I was surprised to like this as much as I did. A family saga? Normally, I'd say 'no thanks'. But my step mother-in-law posted me the whole series, and since nothing is nicer than receiving an unexpected parcel of books, I thought I should read the first one.

I loved how we got to dip in and out of the characters' heads, sometimes for only a couple of paragraphs. Although I would have liked to see inside Edward's head more to understand what he was thinking about the things that he did.

Other reviews have said 'but nothing happened!', but I liked that. Wealthy domestic lives between the wars: suet puddings, kippers for breakfast, affairs and falling-outs.

One complaint about the edition I read: The end of the book looked a way off judging by the number of pages still in my right hand, and then suddenly - bam! - it was over. What I had thought was the last section, was in fact a teaser for the next book. Frustrating.