Ashton Park is book one in The Danforths of Lancashire series by Murray Pura. Following in the tradition of the popular PBS series, Downton Abbey, this family saga delves into the lives of William and Elizabeth Danforth, their seven children, and the Ashton Park staff. Spanning the years from 1916 to 1923, Ashton Park follows the upstairs/downstairs characters through the dangers of war and affairs of the heart.
Book blurb:
Among
the green hills and trees of Lancashire, only a few miles from the sea, lies
the beautiful and ancient estate of Ashton Park. The year is 1916. The First
World War has engulfed Europe and Sir William’s and Lady Elizabeth’s three sons
are all in uniform—and their four daughters are involved in various pursuits of
the heart and soul. As the head of a strong Church of England family for
generations, Sir William insists the Danforth estate hold morning devotions
that include both family and staff. However, he is also an MP and away at
Westminster in London whenever Parliament is sitting. During his long absences,
Lady Elizabeth discreetly spends time in the company of the head cook of the
manor, Mrs. Longstaff, who is her best friend and confidante. This friendship includes
visits to a small Baptist church in Liverpool that exposes Lady Elizabeth to a
less formal approach to Christian worship and preaching than she is used to and
which she comes to enjoy.
This was a very ambitions book in
my opinion, and I'm not sure how successful it was. There were a lot of characters, which I was
able to keep straight thanks to a two-page character description at the
beginning. There were several
interesting themes: World War I,
Ireland's struggle for independence, romance outside of class lines, pressure
to show loyalty to the Church of England - even an "evil" maid. I liked the British setting and the fact that
this is a family saga, but several things seemed to work against its success.
The story was told from numerous
point of views, which became confusing to me.
Scene changes were abrupt, often lacking proper setup. For example, one scene ends with a bombing
raid in Dover and the next scene opens ten months later, with no explanation of
all that happened. Time lapses weren't always
clear. The plot of Danforth children
falling in love with commoners was unrealistically repeated and resolved in the
same way. And in almost seven years of
wartime fighting, no Danforth child was injured.
But the main disappointment for me
was a lack of character depth. I never connected
with the family or staff, never felt I knew them, and therefore couldn't care
about them. This first novel might have
worked better with less characters and more room for development.
I do believe that Murray's writing
shows promise, though. Some of the
problems I've mentioned may be due to the fact that I was reading a
pre-publication manuscript. Hopefully,
the final edition will be much more polished. In spite of these shortcomings, I was hooked on the storyline throughout.
While I liked certain aspects of
this novel, I didn't find it to be a satisfying read overall. Readers who enjoy British historical fiction
might find it interesting, though. The
next book in this series, Beneath the
Dover Sky, releases in August 2013.
This book was provided by Harvest House through NetGalley in
exchange for my honest review.
I feel the same as you. Didn't love this book at all.
ReplyDeleteI have not read this (though was interested when I saw it on Netgalley.I do think that 'spin-off' books, or those which are in a particular period because it is popular or in vogue can perhaps be double-edged sword.
ReplyDeleteThey may be good, but also perhaps some are 'cashing in' and not so good.
Also, as a British person I tend to notice errors, inaccuracy and stereotyping more when it comes to British fiction. I know its popular, but I think there are some authors who have never set foot on British soil.....
Beautiful blog, might visit again at some point.