Northrop Hall

Northrop Hall Trilogy #1

by Margaret Bacon

The first volume in a spellbinding new family saga, which bears comparison with the best of Rosamunde Pilcher or Elizabeth Jane Howard In the first decade of the twentieth century, life at Northrop Hall carries on much as it has done for centuries. Dowager Lady Arndale presides over the smooth running of the house, whilst her son Charles manages the vast estate and Nanny Stone rules the roost in the nursery. Diana Arndale, just sixteen and back from finishing-school in Paris, looks forward with giddy excitement to her coming-out in London, as the protegee of her glamorous Aunt Selina. It is a well-ordered, comfortable, predictable existence, in which master and servant each knows his place. But the storm-clouds are gathering over Europe, and with the outbreak of 'The War To End Wars', the world of the Arndales and their servants is turned upside down. Life will never be the same again, for any of them...

Genres: Historical Fiction, Family Saga, World War I

256 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2003

About the author

Margaret Bacon was brought up in the Yorkshire Dales, and educated at The Mount School, York and at Oxford. She taught history before her marriage to a Civil Engineer whose profession entailed much travel and frequent moves of house. Her first book, 'Journey to Guyana', was an account of two years spent in South America. Her subsequent books, including one children's novel, have all been fiction. She has two daughters and is now settled in Wiltshire.

Reviews

[Janis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Life on a smallish estate just before, during and after WWI. How pride brought down some and sustained others in times of troubles. This book gives a glimpse into another world and time with full, rich characters. Some of the people were likable, even admirable while others caused great pain to those around them. The portions about life in the trenches were vivid and horrifying. I was on the verge of tears over some of the bits. But out of despair came hope and healing.