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Morland Dynasty #33
The Dancing Years
The 33rd installment in the saga of the Morland family begins in the year 1919
As the euphoria of the Armistice fades, the nation count the cost—millions dead or disabled, unemployment, strikes, and shortages—and attempt to build a new life. Teddy tries to recreate balance but then a trip to France to see the place where Ned fell has unforeseen consequences. Polly, grieving for Erich Kuppel, persuades her father to send her to New York, and despite Prohibition, the great city pulses with life and promises her a fresh start. Jessie and Bertie, detained in London by Bertie's job, long to start their new life together. Jack becomes a pioneer of civil aviation, but when the company fails he's faced with unemployment, with a growing family to support. As they all seek relief from their own memories, the Morland's witness a new world struggling to be born out of the ashes; and as long as the music lasts, they will keep on dancing.
As the euphoria of the Armistice fades, the nation count the cost—millions dead or disabled, unemployment, strikes, and shortages—and attempt to build a new life. Teddy tries to recreate balance but then a trip to France to see the place where Ned fell has unforeseen consequences. Polly, grieving for Erich Kuppel, persuades her father to send her to New York, and despite Prohibition, the great city pulses with life and promises her a fresh start. Jessie and Bertie, detained in London by Bertie's job, long to start their new life together. Jack becomes a pioneer of civil aviation, but when the company fails he's faced with unemployment, with a growing family to support. As they all seek relief from their own memories, the Morland's witness a new world struggling to be born out of the ashes; and as long as the music lasts, they will keep on dancing.
504 pages, Hardcover
First published October 22, 2010
26 people are currently reading
264 people want to read
About the author
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles
168 books492 followersCynthia Harrod-Eagles (aka Emma Woodhouse, Elizabeth Bennett)
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles was born on 13 August 1948 in Shepherd's Bush, London, England, where was educated at Burlington School, a girls' charity school founded in 1699, and at the University of Edinburgh and University College London, where she studied English, history and philosophy.
She had a variety of jobs in the commercial world, starting as a junior cashier at Woolworth's and working her way down to Pensions Officer at the BBC.
She wrote her first novel while at university and in 1972 won the Young Writers' Award with The Waiting Game. The birth of the MORLAND DYNASTY series enabled Cynthia Harrod-Eagles to become a full-time writer in 1979. The series was originally intended to comprise twelve volumes, but it has proved so popular that it has now been extended to thirty-four.
In 1993 she won the Romantic Novelists' Association Romantic Novel of the Year Award with Emily, the third volume of her Kirov Saga, a trilogy set in nineteenth century Russia.
Cynthia Harrod-Eagles was born on 13 August 1948 in Shepherd's Bush, London, England, where was educated at Burlington School, a girls' charity school founded in 1699, and at the University of Edinburgh and University College London, where she studied English, history and philosophy.
She had a variety of jobs in the commercial world, starting as a junior cashier at Woolworth's and working her way down to Pensions Officer at the BBC.
She wrote her first novel while at university and in 1972 won the Young Writers' Award with The Waiting Game. The birth of the MORLAND DYNASTY series enabled Cynthia Harrod-Eagles to become a full-time writer in 1979. The series was originally intended to comprise twelve volumes, but it has proved so popular that it has now been extended to thirty-four.
In 1993 she won the Romantic Novelists' Association Romantic Novel of the Year Award with Emily, the third volume of her Kirov Saga, a trilogy set in nineteenth century Russia.
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
March 11, 2015
This novel has all the grand sweep and drama that makes the Morland Family Saga rewarding reading. It starts off in May 1919 as Britain is coming off its prolonged euphoria from having triumphed over Germany the previous November. Jessie is at Morland Place with her young son, eagerly awaiting the return of her beloved husband "Bertie" from occupation duty in Germany, where he holds a command. The Morland Family, like many other families in Britain, is beginning to come fully to terms with the impact the war has had on them and the country at large. Times are tough. The promises the government made to returning veterans to provide them with a good home and steady employment largely ring hollow. Strikes and shortages become the norm.
For anyone who has read the preceding novels in the Morland Family Saga, several of the main characters from them return to center stage. Teddy Morland, the head of Morland Place who has always put a high premium on the importance of family, tries to resume at first a prewar way of life. But he comes to realize that he must adjust to the times. His daughter Polly, still grieving over a German POW with whom she had unexpectedly fallen in love while he was on temporary work detail on a farm near Morland Place, tries to get on with her life. (The POW was later repatriated to Germany, where, Polly learned, he had died under somewhat mysterious circumstances.) She is restless, energetic as ever, impatient as she approaches 21 to live life to the full. This is characteristic of many of the well-to-do of British society who had been scarred by the war. Many of them indulged in endless rounds of parties, drinking, carousing, and dancing. Anything to forget the horrors of the trenches.
Emma Weston, a distant relation of the Morlands, who had served in France near the Front with the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY), returns home feeling adrift and unsure how to fit in among people who were not traumatized by the war as she was. So, she loses herself in parties and dancing and proves especially adept at the fox-trot and tango. Emma becomes a part of that generation in the 1920s who deliberately distanced themselves from prewar certitudes through having a good time amid the rhythms of jazz and ragtime.
Eventually, after extended service in Germany, Bertie returns home, where he and Jessie are at last free to assume a new life together as man and wife.
There is so much to "THE DANCING YEARS" that will delight and enchant any longtime fan of the Morlands. And for the new reader in search of a novel that will transport him/her into a world slowly inching forward from 1919 to 1925, he/she will be brought into close contact with the lives of a variety of fascinating people, rich and poor alike.
For anyone who has read the preceding novels in the Morland Family Saga, several of the main characters from them return to center stage. Teddy Morland, the head of Morland Place who has always put a high premium on the importance of family, tries to resume at first a prewar way of life. But he comes to realize that he must adjust to the times. His daughter Polly, still grieving over a German POW with whom she had unexpectedly fallen in love while he was on temporary work detail on a farm near Morland Place, tries to get on with her life. (The POW was later repatriated to Germany, where, Polly learned, he had died under somewhat mysterious circumstances.) She is restless, energetic as ever, impatient as she approaches 21 to live life to the full. This is characteristic of many of the well-to-do of British society who had been scarred by the war. Many of them indulged in endless rounds of parties, drinking, carousing, and dancing. Anything to forget the horrors of the trenches.
Emma Weston, a distant relation of the Morlands, who had served in France near the Front with the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY), returns home feeling adrift and unsure how to fit in among people who were not traumatized by the war as she was. So, she loses herself in parties and dancing and proves especially adept at the fox-trot and tango. Emma becomes a part of that generation in the 1920s who deliberately distanced themselves from prewar certitudes through having a good time amid the rhythms of jazz and ragtime.
Eventually, after extended service in Germany, Bertie returns home, where he and Jessie are at last free to assume a new life together as man and wife.
There is so much to "THE DANCING YEARS" that will delight and enchant any longtime fan of the Morlands. And for the new reader in search of a novel that will transport him/her into a world slowly inching forward from 1919 to 1925, he/she will be brought into close contact with the lives of a variety of fascinating people, rich and poor alike.
February 1, 2019
And then there were only 2...
Only 2 books left in The Moreland Dynasty Series!?!! I’m starting the next to last one tonight #34!
I have a feeling it will be more lows than highs considering it will be the time of the Great Depression
Only 2 books left in The Moreland Dynasty Series!?!! I’m starting the next to last one tonight #34!
I have a feeling it will be more lows than highs considering it will be the time of the Great Depression
February 21, 2012
Thirty three books into the series and the Morlands have just been through the War to End All Wars (soon to be followed by World War II). This is a saga, but one that is worth the time and effort (in my case, more effort was expended in obtaining the books than reading them! They are quite difficult to purchase in Australia). The Dancing Years covers a longer time period than the WWI books, covering from 1919 until 1925 (the war books covered one year each).
Returning to Morland Place is as much a welcome home for the reader as for the Morland family. We are reunited with favourite characters, such as Bertie and Jessie, Jack and Helen and of course Teddy. Polly, as she grows into a young lady, has a stronger storyline than previous books and Emma also plays a leading role. The book covers the years that I had always thought were happy – post-war, into the 1920s, glamour and fun with a more realistic note. It was an eye-opener to read about the state of the English economy and how so many soldiers were unemployed (Jack being one of them) and the unsettled feeling that remained. Of course, there is Emma’s set – the Bright Young Things who dance and dance, mainly to hide the lurking shadows of the war. Cynthia Harrod-Eagles is more daring in this novel, with some very unexpected twists unfolding. Characters will face tragedy (not for the first time), happiness (but suspicion from the point of view of others) and finally, happiness. I am really interested to see what happens in #34 with the Depression approaching.
The question that I should probably answer about this book is ‘can you read this as a stand-alone or must it be read as part of a series?’ I’ve thought quite deeply about this. I think it will make a lot more sense if it is read as part of the series (starting from the WWI books at least) but you could read it as a stand-alone. The characters are warm and engaging and in these internet days, you could more than likely Google any missing strands.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
Returning to Morland Place is as much a welcome home for the reader as for the Morland family. We are reunited with favourite characters, such as Bertie and Jessie, Jack and Helen and of course Teddy. Polly, as she grows into a young lady, has a stronger storyline than previous books and Emma also plays a leading role. The book covers the years that I had always thought were happy – post-war, into the 1920s, glamour and fun with a more realistic note. It was an eye-opener to read about the state of the English economy and how so many soldiers were unemployed (Jack being one of them) and the unsettled feeling that remained. Of course, there is Emma’s set – the Bright Young Things who dance and dance, mainly to hide the lurking shadows of the war. Cynthia Harrod-Eagles is more daring in this novel, with some very unexpected twists unfolding. Characters will face tragedy (not for the first time), happiness (but suspicion from the point of view of others) and finally, happiness. I am really interested to see what happens in #34 with the Depression approaching.
The question that I should probably answer about this book is ‘can you read this as a stand-alone or must it be read as part of a series?’ I’ve thought quite deeply about this. I think it will make a lot more sense if it is read as part of the series (starting from the WWI books at least) but you could read it as a stand-alone. The characters are warm and engaging and in these internet days, you could more than likely Google any missing strands.
http://samstillreading.wordpress.com
November 5, 2012
This family saga follows the fortunes of the Morland Family from The War of the Roses to this instalment which covers 1919-1925. If you like British history mixed with your historical, a smattering of romance and family drama all within one novel this fits the build nicely. Starting the year following the end of WW1, The Dancing Years is much in the vein of Downton Abbey as we see a slice of life from the perspective of the landed gentry and aristocracy trying to forget the horrors of the war to end all wars.
May 14, 2011
I love, love, love this series
May 27, 2024
Morland Dynasty #33, 1919 - 1925. This had me engrossed, and I am invested in many of these characters whom I have now met in a number of books. There is various progress with Jessie and Bertie, Violet and Holkam, and Emma and Polly, and Jack and Helen. Cast of thousands. There's a lot going on in the world in this period, including a revolution in Russia and Prohibition in America. Everyone is unsettled after the end of the war, and are just trying to have some fun to blot out the horrors.
Somewhere in all these books, there will be interesting trends of the time. In this we experience the problems of childbirth, questions about contraception, and continue to follow a trend of plastic surgery with Oliver. There's even a bit of the old "droite de seigneur" to be noticed.
Polly really surges as a powerful character, and persuades her father to let her go to America. There will be more on that later. All the characters are surrounded by Drama, with new marriages, deaths, and affairs to satisfy even the most jaded of soap opera palates.
This has been one of my favourites in the series so far. Rating 4.6.
Somewhere in all these books, there will be interesting trends of the time. In this we experience the problems of childbirth, questions about contraception, and continue to follow a trend of plastic surgery with Oliver. There's even a bit of the old "droite de seigneur" to be noticed.
Polly really surges as a powerful character, and persuades her father to let her go to America. There will be more on that later. All the characters are surrounded by Drama, with new marriages, deaths, and affairs to satisfy even the most jaded of soap opera palates.
This has been one of my favourites in the series so far. Rating 4.6.
August 16, 2018
This book has no literary value, it’s very simple in its plot and descriptions and meanings it wishes to convey.
But, the historical information it contains (and I have a feeling it’s accurate) is very interesting if you want to brush up on your general UK/Europe-history-knowledge.
What is more, after initially finding it dull, you get to fall for the characters and want to know what happens next. I was surprised to find out that this is one of 35 books the author has written stretching from medieval times to a bit after the First World War. I wouldn’t object to reading them all, it’ll be a lovely pastime!
But, the historical information it contains (and I have a feeling it’s accurate) is very interesting if you want to brush up on your general UK/Europe-history-knowledge.
What is more, after initially finding it dull, you get to fall for the characters and want to know what happens next. I was surprised to find out that this is one of 35 books the author has written stretching from medieval times to a bit after the First World War. I wouldn’t object to reading them all, it’ll be a lovely pastime!
September 19, 2020
I enjoy this historical fiction series about the Moreland family. The series has 35 books and is meant to teach English history through the fictional adventures of an English Family. So I started with book 25 which is late Victorian and this latest novel is post ww1 to early 20’s.
This novel does a good job of portraying the various kinds of wreckage left by the war. It was very moving. And I love the various family members I have met over 10 500 page books. I only have 2 books left in this timeline and then I will start with book one. I will be enjoying time with the Moreland family for at least 3 more years.
This novel does a good job of portraying the various kinds of wreckage left by the war. It was very moving. And I love the various family members I have met over 10 500 page books. I only have 2 books left in this timeline and then I will start with book one. I will be enjoying time with the Moreland family for at least 3 more years.
January 28, 2021
The war is over, but the world has changed. For many returning veterans, jobs are scarce; while the women who filled in during the war are losing their jobs. And many will never return home again, leaving others to pick up the pieces. For the Bright Young Things this is a time of parties and dancing — anything to keep thoughts at bay. The various members of the Morland family are all affected in different ways, and need to find their own ways of dealing with these changes. A fascinating look at the time between to two world wars. Recommended.
January 19, 2020
Oh Teddy. Also, what kind of name is Ottilia?????
August 6, 2013
This is volume 33 in the Morland Dynasty series. Obviously, with 33 volumes, this isn't a series for everyone. I started it many years ago when I first saw it in the Common Reader, the best book catalog in the world. Because I am interested in British history, this is a great series for me. In this volume, the Morland family is trying to pick up the pieces after WWI. Like everyone else, they suffered terrible losses, and the post-war world is very difficult. As always, the historical details are amazing. One of the characters comes to New York, so there is some discussion of what's happening in America at that time. This was another excellent novel from Cynthia Harrod-Eagles.
July 17, 2014
Book number 33, not my favorite. I found it very plodding in more than one of the many interwoven plots. I have read this series in order and in a comparatively short period of time. After all the excitement of World War I this was just so depressing. When a book is found more depressing than World War I, that is a summary of my review in itself. Have ordered number 34, it will be eagerly read, knowing my future contains withdrawal.
September 27, 2012
I continue to enjoy the way that the characters interact with real history in this series. After the war volumes, this one is lighter- hearted, but of course the underlying grief is still very apparent in the story line. And of course we all know that the next generation of young people are going to be hit by the next war.
November 21, 2012
Another Morland book read I feel so connected to this book and series. I read and re read each book in the series. I also come out with interesting historical information learnt through these books at odd times my family and friends think that's pretty funny.
November 20, 2011
I think this was one of the best in this series for a long time. Really good read. I think I say this because a) it's about my favourite decade, the 1920s between the Wars & b) stuff finally happens. CHE takes a few more risks with her characters. About time.
November 17, 2022
Love this series. Re-reading this book after lending it out. The war is over for the Morlands, but the scars remain. The 1920s is an interesting period and I am very much enjoying the journey of the family over 5 centuries!
July 25, 2025
AWESOME SERIES READ it!!!! Imagine if you could watch the family story of those in Downtown Abbey from like the 15th cent thru WWII. THAT is what this is like! LOOVED it and plan now to reread the whole series!
October 26, 2011
One of her best yet in this series. Love the time period (beginning of the 1920's). 5 stars!
August 3, 2011
Really enjoyed this after the last few which have all been over involved in the first world war.
September 27, 2011
Poor Emma reminds me slightly of Vera Britain!!
February 14, 2014
I wonder if this one was a little rushed. It was kind of all over the place. The end rambled and the plots for Emma and Teddy were a little far fetched. Not her best work.
April 19, 2012
Doesn't really move the story along much, except for Oliver - just setting up the problems ahead.
February 24, 2013
Now we're through WW1 and on to so many of the societal changes of the 20s. This one seemed like an "in between" book -- I expect the next one will bring more excitement.
May 25, 2018
I have read all 33 of this series over a 15 year period, often having to wait for the next book to be completed. Obviously it is a family dynasty tale, but it is a relaxing “holiday” type story and very historical into the bargain. Good for the soul.
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews