The House

by Lady Teresa Waugh (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2003

  $4.18

  1945. On the death of his father, Sydney, Lord Otterton finds himself heir to a crumbling country mansion, Cranfield. Despite the fact that his sinister mother has appropriated most of the family funds, the new Lord Otterton manages to persuade his wife and three children to move into the decaying house and set about restoring it to its former glory. To aid him in this task, he recruits Annie Jerrold, a faithful family servant, to be the new housekeeper. She is soon joined by a cast of weird and wonderful characters - a drunken butler, a malevolent French governess and a pair of bizarre lodgers with a rather dubious past. Added to this is an elderly Polish historian, a romantic researching the Whig aristocracy who finds himself involved in a much more intriguing plot on the discovery of some hidden family letters.

• Used

  Hardcover
  2002

  $3.25

  Sydney Otterton is penniless, his wicked mother having appropriated all of the family funds with the exception of the house which was entailed. He has just returned from the war where he fought bravely and was taken prisoner at the Normandy landings. He manages to persuade his wife, Priscilla, to move into the crumbling house with their young children and faithful servant, Annie. The novel evolves through the eyes of four characters who narrate the events of what turns out to be a murder mystery, in a variety of formats (journal, letters, research). The first is the sympathetic Syndey, beset with financial worries. The sharply observant and pragmatic Annie was born and brought up on the estate and runs the house. Mr Rakowski is a frequent visitor to the house, a comic character, researching a history of the family who has developed a passion for Priscilla. The final narrator is the appealing young daughter of the house, Georgina.