book’s story is based on real types of buildings, such as slaves’ accommodation as featured in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, it is possible that drawings exist which depict the sort of place involved. This beautiful book, which in my hardback edition rejoices in many illustrations, is a sort of guidebook for anyone who has read the twenty novels included to the significant houses and homes listed – or would like to know more!
The titles are limited to British and American novels which cuts out many European and beyond, but selfishly I enjoyed this selection as I had at least heard of all of them, if not actually read each one. As the subtitle suggests these are famous fictional dwellings, which form the basis for much of the narrative, which does mean that the books are studied from the element of place rather than character, but as some dwellings are treated like characters in the novels, that seems reasonable. This is not a book of literary criticism, rather a collection of essays on the places that make narratives possible in all their grandeur or poverty. It takes a broad sweep through novels written from Walpole’s Castle of Otranto in 1764 to the wonder of Hogwarts Castle beginning in 1997 via many interesting diversions, and in all provides a wonder of literary buildings constructed in great minds.
Each chapter looks at an individual book (or series of linked novels) firstly through its plot, looking at the place in which it is set. Purists may encounter some “spoilers”, but frankly these are such well known novels that most people would have an idea how they proceed. The style of the book is revealed, such as melodrama, or in the case of Forster’s “Howard’s End”, “a wistful love song to a real house”. The house itself is revealed in a picture of the type of the house central to the story, or in the case of Sherlock Holmes’ 221B Baker Street, a plan of the accommodation. There is usually an illustration of an early cover of the book which is often lovely, such as in the case of Du Maurier’s “Rebecca”, and some details about the author’s life and times, to give it context. “Robin Hill” which features in John Galsworthy’s “Forsyte Saga” told over several volumes is a vital part of the story but never really existed; nevertheless Galsworthy produced detailed drawings and plans one of which appears in this book, as well as a photograph of the author. Jane Austen’s “Mansfield Park” also features, with comments about how the title refers to a house fraught with difficulties because of its unsettled inhabitants. Wuthering Heights, being so central to the plot of Emily Bronte’s novel, also has a chapter, with a photograph of the storm battered area in which it was set. Not that all the books included are so tragic; Stella Gibbons tells of an imaginary farm transformed by an organising visitor in the very funny “Cold Comfort Farm”, and the discomfort of an ancient building in a chapter on “I Capture the Castle” by Dodie Smith. The American dream is explored through Scott Fitzgerald’s West Egg from “The Great Gatsby”, while the faith of a family is transmitted via the grandeur of “Brideshead” in Evelyn Waugh’s novel of an unwilling return. The heavily contested “Bleak House” from Dickens makes an appearance, as does Walter Scott’s “Waverley”. Fantasy establishments as in Tolkien’s Hobbit house also appears. The much-loved Knole is explored in Woolf’s “Orlando” and Sackville-West’s “The Edwardians”.
Altogether this is a book to treasure not only for its own beauty, but also for the contents which reawaken interest in favourite novels. It is the sort of book that when I had read it I immediately considered starting again, as it is such a lovely easy read even when I was less sure of the novels it covers. This is a book of literary places which is best enjoyed from an armchair and is a thoroughly lovely read which I recommend to all book lovers to inspire further reading or revel in old favourites.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I stumbled upon this book in my library catalog (can't remember what I was actually searching for), and I was incredibly excited to read it. Hardyment examines twenty famous fictional dwellings, from Mansfield Park to 221B Baker Street, Manderly to Brideshead, Bag End to Hogwarts. Some of the chapters were the sort of delightful that make you want to immediately pick up the book being discussed so you can lose yourself in that place again. But some of the chapters inspired only indifference (though, to be fair, those were mostly chapters discussing books I hadn't read and really have no desire to try, so it may not be the fault of the author). Despite my mixed reaction to the author's choice of literary houses, this is one book I think I want on my shelf so I can revisit it whenever I like.

[Ariel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable read for this book-lover and house-lover. The author takes 20 books and explores the importance of a dwelling place in each book and also the inspirations for the fictional house. Some of my favorites were Wuthering Heights, Mansfield Park, Orlando, The Great Gatsby, The Hobbit and the Harry Potter books. (Of course I skipped the chapters about books I hadn't read like Waverly by Sir Walter Scott. Obviously it's only fun if you know the books.) It took me so long to finish because I really wanted to stop and absorb each chapter, and then I had to return it to the library. I finally bought a hardcover copy to finish it. Most of the time I'm happy to read a book and return it to my library but sometimes even a librarian wants to own a book. This was one of those times.

[Marilyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

20 chapters of imaginary places in literature that particularly capture our hearts. Especially recommended for readers who love fantasy: Hogwarts School, Bilbo Baggins' Bag End, and Gormenghast are discussed. And, classic novels such as The Great Gatsby, Manderley from Rebecca, and The Spoils of Poynton by Henry James with their strong presence of a home are deconstructed by Hardyment, mixing literary points with biography and geography.

[Andrea Engle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely magical ... a visit to twenty famous dwellings which exist as characters in their own right in a host of fictional works ... a stroll through literature in English, beginning with Walpole’s Castle of Otranto in 1764 and finishing up with Hogwarts from J.K.Rowling’s popular Harry Potter series, which dominated the late nineties ... splendid read ...

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good house, I love a good novel. I found this book to be a successful exploration of both. I enjoyed ruminating on the dwellings she selected - limited to a purposefully narrowed scope of only English and American novels.
This serves as a reminder that a house can be a hero, a metaphor, and the heart and soul of a story.

[Steven Minniear · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most enjoyable books I’ve read all year. If you love reading, especially the classic novels, then you’ll enjoy visiting their settings. If you haven’t read these novels, you’ll get a short introduction to them that might inspire you spend some days with them.

[JFN]

How is it that a hefty hardcover book that was clearly not cheap to print is so full of errors and typos? So weird. The content itself just wasn’t there to allow me to overlook the editorial sloppiness.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love houses. I haven't read every one of books whose houses are discussed here, but I am familiar with all of the titles. I was pleased to find Gormenghast included here.