The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce: A Novel in Four Vintages

by PaulTorday (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2008

  $5.25

  This is a novel that tells its story back to front, whose main character we meet when he is down on his luck, in his local French restaurant drowning his sorrows in the depths of two bottles of vintage Petrus. It hasn't taken all that long for Wilberforce, as we will only know him, to reach this point, and we see it, almost in slow motion, from the moment it begins -- that one fateful day when he takes an unexpected detour into the country when he is driving home on a twilight evening. He drives along a lane beside a high stone wall, towards a house which had been signposted from the main road: Caerlyon Hall. He was breaking his routine, and it felt refreshing. The lane headed towards an enormous grey house, at the back of which a board was positioned by the side of track: in gold Palace script on a burgundy-coloured background it announced 'Frances Black: Fine Bordeaux Wines. Visitors Welcome' and Wilberforce remembers feeling a little like Alice must have felt when she found the table at the bottom of the rabbit hole, with the little bottle labelled 'Drink Me'. Through Francis Black, Wilberforce develops a taste for fine wine, and a new set of friends, who fill him full of promise and affection and acceptance. And it is this new world, and Wilberforce's awkwardness within it, that contributes to his downfall, and to heartbreak.

• Used

  paperback
  

  $3.44

  From the bestselling author of the Richard & Judy selected SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN. Late one summer evening, Wilberforce - rich, young, and work-obsessed - makes a detour on his way home to the vast undercroft of Caerlyon Hall, and the domain of Francis Black, a place where wine, hospitality and affection flow freely. Through Francis, Wilberforce is initiated into a life rich in the promise of friendship and adventure, where, through his new set of friends, the possibility of finding acceptance, and even falling in love, seems finally to be within his reach. Wilberforce becomes a willing pupil to Francis, and in the cellars of Caerlyon he nurtures a new-found passion for wine. But even the finest wine can leave a bitter aftertaste, and Wilberforce will learn the undercroft's unpalatable secrets, and that passion comes at a price ...

• Used

  Hardcover
  2008

  $3.29

  'You really love me don't you?' she said. 'Of course I do.' 'It's hard to tell because you never talk much. You've never really had any fun in your life at all, have you?' 'No, but that's about to change.' Late one summer evening, Wilberforce - rich, young, work-obsessed and self-contained - makes an unexpected detour on the way home from the software company he owns and unwittingly takes the first step on a journey that will change his life. His uncharacteristically impulsive act leads him to the door of Caerlyon Hall, to the vast undercroft beneath it, and the domain of Francis Black, a place where wine, hospitality and affection flow freely. Through Francis, the eccentric and enigmatic owner of Caerlyon, Wilberforce is initiated into a life he could never have imagined: a life rich in the promise of friendship and adventure, where, through his new set of friends, with their shooting parties and stately homes, the possibility of finding acceptance, and even falling in love, seems finally to be within his reach. As his horizon broadens and his heart expands, Wilberforce becomes a willing pupil to Francis's master, and in the cellars of Caerlyon he nurtures a new-found passion for fine wine. But even the finest wine can leave a bitter aftertaste, and Wilberforce will learn that the undercroft holds some unpalatable secrets, and that passion comes at a price. Chronicling the vintage years of Wilberforce's life, The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce is a dazzling, haunting story of obsession and addiction, of loyalty and betrayal.

• New

  paperback
  

  $11.72

  From the bestselling author of the Richard & Judy selected SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN. Late one summer evening, Wilberforce - rich, young, and work-obsessed - makes a detour on his way home to the vast undercroft of Caerlyon Hall, and the domain of Francis Black, a place where wine, hospitality and affection flow freely. Through Francis, Wilberforce is initiated into a life rich in the promise of friendship and adventure, where, through his new set of friends, the possibility of finding acceptance, and even falling in love, seems finally to be within his reach. Wilberforce becomes a willing pupil to Francis, and in the cellars of Caerlyon he nurtures a new-found passion for wine. But even the finest wine can leave a bitter aftertaste, and Wilberforce will learn the undercroft's unpalatable secrets, and that passion comes at a price ...