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Cashelmara
Three generations of drama, passion and turmoil...
A glorious, full-blooded novel brimming with memorable characters which centres on Cashelmara, the coldly beautiful Georgian house in Galway, ancestral home of Edward de Salis.
Charged with emotion, the fast-moving plot follows the turbulent fortunes of an aristocratic Victorian family through half a century of furious encounters, ill-advised liaisons and bitter-sweet interludes of love.
A glorious, full-blooded novel brimming with memorable characters which centres on Cashelmara, the coldly beautiful Georgian house in Galway, ancestral home of Edward de Salis.
Charged with emotion, the fast-moving plot follows the turbulent fortunes of an aristocratic Victorian family through half a century of furious encounters, ill-advised liaisons and bitter-sweet interludes of love.
702 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
1637 people are currently reading
6730 people want to read
About the author
Susan Howatch
94 books559 followersSusan Howatch (b. 1940) is a British novelist who has penned bestselling mysteries, family sagas, and other novels. Howatch was born in Surrey, England. She began writing as a teen and published her first book when she moved to the United States in 1964. Howatch found global success first with her five sagas and then with her novels about the Church of England in the twentieth century. She has now returned to live in Surrey.
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May 29, 2020
Cashelmara by Susan Howatch is a 2012 Open Road Media publication. (Originally published in 1974)
What an epic family saga!
This is a ‘doorstop’ tome written way back in 1974, but is now been formatted into digital form by Open Road Media. Susan Howatch, at one time, was the queen of the family saga. I didn’t get around to reading her books until decades after they were published, but I loved this style of family drama, which covers several generations of related characters, and is packed with life’s trials, triumphs and tragedies, and often includes scandals, mysteries, murders, and a touch of Gothic melodrama.
Well before the current love affair with various first person POV’s, this novel allows each of the key characters a chance to tell the reader a part of the story. I am not always a fan of this format, but it works beautifully here.
The story begins with Edward de Salis, a widower, with a young son still living at home, one he has trouble understanding and keeping in line. When Edward travels to America, he meets his wife’s cousin Marguerite- a young girl still in her teens. She’s plain compared to her sister, but Edward is immediately smitten with her, and he quickly proposes marriage.
Once they are finally married, Edward brings his new bride home to Ireland, to his grand estate-Cashelmara.
From there the story follows three generations as they face hardships, difficult marriages, and relationships, while struggling with secrets, forbidden passions, and jealousies, which will eventually set in motion a tragic and shocking chain of events.
The book is allegedly based on Edward 1, 2, and 3 of England, but is set in 19th century Ireland. While it might appear as though there is not much happening, but there is a lot going on- if that makes any sense.
It’s an incredibly absorbing story, and for its time, it was pretty spicy. It wasn’t all that sexually explicit, but it dealt with subject matter that had yet to make it into mainstream literature. It also included adulterous behavior and co- habitation between unmarried partners… who were both married to other people. That would have been quite the scandal in the 19th century- and in most areas it still was in 1974.
The mystery doesn’t develop until later in the saga, but when it does become obvious something is amiss, the suspense leads the way to a stunning conclusion.
It goes without saying that I loved this book. I have a weakness for family dramas, and I’ve often lamented the demise of the big, thick generations sagas. I think it’s good to lose oneself in a good, expansive tome from to time.
The only downside is that once I’ve immersed myself within the shelter of a long, dialogue friendly, dramatic, nuanced and atmospheric historical novel, it is sometimes jarring to return to the brash, loud and fast-paced contemporary world of today.
4 stars
What an epic family saga!
This is a ‘doorstop’ tome written way back in 1974, but is now been formatted into digital form by Open Road Media. Susan Howatch, at one time, was the queen of the family saga. I didn’t get around to reading her books until decades after they were published, but I loved this style of family drama, which covers several generations of related characters, and is packed with life’s trials, triumphs and tragedies, and often includes scandals, mysteries, murders, and a touch of Gothic melodrama.
Well before the current love affair with various first person POV’s, this novel allows each of the key characters a chance to tell the reader a part of the story. I am not always a fan of this format, but it works beautifully here.
The story begins with Edward de Salis, a widower, with a young son still living at home, one he has trouble understanding and keeping in line. When Edward travels to America, he meets his wife’s cousin Marguerite- a young girl still in her teens. She’s plain compared to her sister, but Edward is immediately smitten with her, and he quickly proposes marriage.
Once they are finally married, Edward brings his new bride home to Ireland, to his grand estate-Cashelmara.
From there the story follows three generations as they face hardships, difficult marriages, and relationships, while struggling with secrets, forbidden passions, and jealousies, which will eventually set in motion a tragic and shocking chain of events.
The book is allegedly based on Edward 1, 2, and 3 of England, but is set in 19th century Ireland. While it might appear as though there is not much happening, but there is a lot going on- if that makes any sense.
It’s an incredibly absorbing story, and for its time, it was pretty spicy. It wasn’t all that sexually explicit, but it dealt with subject matter that had yet to make it into mainstream literature. It also included adulterous behavior and co- habitation between unmarried partners… who were both married to other people. That would have been quite the scandal in the 19th century- and in most areas it still was in 1974.
The mystery doesn’t develop until later in the saga, but when it does become obvious something is amiss, the suspense leads the way to a stunning conclusion.
It goes without saying that I loved this book. I have a weakness for family dramas, and I’ve often lamented the demise of the big, thick generations sagas. I think it’s good to lose oneself in a good, expansive tome from to time.
The only downside is that once I’ve immersed myself within the shelter of a long, dialogue friendly, dramatic, nuanced and atmospheric historical novel, it is sometimes jarring to return to the brash, loud and fast-paced contemporary world of today.
4 stars
March 29, 2018
Cashelmara is Susan Howatch’s retelling of the lives of Edward I, Edward II, and Edward III of England. She sets her tale primarily at Cashelmara, an estate in Ireland, beginning in 1859, with Edward’s second marriage to his first wife’s cousin, Marguerite. The characters are wonderfully real and complicated, grabbing your attention and holding it to the end, and the story progresses so smoothly that it is like watching a movie.
Howatch uses a device that has become common, but isn’t always my favorite, a passing of the story from one point of view to another. She does it magnificently. We begin with Edward’s view, pass to Marguerite’s (Margaret), then to Patrick (Edward II) the son of Edward from his first marriage. Patrick marries Marguerite’s niece, Sarah (Isabella), and the next voice is hers. I was swept entirely into her story and found the events there fascinating. The fifth voice belongs to Maxwell Drummond (Roger Mortimer), and I wondered why this historical figure has been exploited so little because he is never clearly hero or villain but a blend of the two. No need for invention with such a character springing right off the pages of history. And, the last voice belongs to Ned (Edward III), son of Patrick and Sarah, who is left with the chaos created by his father’s debauchery and his mother’s defection and has to decide how to bring some dignity and morality back to life at Cashelmara.
I am always delighted with a good historical novel. Good ones, well-researched and accurate are difficult to produce and a joy to read. Susan Howatch goes one step further in resettling her characters in another time and place, and yet still being true to what history tells us about them and their relationships to one another. I know of no other writer who does this as well as she does. She always makes me want to know more about the real people behind her fictional ones and I find myself reading histories and researching online for tidbits of information. It is nice when a writer can awaken that kind of curiosity.
There is one more book by Howatch about the Plantagenets that I will try to get to before the end of the year. Hope it is as well-crafted and as much fun as this one was.
Howatch uses a device that has become common, but isn’t always my favorite, a passing of the story from one point of view to another. She does it magnificently. We begin with Edward’s view, pass to Marguerite’s (Margaret), then to Patrick (Edward II) the son of Edward from his first marriage. Patrick marries Marguerite’s niece, Sarah (Isabella), and the next voice is hers. I was swept entirely into her story and found the events there fascinating. The fifth voice belongs to Maxwell Drummond (Roger Mortimer), and I wondered why this historical figure has been exploited so little because he is never clearly hero or villain but a blend of the two. No need for invention with such a character springing right off the pages of history. And, the last voice belongs to Ned (Edward III), son of Patrick and Sarah, who is left with the chaos created by his father’s debauchery and his mother’s defection and has to decide how to bring some dignity and morality back to life at Cashelmara.
I am always delighted with a good historical novel. Good ones, well-researched and accurate are difficult to produce and a joy to read. Susan Howatch goes one step further in resettling her characters in another time and place, and yet still being true to what history tells us about them and their relationships to one another. I know of no other writer who does this as well as she does. She always makes me want to know more about the real people behind her fictional ones and I find myself reading histories and researching online for tidbits of information. It is nice when a writer can awaken that kind of curiosity.
There is one more book by Howatch about the Plantagenets that I will try to get to before the end of the year. Hope it is as well-crafted and as much fun as this one was.
August 10, 2016
"The match flared in the darkness, his eyes watched me above the single steady flame.."
I cannot recall the last time a scene from a book has so thoroughly chilled me to the bone (and there were plenty more besides), but you'll have to read it for yourself to see what I'm talking about - I'm not telling! Set in Ireland in the latter part of the 19C, Howatch recounts three generations of the wealthy English de Salis family in six separate "books", each of those being in the first person POV of different characters.
Older Edward de Salis visits his distant cousins the Marriotts in New York and brings a much younger Marguerite home as his bride. Despite the great difference in their ages, the two are well matched and soon have children of their own to add to Edward's brood from his first marriage. When Edward's eldest son Patrick inherits the de Salis lands and fortune, he marries Marguerite's niece Sarah and upon their return from New York they live in London until their lavish lifestyle and Patrick's gambling brings it to a screeching halt. Forced to economize, Sarah and Patrick start life fresh at Cashelmara but Edward comes under the influence of childhood friend Derry Stranahan. Derry's unnatural hold over Patrick continues to grow and leads to clashes in his marriage and with his Irish tenants until Derry's fate is sealed during an Irish riot. Eventually Sarah finds her hopes to repair the marriage and run a profitable estate are hindered once again by Patrick's too close relationship with another man - Hugh McGowan. Sarah soon finds herself an unwilling member of a triangle that for the sake of her children she endures until......well you know I don't tell all.
Howatch takes the reader on quite ride in this one as Sarah's desperate situation forces her to make an unwise alliance of her own until she can return - although that return sets in place another set of circumstances leading to a death by natural causes - or is there something more going on here? If this is sounding a bit like you've heard this story before, you're probably right. Howatch based her characters on the lives of England's first three Edwards and that's really half the fun of reading this novel. Can you spot Piers Gaveston? Hugh Despenser? Isabella and her lover Mortimer?
All in all a near perfect read, the scenes between Patrick, Sarah and Hugh were downright bone chilling, let alone the effects of the famine on the Irish tenants. Darn near unputdownable, although the last hundred or so pages did slow down just a tad, and the ending it self just a bit too abrupt - although at 700 pages enough was probably enough. 4.5/5 stars and the story of the third "Edward" continues in Wheel of Fortune - but with entirely different characters.
I cannot recall the last time a scene from a book has so thoroughly chilled me to the bone (and there were plenty more besides), but you'll have to read it for yourself to see what I'm talking about - I'm not telling! Set in Ireland in the latter part of the 19C, Howatch recounts three generations of the wealthy English de Salis family in six separate "books", each of those being in the first person POV of different characters.
Older Edward de Salis visits his distant cousins the Marriotts in New York and brings a much younger Marguerite home as his bride. Despite the great difference in their ages, the two are well matched and soon have children of their own to add to Edward's brood from his first marriage. When Edward's eldest son Patrick inherits the de Salis lands and fortune, he marries Marguerite's niece Sarah and upon their return from New York they live in London until their lavish lifestyle and Patrick's gambling brings it to a screeching halt. Forced to economize, Sarah and Patrick start life fresh at Cashelmara but Edward comes under the influence of childhood friend Derry Stranahan. Derry's unnatural hold over Patrick continues to grow and leads to clashes in his marriage and with his Irish tenants until Derry's fate is sealed during an Irish riot. Eventually Sarah finds her hopes to repair the marriage and run a profitable estate are hindered once again by Patrick's too close relationship with another man - Hugh McGowan. Sarah soon finds herself an unwilling member of a triangle that for the sake of her children she endures until......well you know I don't tell all.
Howatch takes the reader on quite ride in this one as Sarah's desperate situation forces her to make an unwise alliance of her own until she can return - although that return sets in place another set of circumstances leading to a death by natural causes - or is there something more going on here? If this is sounding a bit like you've heard this story before, you're probably right. Howatch based her characters on the lives of England's first three Edwards and that's really half the fun of reading this novel. Can you spot Piers Gaveston? Hugh Despenser? Isabella and her lover Mortimer?
All in all a near perfect read, the scenes between Patrick, Sarah and Hugh were downright bone chilling, let alone the effects of the famine on the Irish tenants. Darn near unputdownable, although the last hundred or so pages did slow down just a tad, and the ending it self just a bit too abrupt - although at 700 pages enough was probably enough. 4.5/5 stars and the story of the third "Edward" continues in Wheel of Fortune - but with entirely different characters.
March 7, 2023
An epic family drama set in the mid-through late 19th century in Ireland.
Edward, a “proper English Lord”, marries young Marguerite after his first wife dies- much to the chagrin of his oldest daughters.
His son from his first marriage, Patrick, is his heir.
Patrick marries Marguerite’s young cousin, Sarah but he doesn’t really like women (which is considered illegal back in that time so he hid his feelings).
After Sarah figures out his secret he isn’t about to live without love and he gets involved with a bully who is terribly abusive and threatening to Sarah to keep her “in line” and keep up appearances.
She ends up with a savior, but maybe not so much- at least that’s how her oldest son, Ned, sees things…
This novel is written with different narrators as time goes on, Edward, Marguerite, Sarah, and all of them will take turns telling you the story of this crazy, self absorbed family.
Written in 1974 but holds up well today as a solid historic fiction family drama.
Edward, a “proper English Lord”, marries young Marguerite after his first wife dies- much to the chagrin of his oldest daughters.
His son from his first marriage, Patrick, is his heir.
Patrick marries Marguerite’s young cousin, Sarah but he doesn’t really like women (which is considered illegal back in that time so he hid his feelings).
After Sarah figures out his secret he isn’t about to live without love and he gets involved with a bully who is terribly abusive and threatening to Sarah to keep her “in line” and keep up appearances.
She ends up with a savior, but maybe not so much- at least that’s how her oldest son, Ned, sees things…
This novel is written with different narrators as time goes on, Edward, Marguerite, Sarah, and all of them will take turns telling you the story of this crazy, self absorbed family.
Written in 1974 but holds up well today as a solid historic fiction family drama.
January 10, 2015
I’ve always been a fan of big fat sagas, and Cashelmara did not disappoint. Set in Ireland in the 19th century, we follow three generations of the wealthy de Salis family. As with all sagas, secrets and scandals abound, but the twist here is that the fictional de Salises are based on Edwards I, II and III of England.
If you know the three Edwards, you’ll be looking out for the characters that take on the roles of Piers Gaveston, Hugh Despenser, Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer; knowing how the story will pan out does not detract from the dark madness of it all. If the Edwards are new to you, just think affairs, betrayals, murders and revenge, and then sit back and enjoy!
I’m now looking forward to reading Penmarric, which is based on Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine and their Devils Brood, and The Wheel of Fortune which shadows Edward III and his usurping offspring, the origins of the Wars of the Roses.
If you know the three Edwards, you’ll be looking out for the characters that take on the roles of Piers Gaveston, Hugh Despenser, Queen Isabella and Roger Mortimer; knowing how the story will pan out does not detract from the dark madness of it all. If the Edwards are new to you, just think affairs, betrayals, murders and revenge, and then sit back and enjoy!
I’m now looking forward to reading Penmarric, which is based on Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine and their Devils Brood, and The Wheel of Fortune which shadows Edward III and his usurping offspring, the origins of the Wars of the Roses.
November 25, 2023
I first read Cashelmara when I was about eleven years old and have since probably read it at least once a year! It os one book that I will always keep on my shelf alongside Trade Winds (M.M. Kaye) and Pillars of the Earth (Ken Follett).
Cashelmara traces the loves, lies and intrigues of a late 19th aristocratic family based both in England and Ireland. It is split into 6 different parts, each narrated by a different character. As other reviewers have mentioned, the story is loosely - but brilliantly - based on the lives of the Three Edwards, and the 'modern' portrayal of these medieval characters is brilliantly done. This book has some incredible scenes, Sarah's confrontation with Hugh MacGowan, Ned's realisation of his father's struggles and the scenes of the Irish poverty during the famine to name but a few. A must read for anyone interested in historical fiction - or drama - or romance - or murder! There's truly something for everyone here! Ten gold stars!
Cashelmara traces the loves, lies and intrigues of a late 19th aristocratic family based both in England and Ireland. It is split into 6 different parts, each narrated by a different character. As other reviewers have mentioned, the story is loosely - but brilliantly - based on the lives of the Three Edwards, and the 'modern' portrayal of these medieval characters is brilliantly done. This book has some incredible scenes, Sarah's confrontation with Hugh MacGowan, Ned's realisation of his father's struggles and the scenes of the Irish poverty during the famine to name but a few. A must read for anyone interested in historical fiction - or drama - or romance - or murder! There's truly something for everyone here! Ten gold stars!
September 8, 2015
I fell in love with Susan Howatch’s big historical novels, that took real history and reset it so very cleverly in different ages, when I was still at school. When I re-read 'Penmarric', some months ago, I fell in love all over again, and so I took the same next step as I did all those years ago.
I picked up ‘Cashelmara’.
The story is set in the middle of the 19th century, and it follows the turbulent lives of three generations of an English family, and the fortunes of Cashelmara, the family’s Irish estate.
Edward de Salis was a widower with grown-up children when he visited cousins in New York, and brought the much younger Marguerite home as his bride. The couple proved to be well matched; but Edward’s daughters were less than happy that their mother’s place had been taken by a step-mother only a little older than them. It was only when Patrick, Ned’s only son and heir, comes home from boarding school that Marguerite gained an ally who is sympathetic to her situation and happy for her to have a place in his life.
She didn’t quite see why Edward was so disappointed in his only son. She understood that he was less driven than his father, that he had other interests; that he was torn between wanting to please his father and following his own desires.
When Edward died and Patrick inherited the de Salis lands and fortune, he delighted Marguerite’s by marrying her niece, Sarah. This couple was not well-matched, and when they returned from New York to live in London their lavish lifestyle and Patrick’s gambling nearly destroyed them. Forced to economize, Sarah and Patrick were forced to Cashelmara. Sarah hated it, and she hated that her husband was far ore involved with his childhood friend Derry Stranahan that he was with their life together or the proper management of their estate.
When Derry is killed, Sarah sets about repairing marriage and turning the estate around profitable estate, to secure the future for herself and her son. But her hopes are shattered when her husband falls under the sway of another man – Hugh McGowan – who will put her in an invidious position. She struggles to escape, and for the sake of her son, Ned, she make an unwise alliance of her own.
The consequences are shattering, and when Ned comes of age, he learns that he must chose his own alliances ad plan his moves very carefully to gain his inheritance and his independence.
Those are the bones of the story, and they are filled out with a wealth of detail; of character, of plot, and of history.
The story that is being retold is that the latter years of Edward I; the reign of Edward II, who was usurped by his wife, Queen Isabella, and he lover, Roger Mortimer; and finally the early years of Edward III, as he emerged from their shadow. The way that Susan Howatch has taken that story and reset it in another time and place, using different historical events to drive the same story forward, is nothing short of brilliant!
But it doesn’t matter if you don’t know the history, because this story stands up on its own merits. The psychology is right; and this book is a psychological thriller as well as a historical saga.
The characters were wonderful; real, complex, three-dimensional human beings. They had strengths and weaknesses. I understood their motivations, why they spoke and acted as they did, and I appreciated that life and experience changed them over the years. I was drawn into their lives and I was compelled to watch. That the story was told in six volumes, each told by a different character, gave the book strength and depth. It was fascinating seeing different perspectives of characters and events, and coming to understand how each one of them saw the world.
It had to be said that the story is dark – and at times it is downright chilling – but that is the nature of the history. Fidelity to that history meant that there were times when the story didn’t progress as quickly as I would have liked, and I did feel that the end of the book tailed off a little.
I was a little less caught up with this book than I was with ‘Penmarric’; maybe because the setting was less familiar and the history that the story was founded upon was less appealing.
But still I loved it.
I picked up ‘Cashelmara’.
The story is set in the middle of the 19th century, and it follows the turbulent lives of three generations of an English family, and the fortunes of Cashelmara, the family’s Irish estate.
Edward de Salis was a widower with grown-up children when he visited cousins in New York, and brought the much younger Marguerite home as his bride. The couple proved to be well matched; but Edward’s daughters were less than happy that their mother’s place had been taken by a step-mother only a little older than them. It was only when Patrick, Ned’s only son and heir, comes home from boarding school that Marguerite gained an ally who is sympathetic to her situation and happy for her to have a place in his life.
She didn’t quite see why Edward was so disappointed in his only son. She understood that he was less driven than his father, that he had other interests; that he was torn between wanting to please his father and following his own desires.
When Edward died and Patrick inherited the de Salis lands and fortune, he delighted Marguerite’s by marrying her niece, Sarah. This couple was not well-matched, and when they returned from New York to live in London their lavish lifestyle and Patrick’s gambling nearly destroyed them. Forced to economize, Sarah and Patrick were forced to Cashelmara. Sarah hated it, and she hated that her husband was far ore involved with his childhood friend Derry Stranahan that he was with their life together or the proper management of their estate.
When Derry is killed, Sarah sets about repairing marriage and turning the estate around profitable estate, to secure the future for herself and her son. But her hopes are shattered when her husband falls under the sway of another man – Hugh McGowan – who will put her in an invidious position. She struggles to escape, and for the sake of her son, Ned, she make an unwise alliance of her own.
The consequences are shattering, and when Ned comes of age, he learns that he must chose his own alliances ad plan his moves very carefully to gain his inheritance and his independence.
Those are the bones of the story, and they are filled out with a wealth of detail; of character, of plot, and of history.
The story that is being retold is that the latter years of Edward I; the reign of Edward II, who was usurped by his wife, Queen Isabella, and he lover, Roger Mortimer; and finally the early years of Edward III, as he emerged from their shadow. The way that Susan Howatch has taken that story and reset it in another time and place, using different historical events to drive the same story forward, is nothing short of brilliant!
But it doesn’t matter if you don’t know the history, because this story stands up on its own merits. The psychology is right; and this book is a psychological thriller as well as a historical saga.
The characters were wonderful; real, complex, three-dimensional human beings. They had strengths and weaknesses. I understood their motivations, why they spoke and acted as they did, and I appreciated that life and experience changed them over the years. I was drawn into their lives and I was compelled to watch. That the story was told in six volumes, each told by a different character, gave the book strength and depth. It was fascinating seeing different perspectives of characters and events, and coming to understand how each one of them saw the world.
It had to be said that the story is dark – and at times it is downright chilling – but that is the nature of the history. Fidelity to that history meant that there were times when the story didn’t progress as quickly as I would have liked, and I did feel that the end of the book tailed off a little.
I was a little less caught up with this book than I was with ‘Penmarric’; maybe because the setting was less familiar and the history that the story was founded upon was less appealing.
But still I loved it.
November 11, 2018
DNF, somewhere around pg 150.
Unpopular opinion alert!
Clearly I'm in the minority, because negative reviews for this author are like unicorns. But sweet mother of pearl, every time I picked this up I hated it more, because WHO THE HELL CARES?? I can deal with unpleasant people, & even unpleasant people who narrate -- but unpleasant people who babble for pages upon pages about their life & times whilst doing absolutely nothing of interest is where I draw the line. Perhaps the author should have bothered to include more on-page plot incident instead of relating everything second-hand & teasing the reader with periodic mantras like "Had I but known, I might have done things differently..." Because I really don't GAF about guessing which character is a thinly-veiled recreation of which historical personage when the character voices are boring as batshit & all I can think is "helloooo, you're a pompous, entitled blowhard -- GTFO." And if I had to read one more time about what a masculine fail Patrick was or how Edward resented his advanced age, I might've put an axe through this brick.
It's a shame, really, because the prose is nice. But a good grasp of English isn't enough for yours truly. Sorry.
Standard 2-star DNF.
Unpopular opinion alert!
Clearly I'm in the minority, because negative reviews for this author are like unicorns. But sweet mother of pearl, every time I picked this up I hated it more, because WHO THE HELL CARES?? I can deal with unpleasant people, & even unpleasant people who narrate -- but unpleasant people who babble for pages upon pages about their life & times whilst doing absolutely nothing of interest is where I draw the line. Perhaps the author should have bothered to include more on-page plot incident instead of relating everything second-hand & teasing the reader with periodic mantras like "Had I but known, I might have done things differently..." Because I really don't GAF about guessing which character is a thinly-veiled recreation of which historical personage when the character voices are boring as batshit & all I can think is "helloooo, you're a pompous, entitled blowhard -- GTFO." And if I had to read one more time about what a masculine fail Patrick was or how Edward resented his advanced age, I might've put an axe through this brick.
It's a shame, really, because the prose is nice. But a good grasp of English isn't enough for yours truly. Sorry.
Standard 2-star DNF.
June 20, 2023
This is not a review. It’s a simple question to everyone who’s read Cashelmara:
Although most of the characters are pretty complex, horrible humans, Maxwell Drummond is universally accepted as the villain of the piece.
WHY?
Here’s a list of things Drummond did:
1. Killed a couple of horrible men, one of them a rapist
2. Committed adultery
3. Took over a kid’s estate as manager
Here’s a list of things Drummond did not do:
1. Gambled away his family’s property and future
2. Commited adultery
3. Raped his wife in a menage a trois in which his gay lover was beating and sodomizing him.
4. Let his lover sodomize his wife and blamed her for it.
5. Let his lover harass, terrorize and threaten his wife with bodily harm and death for five years.
Drummond was the least offensive dude in this book!
Although most of the characters are pretty complex, horrible humans, Maxwell Drummond is universally accepted as the villain of the piece.
WHY?
Here’s a list of things Drummond did:
1. Killed a couple of horrible men, one of them a rapist
2. Committed adultery
3. Took over a kid’s estate as manager
Here’s a list of things Drummond did not do:
1. Gambled away his family’s property and future
2. Commited adultery
3. Raped his wife in a menage a trois in which his gay lover was beating and sodomizing him.
4. Let his lover sodomize his wife and blamed her for it.
5. Let his lover harass, terrorize and threaten his wife with bodily harm and death for five years.
Drummond was the least offensive dude in this book!
November 4, 2022
I felt much better now that I could see the situation so clearly in black and white
I wish... Or not... The truth and the most exquisite aspect of the book was that you can't decide what to think about characters and their decisions. It was disturbing because who doesn't prefer stability. The idea of a few narrators is intriguing. It can allow seeing a bigger perspective, knowing more facts. But, it can also do what Susan Howatch did - she showed me, that even after finishing the novel I am still not certain what happened and who was right/good. It was priceless. I don't remember any other book that did it.
Everyone was interchangeable. Black and white no longer existed
Another thing that needs mentioning, is the historical background (e.g. the lot of Ireland) and all those details that were said as a side note, like when you write a letter to someone and say that you met someone or that the weather was bad. In historical fiction, such details are especially precious.
Now that chignons were no longer worn low on the neck it was harder to dress one’s hair even if one had been accustomed to doing so
Prostitutes aren’t allowed to solicit on Broadway but walk along very fast with their eyes on the ground—a most curious sight. They’re called ‘Street Walkers,’ and if they can get a customer they beckon him into a side street where the police don’t interfere
During the great hunger of the Forties all the wildlife had been killed for food, and although the animals were said to have returned they kept themselves well hidden
And, of course, there was a deep understanding of human nature (or perhaps an example that we aren't able to understand each other).
the most important thing of all was that I should be myself. “If you try to be someone other than yourself you’ll never be happy,” he had said. “You’ve got to be honest with yourself so that you can be honest with other people.”
The only side I had to take was my own
The story was immersed in the river that we all are in (who lived, who live and who will live). [The river through time that E.H. Gombrich talked about.]
It was the past, the uncomplicated past seen far away at the end of the golden corridor of nostalgia
It was the beauty of a thousand yesterdays and perhaps of a thousand tomorrows
Must-read for every fan of the genre. Splendid, remarkable, memorable.
“You did what you felt to be best,(...). You couldn’t have done more.
“It’s not enough to do one’s best. One should do what one knows to be right"
March 26, 2016
Read last year: am reviewing to make the historical connections.
The story is a retelling of the latter end of Edward I's reign through to the beginning of Edward III. However it is told via a more modern scenario centred around an Irish estate called Cashelmara.
Edward de Salis (Edward I) also has estates in England and is very wealthy. On a visit to the US he meets a much younger cousin, Marguerite Marriott (Margaret of France, 40 years junior), and marries her, with a resulting tricky marriage and 2 sons, Thomas and David (Thomas, Earl of Norfolk and Edmund, Earl of Kent)
Edward has children from his first marriage who are of an age or older than his wife, causing family problems. Madelaine (Mary of Woodstock) is a nun, Katharine (Joan of Acre) is desperate for her father's approval and has married his contemporary to please him. Nell (Eleanor, Countess of Bar), his favourite child, has already died, which leaves him lonely and partly leads to his remarriage. Finally, Patrick (Edward II) is his only surviving son (Edward and his wife were as unfortunate in child mortality as Edward I and Eleanor of Castile were in fact). Patrick is a great disappointment to Edward as he has artisanal instincts rather than those of a gentleman. Patrick is made well aware of his deficiencies and rebels by running away. He has a boon companion from among the Irish peasantry, Roderick (Derry) Stranahan (Piers Gaveston), a boy that Edward had decided showed promise and was educating as an experiment, intending that he should study law. Derry and Patrick are inseparable.
Edward dies and Patrick inherits. Despite an uneasy feeling Marguerite encourages him to marry her niece, Sarah Marriott (Isablla of France, known as the She-Wolf). Patrick is hopelessly poor at managing his estates and Sarah is as spendthrift as he is and also jealous of Derry Stranahan. The money is lost at cards and in spending and they are forced to retire to Cashelmara to live quietly. Derry interferes in the running of the estate to the ire of Old McGowan (Hugh le Despenser the Elder) and causes problems with the local peasants, with unfortunate results. Meanwhile Sarah meets Maxwell Drummond (Roger Mortimer), a local peasant and becomes fixated on him.
Events remove Derry from the picture and Ian McGowan (Hugh le Despenser) enters stage left. Patrick is enchanted and hands over complete control of everything to him. Including Sarah. Hugh marries Edith (Eleanor de Clare), a plump and rather unpleasant relative of Patrick's and they form an axis of evil, controlling Patrick (who is delighted) and Sarah (who is very much not). During this time Patrick and Sarah have managed to reproduce, against both their inclinations, 4 children: Ned, John, Eleanor and Jane (Edward III, John of Eltham, Eleanor, Countess of Guelders and Joan, Queen of Scots).
Events propel Sarah and Maxwell Drummond together and the battle for control begins......
This is brilliantly written as a Gothic mystery and I have endeavored to keep spoilers at bay. The POV changes from Edward to Marguerite, to Patrick, to Sarah, to Maxwell Drummond and finally to Ned. There are moments of icy cold suspense as the story builds. It's always a bit jarring when a book moves from one POV to another but it takes almost no time to readjust into the new consciousness we are hearing from.
All in all, an excellent book which can be read as a straight Gothic mystery - but it is so much more when you are following the back story along as you read!
The story is a retelling of the latter end of Edward I's reign through to the beginning of Edward III. However it is told via a more modern scenario centred around an Irish estate called Cashelmara.
Edward de Salis (Edward I) also has estates in England and is very wealthy. On a visit to the US he meets a much younger cousin, Marguerite Marriott (Margaret of France, 40 years junior), and marries her, with a resulting tricky marriage and 2 sons, Thomas and David (Thomas, Earl of Norfolk and Edmund, Earl of Kent)
Edward has children from his first marriage who are of an age or older than his wife, causing family problems. Madelaine (Mary of Woodstock) is a nun, Katharine (Joan of Acre) is desperate for her father's approval and has married his contemporary to please him. Nell (Eleanor, Countess of Bar), his favourite child, has already died, which leaves him lonely and partly leads to his remarriage. Finally, Patrick (Edward II) is his only surviving son (Edward and his wife were as unfortunate in child mortality as Edward I and Eleanor of Castile were in fact). Patrick is a great disappointment to Edward as he has artisanal instincts rather than those of a gentleman. Patrick is made well aware of his deficiencies and rebels by running away. He has a boon companion from among the Irish peasantry, Roderick (Derry) Stranahan (Piers Gaveston), a boy that Edward had decided showed promise and was educating as an experiment, intending that he should study law. Derry and Patrick are inseparable.
Edward dies and Patrick inherits. Despite an uneasy feeling Marguerite encourages him to marry her niece, Sarah Marriott (Isablla of France, known as the She-Wolf). Patrick is hopelessly poor at managing his estates and Sarah is as spendthrift as he is and also jealous of Derry Stranahan. The money is lost at cards and in spending and they are forced to retire to Cashelmara to live quietly. Derry interferes in the running of the estate to the ire of Old McGowan (Hugh le Despenser the Elder) and causes problems with the local peasants, with unfortunate results. Meanwhile Sarah meets Maxwell Drummond (Roger Mortimer), a local peasant and becomes fixated on him.
Events remove Derry from the picture and Ian McGowan (Hugh le Despenser) enters stage left. Patrick is enchanted and hands over complete control of everything to him. Including Sarah. Hugh marries Edith (Eleanor de Clare), a plump and rather unpleasant relative of Patrick's and they form an axis of evil, controlling Patrick (who is delighted) and Sarah (who is very much not). During this time Patrick and Sarah have managed to reproduce, against both their inclinations, 4 children: Ned, John, Eleanor and Jane (Edward III, John of Eltham, Eleanor, Countess of Guelders and Joan, Queen of Scots).
Events propel Sarah and Maxwell Drummond together and the battle for control begins......
This is brilliantly written as a Gothic mystery and I have endeavored to keep spoilers at bay. The POV changes from Edward to Marguerite, to Patrick, to Sarah, to Maxwell Drummond and finally to Ned. There are moments of icy cold suspense as the story builds. It's always a bit jarring when a book moves from one POV to another but it takes almost no time to readjust into the new consciousness we are hearing from.
All in all, an excellent book which can be read as a straight Gothic mystery - but it is so much more when you are following the back story along as you read!
July 29, 2017
This book is written from the POV of 6 of the characters. Each character has one section which follow chronologically. I though it might have been more interesting to know what each character thought of the same event than each section focusing solely on one character during a different time span.
I found myself reading the book to get it finished so I could move onto something else. Something better. Rather than being so engrossed that I couldn't put it down. I did find the story more engaging at around 60% complete. But a lot of wasted time went into the long, boring background before the interesting part finally began.
All in all I wouldn't recommend it. There is just to much to slog through before you reach anything worthwhile.
I found myself reading the book to get it finished so I could move onto something else. Something better. Rather than being so engrossed that I couldn't put it down. I did find the story more engaging at around 60% complete. But a lot of wasted time went into the long, boring background before the interesting part finally began.
All in all I wouldn't recommend it. There is just to much to slog through before you reach anything worthwhile.
Read
March 12, 2013Susan Howatch's Cashelmara is one rollercoaster of a ride! One of the blurbs on the book calls it "another blockbuster", and gauging the heftiness of Howatch's books (this one weighs in at just over 700 pages) I think I know what that means. It's the sort of story that you literally lose yourself in. Howatch, and other authors who write (wrote?) 'blockbusters' (most notably in the 1970s and 80s it seems) know just how much fishing line to dangle in front of the reader before reeling it all back in. You know how it goes--pages filled with family dramas, passion, hatred, and in the case of Cashelmara--revenge! There are loads of little cliffhangers throughout the story to keep the reader turning pages and sucking them into the story.
Not too long ago a coworker asked me what I was reading and I pulled out my copy of Cashelmara. A quick glance at the description and she recalled seeing the book, different edition of course, on her mother's bookshelves when she was young. I hadn't realized it had been published so long ago, 1974 to be precise, but then historical fiction doesn't really become too dated easily. It is a retelling of the life and reign of Edward II, but if you (like me) are unfamiliar with that particular era in history, you needn't worry about feeling you are missing out. It stands quite soundly on its own.
Cashelmara is the family seat of a titled English family in Ireland. The estate and surrounding lands was bequeathed by Queen Elizabeth to the de Salis family and is entailed in such a way that it cannot be sold off easily and passes from male heir to male heir along down the line. This isn't just a garden variety family drama however, it's a family saga, chronicling the dreams, aspirations, weaknesses and shortcomings of three generations of the de Salis family.
Howatch recasts the story from 14th century England and Wales to the mid-Victorian period and a family home in England known as Woodhammer Hall and Cashelmara in Ireland. And like Edward's reign which was marked by petty squabbling, mismanagement and political and military defeats, an all around disastrous reign, Howatch tells the story of the rise and fall of fortunes of the de Salis family. At the beginning Lord de Salis is wealthy, well regarded and an excellent land manager to the estate in Ireland. The country, the house and the people are loved by de Salis, and he is held in high esteem by his tenants.
In not too many years, however, and with neglect the once powerful de Salis family takes a tumble. It's not just calamitous events such as the Great Famine and the rise of Irish Nationalism that plague the de Salis family but general incompetence in the managing of estate affairs. Everything that the elder Lord de Salis worked for and built during his lifetime is destroyed by his son in a very few years.
The novel is broken into six sections, each with its own narrator. They are told in first person and with titles such as "Duty", "Fidelity", "Loyalty", "Passion","Ambition" and "Revenge" it's not hard imagining the narrative arc of the story. Each successive Lord de Salis tells his story, two of the wives tell their version of events and most interesting is an outsider of sorts--one of the tenants who rises to power. This is not a fun-filled romp of a story. Quite the opposite, it is often dark in tone with its concentration on the foibles of the family members. Told in first person, Howatch gives insight into their motivations, actions and behaviors. These are flawed characters whose actions will have consequences. It's easy to dislike many of them, and surely that is part of the attraction. There are simply some characters you love to hate, though you might question your reactions and need to reassess those reactions as the story unfolds.
Despite the sometimes heavy tone, Cashelmara is an entertaining read in its way. Having such varied narrators makes for interesting going, though it's perhaps a little uneven in the starts and stops. A small quibble however. I've already picked up a few of Howatch's other 'blockbusters' and may pull one out closer to summer when a nice idle sunny afternoon sitting on the porch reading is in the offing.
Not too long ago a coworker asked me what I was reading and I pulled out my copy of Cashelmara. A quick glance at the description and she recalled seeing the book, different edition of course, on her mother's bookshelves when she was young. I hadn't realized it had been published so long ago, 1974 to be precise, but then historical fiction doesn't really become too dated easily. It is a retelling of the life and reign of Edward II, but if you (like me) are unfamiliar with that particular era in history, you needn't worry about feeling you are missing out. It stands quite soundly on its own.
Cashelmara is the family seat of a titled English family in Ireland. The estate and surrounding lands was bequeathed by Queen Elizabeth to the de Salis family and is entailed in such a way that it cannot be sold off easily and passes from male heir to male heir along down the line. This isn't just a garden variety family drama however, it's a family saga, chronicling the dreams, aspirations, weaknesses and shortcomings of three generations of the de Salis family.
Howatch recasts the story from 14th century England and Wales to the mid-Victorian period and a family home in England known as Woodhammer Hall and Cashelmara in Ireland. And like Edward's reign which was marked by petty squabbling, mismanagement and political and military defeats, an all around disastrous reign, Howatch tells the story of the rise and fall of fortunes of the de Salis family. At the beginning Lord de Salis is wealthy, well regarded and an excellent land manager to the estate in Ireland. The country, the house and the people are loved by de Salis, and he is held in high esteem by his tenants.
In not too many years, however, and with neglect the once powerful de Salis family takes a tumble. It's not just calamitous events such as the Great Famine and the rise of Irish Nationalism that plague the de Salis family but general incompetence in the managing of estate affairs. Everything that the elder Lord de Salis worked for and built during his lifetime is destroyed by his son in a very few years.
The novel is broken into six sections, each with its own narrator. They are told in first person and with titles such as "Duty", "Fidelity", "Loyalty", "Passion","Ambition" and "Revenge" it's not hard imagining the narrative arc of the story. Each successive Lord de Salis tells his story, two of the wives tell their version of events and most interesting is an outsider of sorts--one of the tenants who rises to power. This is not a fun-filled romp of a story. Quite the opposite, it is often dark in tone with its concentration on the foibles of the family members. Told in first person, Howatch gives insight into their motivations, actions and behaviors. These are flawed characters whose actions will have consequences. It's easy to dislike many of them, and surely that is part of the attraction. There are simply some characters you love to hate, though you might question your reactions and need to reassess those reactions as the story unfolds.
Despite the sometimes heavy tone, Cashelmara is an entertaining read in its way. Having such varied narrators makes for interesting going, though it's perhaps a little uneven in the starts and stops. A small quibble however. I've already picked up a few of Howatch's other 'blockbusters' and may pull one out closer to summer when a nice idle sunny afternoon sitting on the porch reading is in the offing.
September 2, 2007
This scandalous through the generations English family saga is set in the mid to late 1860s. Beginning with the patriarch Edward de Salis and ending with his grandson, Patrick, the saga follows the changes in fortune of the family's Irish estate, Cashelmara. The novel is divided into several sections which are narrated by different members of the family. The plot contains a good mix of romance and mystery.
March 27, 2022
Сапунена опера за три поколения от ирландска фамилия през втората половина на 19-ти век. Авторката си е поставила амбициозната цел да пресъздаде чрез съдбите им биографиите на трима английски крале от 14-ти век от рода на Плантагенетите - Едуард I, Едуард II, Едуард III. Използвани са няколко гледни точки на различни членове на фамилията - за всяка част.
Не ми хареса замяната на 14-ти с 19-ти век. Особено към края изобщо не успях да намеря логика за постъпките на участниците. Ударната доза мелодрама не успя да запълни пробойните. Историите на първите двама разказвачи - Едуард и Маргарет - са най-достоверни. Оттам нататък настъпва такъв гювеч, че стана скучно и объркващо за четене. Предвид паралелите с великолепната поредица на Морис Дрюон за прокълнатите крале, описваща реалните исторически първообрази, изкуственото романизиране тук не е сполучливо.
Но за любители на семейни саги за бърза употреба, при това далеч не безобидно политкоректни, четивото ще отвее няколко неусетни дни.
Не ми хареса замяната на 14-ти с 19-ти век. Особено към края изобщо не успях да намеря логика за постъпките на участниците. Ударната доза мелодрама не успя да запълни пробойните. Историите на първите двама разказвачи - Едуард и Маргарет - са най-достоверни. Оттам нататък настъпва такъв гювеч, че стана скучно и объркващо за четене. Предвид паралелите с великолепната поредица на Морис Дрюон за прокълнатите крале, описваща реалните исторически първообрази, изкуственото романизиране тук не е сполучливо.
Но за любители на семейни саги за бърза употреба, при това далеч не безобидно политкоректни, четивото ще отвее няколко неусетни дни.
September 21, 2017
Read this in the 70s when it was first published. LOVED it then.
October 29, 2012
One of the things I loved most about this novel was that it was character driven. The characters were flawed just enough to make them relatable and real without putting the reader off and becoming cast as either the villain or the hero. I can’t say that I especially liked any of the characters but that is ok, it didn’t make the novel drab by any stretch of the measure, in fact it made it more exciting…..and here is why. I love books that surprise me and characters who surprise me. I like getting to know all aspects of each character and I thought Howatch’s characters in Cashelmara were mysterious, dark, complex, and compelling.
For example, when I started reading from Edward’s POV in the beginning I really liked him. He was funny, charming, and totally likable. But when I started reading from Marguerite’s POV in the second part of the book, I saw Edward in a completely different light. Likewise I could sympathize with Patrick when I read his POV but hated him when I read from Sarah’s POV.
I thought Howatch did a marvelous job making sure that the reader got a complete picture of the character’s rather than a one-sided snippet. I liked each of the characters when I was reading from their POV but when I read from someone else’s perspective I didn’t like them at all. But that’s ok, I loved the feeling it gave the novel. This method really enhanced the gothic feel of saga….I loved it!
See my full review here
For example, when I started reading from Edward’s POV in the beginning I really liked him. He was funny, charming, and totally likable. But when I started reading from Marguerite’s POV in the second part of the book, I saw Edward in a completely different light. Likewise I could sympathize with Patrick when I read his POV but hated him when I read from Sarah’s POV.
I thought Howatch did a marvelous job making sure that the reader got a complete picture of the character’s rather than a one-sided snippet. I liked each of the characters when I was reading from their POV but when I read from someone else’s perspective I didn’t like them at all. But that’s ok, I loved the feeling it gave the novel. This method really enhanced the gothic feel of saga….I loved it!
See my full review here
January 1, 2018
Telling the story of the lives and exploits of three generations of the aristocratic English family who have long been landlords of an Irish estate, this novel is rich with great characters, a great family story filled with intrigue and it certainly never fails to pull out another surprising twist of fate. Set in the latter half of the 19th century, it also encompasses the Irish story of famine, feuding, ejection from property, etc.
The story is told over time by six characters including the lords, their wives and their landlords each of whom assumes a character trait that is telling of their part of the overall saga. I loved it and was deeply invested in the story throughout the book. Each part reveals a bit more and although there are moments that point to the ultimate revelation, it is always in question and never fully revealed until the ending.
I will definitely be reading more Howatch novels if this one is indicative of their appeal.
The story is told over time by six characters including the lords, their wives and their landlords each of whom assumes a character trait that is telling of their part of the overall saga. I loved it and was deeply invested in the story throughout the book. Each part reveals a bit more and although there are moments that point to the ultimate revelation, it is always in question and never fully revealed until the ending.
I will definitely be reading more Howatch novels if this one is indicative of their appeal.
Read
August 14, 2010I loved this book. It was like an 1850's soap opera! Drama! Drama! Drama! What I liked most about this book is that the story is told thru the voice of 4 of the characters in the book. I was intriqued by how 4 people saw themselves and how they were seen by the people around them, how 4 people can take one event and view it so differently. This books has been around for years. I read it years ago but I picked it up again and still love it.
February 13, 2022
A family saga indeed. An 1800’s soap opera-esque story that follows three generations of English fancy-pants. Set mostly at their undesirable Irish estate-characters face many timeless struggles…loyalties are put to the test, temptation and tradition battle. The 19th century aristocracy, in fact, had common problems. Steadily held my attention despite the length.
December 4, 2017
I was very disappointed in this book. It was full of terrible people with no redeeming qualities doing terrible things.
January 8, 2013
For this review, as well as many more, please visit my blog, The Baking Bookworm (www.thebakingbookworm.blogspot.ca).
My Thoughts: This is an epic saga following the lives and tribulations of the de Salis family. What made this book stand out for me, in amongst the many historical fiction books that I've read, is that the tale is told from six points of view. Six points of view are a lot and could easily become muddled and confusing but Ms Howatch deals with this in a very interesting way.
The storyline, while linear, is started by Edward telling the tale. He then passes the proverbial torch to Marguerite and she takes over the story and so on. It's quite a wonderful way for the reader to get a better sense of what various characters are thinking while not rehashing what's already happened in the book. I actually found my initial attitude towards certain characters change as I saw the story through their eyes. Each of the characters had many sides to them which I appreciated. That said, I can't say that any one character stood out for me but they all had their own part to play in the saga.
Please note that this is no light and carefree romp through the Irish countryside. It's more of a gothic soap opera with its romance, retribution, drama, abuse and even murder and has a very dark and rather depressing tone. One of the characters even goes a little too dark for my tastes and began to come off as more of an evil moustache-twisting caricature towards the end of the book.
One of my favourite parts of the book were the descriptions of the Irish countryside as well as learning more about the historical backdrop (ie. the after effects of Ireland's Great Famine). But Ms Howatch didn't allow the tumultuous historical backdrop to overtake the storyline which I appreciated. While this is a historical fiction read, it's much more of a character driven plot. Keeping the characters and storyline in the forefront is not an easy thing to do when you're tackling a lot of various topics all in one book -- including Ireland's right to rule themselves, emigration, Irish famine/poverty, political unrest, adultery, financial ruin ... There was a lot going on and while it was entertaining I did feel that the mystery aspect (family secrets and all) as well as the overall energy of the book was a bit lacking.
What Ms Howatch definitely didn't lack was emotion. Unfortunately, for me I tended to have an overall depressed feeling about the book. The setting and the circumstances seemed very drab and depressing ... all the time. There were some characters that I liked (Marguerite) but some, like Sarah, who just aggravated me with her poor choices. I guess feeling something (even anger at a character) is better than feeling nothing, right?
While there were some slow parts in this large book I did find it to be an easy and enjoyable read. It was a good page turner of a story but it just didn't grab me as much as I would have hoped. I think that the overall depressing feeling that settled over much of the book put a damper on my overall opinion of this book.
My Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Note: My sincere thanks to Open Road Media and NetGalley for providing me with this complimentary e-book copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
My Thoughts: This is an epic saga following the lives and tribulations of the de Salis family. What made this book stand out for me, in amongst the many historical fiction books that I've read, is that the tale is told from six points of view. Six points of view are a lot and could easily become muddled and confusing but Ms Howatch deals with this in a very interesting way.
The storyline, while linear, is started by Edward telling the tale. He then passes the proverbial torch to Marguerite and she takes over the story and so on. It's quite a wonderful way for the reader to get a better sense of what various characters are thinking while not rehashing what's already happened in the book. I actually found my initial attitude towards certain characters change as I saw the story through their eyes. Each of the characters had many sides to them which I appreciated. That said, I can't say that any one character stood out for me but they all had their own part to play in the saga.
Please note that this is no light and carefree romp through the Irish countryside. It's more of a gothic soap opera with its romance, retribution, drama, abuse and even murder and has a very dark and rather depressing tone. One of the characters even goes a little too dark for my tastes and began to come off as more of an evil moustache-twisting caricature towards the end of the book.
One of my favourite parts of the book were the descriptions of the Irish countryside as well as learning more about the historical backdrop (ie. the after effects of Ireland's Great Famine). But Ms Howatch didn't allow the tumultuous historical backdrop to overtake the storyline which I appreciated. While this is a historical fiction read, it's much more of a character driven plot. Keeping the characters and storyline in the forefront is not an easy thing to do when you're tackling a lot of various topics all in one book -- including Ireland's right to rule themselves, emigration, Irish famine/poverty, political unrest, adultery, financial ruin ... There was a lot going on and while it was entertaining I did feel that the mystery aspect (family secrets and all) as well as the overall energy of the book was a bit lacking.
What Ms Howatch definitely didn't lack was emotion. Unfortunately, for me I tended to have an overall depressed feeling about the book. The setting and the circumstances seemed very drab and depressing ... all the time. There were some characters that I liked (Marguerite) but some, like Sarah, who just aggravated me with her poor choices. I guess feeling something (even anger at a character) is better than feeling nothing, right?
While there were some slow parts in this large book I did find it to be an easy and enjoyable read. It was a good page turner of a story but it just didn't grab me as much as I would have hoped. I think that the overall depressing feeling that settled over much of the book put a damper on my overall opinion of this book.
My Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Note: My sincere thanks to Open Road Media and NetGalley for providing me with this complimentary e-book copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
May 9, 2020
I inhaled this book. But how feverishly I turn pages doesn't necessarily equate to how much I like a book. The writing in a pageturner book is a type of sorcery I don't quite understand but which I'm entirely susceptible to.
What I did think was neat was how Howatch made real historical figures (Edward I, Edward II, Edward III, Margaret of France, Isabella of France, and Roger Mortimer) her main characters and plopped them down into a somewhat more modern time period (mid - late 19th century England and Ireland), with parallel events. I've read a lot of fairy tale retellings but somehow never thought that you could do this with historical figures, and it's a really interesting premise.
I also though Howatch did a good job of presenting various viewpoints. She's one of those authors who actually successfully offsets the opinions of her characters (basically all of whom possess opinions which are quite odious, as it's the 19th century) by having another character speak about it or through narrative events which shine a different light on the matter. As a reader, I need some assurance either from the author's tone or from other characters or the events of the story when characters are off spouting or thinking horrible things that this isn't what the author thinks, necessarily.
I ended up looking up some of the historical counterparts of these characters, and I think Howatch could've done much better by Sarah, as Isabella of France seems super interesting and Sarah wasn't.
This book was kind of like a soap opera but it turns out medieval history is a soap opera.
What I did think was neat was how Howatch made real historical figures (Edward I, Edward II, Edward III, Margaret of France, Isabella of France, and Roger Mortimer) her main characters and plopped them down into a somewhat more modern time period (mid - late 19th century England and Ireland), with parallel events. I've read a lot of fairy tale retellings but somehow never thought that you could do this with historical figures, and it's a really interesting premise.
I also though Howatch did a good job of presenting various viewpoints. She's one of those authors who actually successfully offsets the opinions of her characters (basically all of whom possess opinions which are quite odious, as it's the 19th century) by having another character speak about it or through narrative events which shine a different light on the matter. As a reader, I need some assurance either from the author's tone or from other characters or the events of the story when characters are off spouting or thinking horrible things that this isn't what the author thinks, necessarily.
I ended up looking up some of the historical counterparts of these characters, and I think Howatch could've done much better by Sarah, as Isabella of France seems super interesting and Sarah wasn't.
This book was kind of like a soap opera but it turns out medieval history is a soap opera.
February 12, 2016
I think I read some Susan Howatch books years ago and remembered liking her, so when this came by as a weekly deal, I thought I'd give her a try again. I love novels set in Ireland, but here Ireland is just an impoverished, famine-ridden place, with none of the characters wanting any part of it. Amazon customers seem to like the novel, but I found all of the characters unlikable (to a greater or lesser degree) so I can't agree. I had to force myself to finish, which is my definition of two stars.
August 25, 2019
A tragic story in nearly every way. I felt like I was reading a train wreck, but I couldn’t put it down.
January 29, 2013
Cashelmara is a great family saga set in Ireland beginning in 1859 and following the lives and turmoil of the de Salis family. The novel is composed of five parts, each from a different family member's perspective and covers three generations and over 30 years of family history. As indicated by the choice of title, the family's Irish estate, Cashelmara, is the central point of the novel, however, portions of the book also take place in England and America.
The novel opens with Edward, a widower who marries an American girl, Marguerite. Edward is succeeded by his wayward son, Patrick, who also marries an American girl, Sarah, but who is given to questionable relationships with male "friends." The final generation detailed is that of Ned, Patrick's son.
I was not surprised to learn that Cashelmara was a best seller around the time it was published in 1974. Family sagas were popular during that time period (i.e. The Thorn Birds, and on television, Dallas and Dynasty). However, unlike some best sellers, this one is still appealing several decades later and I highly enjoyed the exploits of the de Salis family. I particularly liked the shifting perspective that allowed insight into multiple characters. This function also allowed the story to continue beyond the life of one individual family member.
However, I was surprised to realize that Cashelmara is a recreation of the life of Edward I, II, and III of England from fourteenth century England. All of the characters in the novel corresponded with a historical equivalent. For example, Derry Stranahan is based on Piers Gaveston, lover of Edward II, Maxwell Drummond represents Queen Isabella's lover Roger Mortimer, etc. I don't think I would ever have guessed or thought to make this connection were it not for the short historical quotes referencing the historical figures at the beginning of each of the five parts of the novel. However, not noticing or making this connection would not in any way diminish the enjoyment of the novel or the family's saga. I do question why Howatch choose to mirror fourteenth century British history during the 1800s and in Ireland. It was an interesting writing choice, and did provide her with a ready made plot, and it functioned much better than other similar attempts I've come across, such as A Thousand Acres, which attempts to recreate King Lear.
The novel opens with Edward, a widower who marries an American girl, Marguerite. Edward is succeeded by his wayward son, Patrick, who also marries an American girl, Sarah, but who is given to questionable relationships with male "friends." The final generation detailed is that of Ned, Patrick's son.
I was not surprised to learn that Cashelmara was a best seller around the time it was published in 1974. Family sagas were popular during that time period (i.e. The Thorn Birds, and on television, Dallas and Dynasty). However, unlike some best sellers, this one is still appealing several decades later and I highly enjoyed the exploits of the de Salis family. I particularly liked the shifting perspective that allowed insight into multiple characters. This function also allowed the story to continue beyond the life of one individual family member.
However, I was surprised to realize that Cashelmara is a recreation of the life of Edward I, II, and III of England from fourteenth century England. All of the characters in the novel corresponded with a historical equivalent. For example, Derry Stranahan is based on Piers Gaveston, lover of Edward II, Maxwell Drummond represents Queen Isabella's lover Roger Mortimer, etc. I don't think I would ever have guessed or thought to make this connection were it not for the short historical quotes referencing the historical figures at the beginning of each of the five parts of the novel. However, not noticing or making this connection would not in any way diminish the enjoyment of the novel or the family's saga. I do question why Howatch choose to mirror fourteenth century British history during the 1800s and in Ireland. It was an interesting writing choice, and did provide her with a ready made plot, and it functioned much better than other similar attempts I've come across, such as A Thousand Acres, which attempts to recreate King Lear.
October 6, 2013
Despite reading Susan Howatch many years previously, how did I ever miss this one back in the day?
Yum, yum, yum. One of my three favorite formats is following a house through the centuries. And this one- an epic tale that follows the patterns of past English monarchs on top of it! The Baron of Cashelmara in different generations mirrors in his character, tastes, and temperament, the actual ruling medieval and post-medieval English kings. I loved and recognized the parallels.
But beyond the excellent demonstrations of class mores and nuance of each period, this book (and I read non-fiction in number)is set within the Irish politico in such a relative way that for ONCE, I actually started to understand the crux of both "the troubles" and of Irish independence. And its tribal roots. And NOT in a non-fiction form. It's just as complex as the Sicilian or Italy city-state history. At times, maybe MORE complex.
Dark and sordid? Oh yes, but why do you think so much of the still living population emigrated? Not because of mild inconveniences.
This is an epic tale. It took me probably 3 times as long to read as a "normal" book does nowadays to finish this and I read it at a lake with little interference. (LUCKY ME.) But not a minute lagged- and I HATED to see it end. Having enjoyed Penmarric and several others, I do not know how I ever skipped her Irish home estate tale.
These characterizations were finely draw, not only in their core emotions, but in the sensibilities of their own times, as well.
Sometimes it did border on the soap opera, but did not the courts? And the governments? And the manipulators of any type of power?
Historical fiction like this one doesn't raise its head every year.
Even the most loved protagonists in this tale have their glaring faults and their horrific blind spots of perception. And that is why, coupled with the complex Irish routes toward a path of relative "loyalty", I find it 5 star. Very real, very human. And the Irish genocides of starvation and disease a stone set in their proper setting here at the same time. All put in melodious language. Master writer of a complex tale. Not the least of which was the crux of each individual's self-identity. Am I American? Am I English? Or Am I Irish?
Yum, yum, yum. One of my three favorite formats is following a house through the centuries. And this one- an epic tale that follows the patterns of past English monarchs on top of it! The Baron of Cashelmara in different generations mirrors in his character, tastes, and temperament, the actual ruling medieval and post-medieval English kings. I loved and recognized the parallels.
But beyond the excellent demonstrations of class mores and nuance of each period, this book (and I read non-fiction in number)is set within the Irish politico in such a relative way that for ONCE, I actually started to understand the crux of both "the troubles" and of Irish independence. And its tribal roots. And NOT in a non-fiction form. It's just as complex as the Sicilian or Italy city-state history. At times, maybe MORE complex.
Dark and sordid? Oh yes, but why do you think so much of the still living population emigrated? Not because of mild inconveniences.
This is an epic tale. It took me probably 3 times as long to read as a "normal" book does nowadays to finish this and I read it at a lake with little interference. (LUCKY ME.) But not a minute lagged- and I HATED to see it end. Having enjoyed Penmarric and several others, I do not know how I ever skipped her Irish home estate tale.
These characterizations were finely draw, not only in their core emotions, but in the sensibilities of their own times, as well.
Sometimes it did border on the soap opera, but did not the courts? And the governments? And the manipulators of any type of power?
Historical fiction like this one doesn't raise its head every year.
Even the most loved protagonists in this tale have their glaring faults and their horrific blind spots of perception. And that is why, coupled with the complex Irish routes toward a path of relative "loyalty", I find it 5 star. Very real, very human. And the Irish genocides of starvation and disease a stone set in their proper setting here at the same time. All put in melodious language. Master writer of a complex tale. Not the least of which was the crux of each individual's self-identity. Am I American? Am I English? Or Am I Irish?
July 2, 2012
4.5 stars
Cashelmara is a saga about an Irish family through three generations. If the title doesn’t grab you, Howatch’s writing will. The story is mesmerizing and spine tingling. Psychological motivations, dysfunction and macabre machinations abound. Although designated as historical fiction, the novel shines in the characters and their relationships. I’d call it a psychological thriller as well as historical fiction.
The de Salis family owns an estate in England, but can’t seem to give up the remote, mysterious Cashelmara in Ireland. “If anyone says silence is inaudible, they have never heard the silence of Cashelmara. It was a living silence, unearthly and unnerving.” The estate has a mystical quality to it and is a constant presence in the characters’ motivations.
The story is told from the points of view of three generations of men, their wives and an activist farmer. To perk your interest without spoilers, I’ll simply list the main characters as in the table of contents.
Edward – Duty
Marguerite – Fidelity
Patrick – Loyalty
Sarah – Passion
Maxwell Drummond – Ambition
Ned – Revenge
You will learn about lord and tenant, the potato famine, and the poverty-stricken Irish countryside.
Lies, deception and jealousy abound. I couldn’t put it down.
Cashelmara is a saga about an Irish family through three generations. If the title doesn’t grab you, Howatch’s writing will. The story is mesmerizing and spine tingling. Psychological motivations, dysfunction and macabre machinations abound. Although designated as historical fiction, the novel shines in the characters and their relationships. I’d call it a psychological thriller as well as historical fiction.
The de Salis family owns an estate in England, but can’t seem to give up the remote, mysterious Cashelmara in Ireland. “If anyone says silence is inaudible, they have never heard the silence of Cashelmara. It was a living silence, unearthly and unnerving.” The estate has a mystical quality to it and is a constant presence in the characters’ motivations.
The story is told from the points of view of three generations of men, their wives and an activist farmer. To perk your interest without spoilers, I’ll simply list the main characters as in the table of contents.
Edward – Duty
Marguerite – Fidelity
Patrick – Loyalty
Sarah – Passion
Maxwell Drummond – Ambition
Ned – Revenge
You will learn about lord and tenant, the potato famine, and the poverty-stricken Irish countryside.
Lies, deception and jealousy abound. I couldn’t put it down.
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January 24, 2016I found myself not caring for any of the characters Howatch created and wanting to read more about Edward I and Edward II in their own time instead.
Misfit said...
"What she does with this trilogy is parallels the Plantagenets - but the characters and settings are different in the other books.
Penmarric is Henry II and Eleanor and their devil's brood. Cashelmara which Laura just read is Edward I, II and a wee bit of EIII and of course the Piers Gaveston/Hugh Despenser/Isabella the She-Wolf story. Wheel of Fortune continues (again in different setting and characters) with E3, The Black Prince and Joan of Kent, John of Gaunt and his Katherine, Henry Bolingbroke and Richard II."
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