What do you think?
Rate this book
The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing
Solomon knew that he had one advantage. A pawn ticket belonging to a dead man tucked into his top pocket - the only clue to the truth . . .
An old soldier dies alone in his Edinburgh nursing home. No known relatives, and no Will to enact. Just a pawn ticket found amongst his belongings, and fifty thousand pounds in used notes sewn into the lining of his burial suit . . .
Heir Hunter, Solomon Farthing - down on his luck, until, perhaps, now - is tipped off on this unexplained fortune. Armed with only the deceased's name and the crumpled pawn ticket, he must find the dead man's closest living relative if he is to get a cut of this much-needed cash.
But in trawling through the deceased's family tree, Solomon uncovers a mystery that goes back to 1918 and a group of eleven soldiers abandoned in a farmhouse billet in France in the weeks leading up to the armistice.
Set between contemporary Edinburgh and the final brutal days of the First World War as the soldiers await their orders, The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing shows us how the debts of the present can never be settled unless those of the past have been paid first . . .
An old soldier dies alone in his Edinburgh nursing home. No known relatives, and no Will to enact. Just a pawn ticket found amongst his belongings, and fifty thousand pounds in used notes sewn into the lining of his burial suit . . .
Heir Hunter, Solomon Farthing - down on his luck, until, perhaps, now - is tipped off on this unexplained fortune. Armed with only the deceased's name and the crumpled pawn ticket, he must find the dead man's closest living relative if he is to get a cut of this much-needed cash.
But in trawling through the deceased's family tree, Solomon uncovers a mystery that goes back to 1918 and a group of eleven soldiers abandoned in a farmhouse billet in France in the weeks leading up to the armistice.
Set between contemporary Edinburgh and the final brutal days of the First World War as the soldiers await their orders, The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing shows us how the debts of the present can never be settled unless those of the past have been paid first . . .
528 pages, Hardcover
First published September 5, 2019
52 people are currently reading
745 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 124 reviews
August 16, 2019
Mary Paulson-Ellis writes a historical piece of fiction about a group of soldiers billeted in a abandoned French farmhouse at the cusp of the armistice in 1918, documenting the horrors of the WW1 and the losses, families, links, mementos and legacies of this group that echo through the years to the present in 2016 Edinburgh. Solomon Farthing is an old fashioned heir hunter in the age of the internet, he is desperate and in the gutter, owing debts everywhere, to his aunt who isn't his aunt, and more pressing to the ex-fence Freddy Dodds. He is in a police cell having lost his lucky silver charm, which does not bode well for the future, hoping DCI Franklin will get him out of his current predicament. Franklin wants him to find the next kin of the recently deceased Thomas Methven within 4 days. Methven worked as a clerk at the Edinburgh Assurance Company for all his life, his burial suit has £50 000 stitched into it, and a pawn ticket thrust in his pocket, the only clue to his past.
Solomon embarks on a twisted journey into Methven's past, with Colin Dunlop, another heir hunter working with the better resourced firms utilising computer based searches, snapping at his heels for a slice of the inheritance that Solomon is depending on to lift him from his financial nightmare. What he uncovers are links to his own family history through the years, that reach back to WW1 and a group of soldiers in France, led by Captain Godfrey Farthing, a man determined to protect his soldiers, particularly a new boy recruit, after the unbearable loss of another boy soldier, Beach. He has his work cut out, his second in command, another boy, is a commissioned officer, second Lieutenant Ralph Svensen, has no experience of war, unlike the rest of the group, such as temporary Sergeant Hawes, who had previously worked in an abattoir, can no longer bear the sight of blood after all the horrors he has seen and experienced. Ralph wants nothing more than to fight on the front, wreaking devastation amongst his own group, engaged in gambling and machinations. Solomon goes on to prove what heir hunters all know and understand, that in the oddest of ways, people turn out to be connected, especially in a city like Edinburgh.
Paulson-Ellis writes eloquently of men and boys in war, their lives and families through the years, mental health, losses, grief, love in all its forms, of secrets and silence, the ever present ghosts, the differing debts of Solomon and Godfrey, and a haunted past resurrected in the present. The cost and horror of war permeates the entire novel, with the author acknowledging the influence and inspiration of Pat Barker's The Ghost Road, with literary references littered throughout such as Wilfred Owen's Dulce et Decorum est and Anthem for Doomed Youth, TS Eliot's The Wasteland, and many others. Excellent read. Many thanks to Pan Macmillan for an ARC.
Solomon embarks on a twisted journey into Methven's past, with Colin Dunlop, another heir hunter working with the better resourced firms utilising computer based searches, snapping at his heels for a slice of the inheritance that Solomon is depending on to lift him from his financial nightmare. What he uncovers are links to his own family history through the years, that reach back to WW1 and a group of soldiers in France, led by Captain Godfrey Farthing, a man determined to protect his soldiers, particularly a new boy recruit, after the unbearable loss of another boy soldier, Beach. He has his work cut out, his second in command, another boy, is a commissioned officer, second Lieutenant Ralph Svensen, has no experience of war, unlike the rest of the group, such as temporary Sergeant Hawes, who had previously worked in an abattoir, can no longer bear the sight of blood after all the horrors he has seen and experienced. Ralph wants nothing more than to fight on the front, wreaking devastation amongst his own group, engaged in gambling and machinations. Solomon goes on to prove what heir hunters all know and understand, that in the oddest of ways, people turn out to be connected, especially in a city like Edinburgh.
Paulson-Ellis writes eloquently of men and boys in war, their lives and families through the years, mental health, losses, grief, love in all its forms, of secrets and silence, the ever present ghosts, the differing debts of Solomon and Godfrey, and a haunted past resurrected in the present. The cost and horror of war permeates the entire novel, with the author acknowledging the influence and inspiration of Pat Barker's The Ghost Road, with literary references littered throughout such as Wilfred Owen's Dulce et Decorum est and Anthem for Doomed Youth, TS Eliot's The Wasteland, and many others. Excellent read. Many thanks to Pan Macmillan for an ARC.
October 13, 2019
An excellent WWI juxtaposition with modern day Edinburgh. The lives of Solomon and Godfrey Fathering unfold in a simple but complex tale.
Heir-hunter Solomon is tasked with tracking down the heir of £50 000 which has been stitched to the lining of a burial coat. His only clues being the money and a pawn stub.
The author is very lyrical in her writing of Solomon’s life, loss, tragedy and travels. He really is a character I felt for but the story of his grandfather Godfrey is where the true tragedy and mystery unravels.
The futility of sending boys and men to war, in times I can only imagine through novels such as these, is both heartbreaking and unfathomable. Excellent intertwining of a century of life, loss and legacy.
Heir-hunter Solomon is tasked with tracking down the heir of £50 000 which has been stitched to the lining of a burial coat. His only clues being the money and a pawn stub.
The author is very lyrical in her writing of Solomon’s life, loss, tragedy and travels. He really is a character I felt for but the story of his grandfather Godfrey is where the true tragedy and mystery unravels.
The futility of sending boys and men to war, in times I can only imagine through novels such as these, is both heartbreaking and unfathomable. Excellent intertwining of a century of life, loss and legacy.
August 10, 2019
This book confused me.
On one hand there was a modern day mystery to be solved, on the other a war time story. The two tales intertwined in a tangle of threads that needed unraveling.
Unfortunately, the way it was written, jumping between the two stories, just didn’t work for me as it has done in other books. Perhaps there was too little story established before it started jumping around? Perhaps there was just too much that didn’t seem believable/“real” (eg the young boy jumping in the car & the attitude of “keep him for the day, his parents won’t mind”)?
I can’t pinpoint the exact reason, and others will undoubtedly find something that I missed, but I found the book confusing & my overall feeling was frustration.
Disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
On one hand there was a modern day mystery to be solved, on the other a war time story. The two tales intertwined in a tangle of threads that needed unraveling.
Unfortunately, the way it was written, jumping between the two stories, just didn’t work for me as it has done in other books. Perhaps there was too little story established before it started jumping around? Perhaps there was just too much that didn’t seem believable/“real” (eg the young boy jumping in the car & the attitude of “keep him for the day, his parents won’t mind”)?
I can’t pinpoint the exact reason, and others will undoubtedly find something that I missed, but I found the book confusing & my overall feeling was frustration.
Disclosure: I received an advance copy of this book via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
May 31, 2020
interesting novel based in both 2016 and the dying days of the first world war and a secret with the blue ticket when the son of the gang dies. takes awhile to get going
January 19, 2021
A powerful story, undermined by overly "clever" writing.
I just wanted to know what happened. That, in itself, is a testimony to the power of the story/stories of the inheritance of Solomon Farthing. Many authors don't have one fully-realized, compelling story per novel: Paulson-Ellis has two ... and she manages to blow it, layering them over with convoluted narrative tics that unnecessarily drags out the action, buries important detail, and renders characters who should have achieved heart-breaking reality into odd, flat ciphers.
I should have been warned: I gradually warmed to Paulson-Ellis' first novel, The Other Mrs. Walker, overcoming my resistance to her writing tics as she built up an intriguing story of the convoluted family dynamics behind the sad, lonely death of an old woman in an Edinburgh flat. Her style could be maddeningly opaque at times: withholding details that might just have clarified events and relationships, circling around the facts as if they were radioactive, and the words were little Geiger counters ... Skipping back and forth in time. Imbuing random objects with totemic significance ( ... if I had to hear about that stolen red coat one more time ...), the weight of which everyone but the reader seemed to automatically understand ... and the reader was supposed to accept, on faith.
But that novel came together in a satisfying whole: the loose ends were tied up, even the red coat did turn out to be important (kind of ...), and there was a nice sense of the themes of the way family ties endure, for better or for worse, working out in the end. So I was open to trying Paulson-Ellis again.
In The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing, she has doubled down on it all. Solomon Farthing is a down-on-his-luck investigator who specializes in “heir hunting,” tracking down (and profiting from) the estates of the affluent elderly who die with no known family and no will. Farthing’s most recent case is a 98-year-old man who has died in an Edinburgh nursing home. So far, so not unusual: it's when it's discovered that the deceased's burial suit has £50,000 sewn into the lining that Farthing becomes involved -- and invested in acquiring a cut of the loot from any lost heirs he can track down. Solomon Farthing's investigations reveal (and I don't think this is a spoiler -- it's heavily hinted at by the cover blurbs, and foreshadowed from the very beginning of the novel) a terrible secret from the final days of World War I, and a connection to his own complicated family history. Is it only coincidence that Solomon Farthing has been particularly asked to investigate this case?
Put like that, it sounds terrific, doesn't it? And don't get me wrong, in many ways it is. It just could have been so much better. What drives me crazy about this book:
1. Solomon's heir hunting is just too easy. The most ephemeral, throw-away records have survived intact, waiting for Solomon to be escorted to them in ramshackle sheds, and dusty back rooms, a bit musty, but there waiting for him to find the obscure little connection he needs. Memories stretch back, undimmed, over several generations and multiple degrees of family separation. (An elderly daughter-in-law who knows every little secret from her long-dead husband's family? An "aunt who isn't an aunt" who just happened to be eavesdropping when some long buried secrets were spilled, 50+ year ago?) Solomon repeatedly goes, just on the off-chance, exactly where he needs to be, to find the next clue. There are knowing jokes about Ancestry.com, and the ubiquity of genealogy tv programmes, but it occurs to no one to say, gosh, it doesn't usually work out like this ...
2. Yet again, Paulson-Ellis imbues all sorts of random objects with totemic significance which all of the characters automatically and unquestioningly understand. It's one thing to trace the life of a little cap badge, from one pocket to another, as it moves backward in time from being Solomon Farthings lost "lucky charm," back to 1916 when it was . But there are just too many of these little objects, forced to take on lives and importance all their own, for the sake of plot and symbolism. And it's entirely another thing that everyone seems to understand the deep significance of the suit which the dead man has chosen to be cremated in -- taking the £50K with him, and it.
3. And while Paulson-Ellis seems intent on building up the importance of random objects, she reduces most ... all ... of the characters to cardboard cut-outs of virtues, vices, sexuality, class. One soldier from the flashbacks to 1918 is repeatedly referred to as "the old sweat," another as "the lucky one" as if that's all we need to know about them, and this will do to establish character; other soldiers have "cute" names (Privates Promise, Flint, Jackdaw) for much the same purpose. The fairy-tale tone that this creates seems painfully at odds with the events that she describes.
So, be warned: this is very readable, if you don't mind being driven crazy imagining what a better novel it might have been.
I just wanted to know what happened. That, in itself, is a testimony to the power of the story/stories of the inheritance of Solomon Farthing. Many authors don't have one fully-realized, compelling story per novel: Paulson-Ellis has two ... and she manages to blow it, layering them over with convoluted narrative tics that unnecessarily drags out the action, buries important detail, and renders characters who should have achieved heart-breaking reality into odd, flat ciphers.
I should have been warned: I gradually warmed to Paulson-Ellis' first novel, The Other Mrs. Walker, overcoming my resistance to her writing tics as she built up an intriguing story of the convoluted family dynamics behind the sad, lonely death of an old woman in an Edinburgh flat. Her style could be maddeningly opaque at times: withholding details that might just have clarified events and relationships, circling around the facts as if they were radioactive, and the words were little Geiger counters ... Skipping back and forth in time. Imbuing random objects with totemic significance ( ... if I had to hear about that stolen red coat one more time ...), the weight of which everyone but the reader seemed to automatically understand ... and the reader was supposed to accept, on faith.
But that novel came together in a satisfying whole: the loose ends were tied up, even the red coat did turn out to be important (kind of ...), and there was a nice sense of the themes of the way family ties endure, for better or for worse, working out in the end. So I was open to trying Paulson-Ellis again.
In The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing, she has doubled down on it all. Solomon Farthing is a down-on-his-luck investigator who specializes in “heir hunting,” tracking down (and profiting from) the estates of the affluent elderly who die with no known family and no will. Farthing’s most recent case is a 98-year-old man who has died in an Edinburgh nursing home. So far, so not unusual: it's when it's discovered that the deceased's burial suit has £50,000 sewn into the lining that Farthing becomes involved -- and invested in acquiring a cut of the loot from any lost heirs he can track down. Solomon Farthing's investigations reveal (and I don't think this is a spoiler -- it's heavily hinted at by the cover blurbs, and foreshadowed from the very beginning of the novel) a terrible secret from the final days of World War I, and a connection to his own complicated family history. Is it only coincidence that Solomon Farthing has been particularly asked to investigate this case?
Put like that, it sounds terrific, doesn't it? And don't get me wrong, in many ways it is. It just could have been so much better. What drives me crazy about this book:
1. Solomon's heir hunting is just too easy. The most ephemeral, throw-away records have survived intact, waiting for Solomon to be escorted to them in ramshackle sheds, and dusty back rooms, a bit musty, but there waiting for him to find the obscure little connection he needs. Memories stretch back, undimmed, over several generations and multiple degrees of family separation. (An elderly daughter-in-law who knows every little secret from her long-dead husband's family? An "aunt who isn't an aunt" who just happened to be eavesdropping when some long buried secrets were spilled, 50+ year ago?) Solomon repeatedly goes, just on the off-chance, exactly where he needs to be, to find the next clue. There are knowing jokes about Ancestry.com, and the ubiquity of genealogy tv programmes, but it occurs to no one to say, gosh, it doesn't usually work out like this ...
2. Yet again, Paulson-Ellis imbues all sorts of random objects with totemic significance which all of the characters automatically and unquestioningly understand. It's one thing to trace the life of a little cap badge, from one pocket to another, as it moves backward in time from being Solomon Farthings lost "lucky charm," back to 1916 when it was . But there are just too many of these little objects, forced to take on lives and importance all their own, for the sake of plot and symbolism. And it's entirely another thing that everyone seems to understand the deep significance of the suit which the dead man has chosen to be cremated in -- taking the £50K with him, and it.
3. And while Paulson-Ellis seems intent on building up the importance of random objects, she reduces most ... all ... of the characters to cardboard cut-outs of virtues, vices, sexuality, class. One soldier from the flashbacks to 1918 is repeatedly referred to as "the old sweat," another as "the lucky one" as if that's all we need to know about them, and this will do to establish character; other soldiers have "cute" names (Privates Promise, Flint, Jackdaw) for much the same purpose. The fairy-tale tone that this creates seems painfully at odds with the events that she describes.
So, be warned: this is very readable, if you don't mind being driven crazy imagining what a better novel it might have been.
February 11, 2020
Too quick to jump leaving me forever trying to work out the characters and there was not enough time to get to know then
January 18, 2021
I found this a difficult read. I felt like there were too many characters to try and wrap your head around to get a real feel for the story. I kept feeling like I was having to re-read paragraphs and pages to follow the story and also double-check the characters that were being referenced.
There is no arguing that Mary Paulson-Ellis is an excellent writer. Her use of language is lyrical and there is a certain poetry to it. I thoroughly enjoyed her debut novel The Other Mrs Walker but there was a feel with that book that there was a much more rounded story, she knew exactly how she was taking her characters from A to B to the inevitable Z. Whereas with this one I felt that perhaps the writer wasn't always sure about how she wanted the story to end. It is still worth a read as anything that reminds people of the horrors that these men lived through is vital so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past.
There is no arguing that Mary Paulson-Ellis is an excellent writer. Her use of language is lyrical and there is a certain poetry to it. I thoroughly enjoyed her debut novel The Other Mrs Walker but there was a feel with that book that there was a much more rounded story, she knew exactly how she was taking her characters from A to B to the inevitable Z. Whereas with this one I felt that perhaps the writer wasn't always sure about how she wanted the story to end. It is still worth a read as anything that reminds people of the horrors that these men lived through is vital so that we do not repeat the mistakes of the past.
August 5, 2019
The Inheritance Of Solomon Farthing by Mary Paulson-Ellis is a contemporary and historical novel showing the legacy of war.
The novel is set in 1918 France and modern day Edinburgh. The reader sees the camaraderie between a group of soldiers. We see items and lives that link down the ages.
A modern day search for relatives reveals secrets that have been kept through the ages.
War alters people. There are different rules to play by.
The Inheritance Of Solomon Farthing was an epic read. I did not always follow the action but I think that is because I had an e-book. I recommend buying a paperback copy to be able to flick backwards to confirm links checking facts and action. It was a great read for the social historian in me.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
The novel is set in 1918 France and modern day Edinburgh. The reader sees the camaraderie between a group of soldiers. We see items and lives that link down the ages.
A modern day search for relatives reveals secrets that have been kept through the ages.
War alters people. There are different rules to play by.
The Inheritance Of Solomon Farthing was an epic read. I did not always follow the action but I think that is because I had an e-book. I recommend buying a paperback copy to be able to flick backwards to confirm links checking facts and action. It was a great read for the social historian in me.
I received this book for free. A favourable review was not required and all views expressed are my own.
September 16, 2019
I loved this novel, the follow up to the successful The Other Mrs Walker. Beautifully written and an emotional tale, that is set during the war as well as in the present. 4 stars
November 22, 2024
Probably a 4.5* as I had a couple small reservations. Superbly plotted, narrated like a page turner, excellent characterisation. Dual narratives linked across time.
Two minor reservations - a few too many plot lines to keep track of and a couple of unanswered questions at the end. Might just have been me being inattentive though.
I’d definitely read more books by the author though.
Two minor reservations - a few too many plot lines to keep track of and a couple of unanswered questions at the end. Might just have been me being inattentive though.
I’d definitely read more books by the author though.
November 5, 2019
Solomon Farthing is a Heir Hunter, tracking down distant relatives of the deceased so he can take a share of the fortune. When he starts looking into Thomas Methven he finds connections that lead all the way back to his grandfather in WW1. This author has a lovely writing style and stories that suck you right in. One or two things niggled me like the referring of The National Archives as the National Archive and why he would drive all the way down to London for things he could find on the internet at any library. Other than that, a charming story.
July 19, 2020
Very disappointing. Two stories developing 100 years apart as an heir hunter seeks to find the descendants of an old man who had died in a nursing home. Despite the 500 pages neither of these stories developed with sufficient tension or development of the characters, and Solomon farthing’s modern day pursuit of descendants had an irritating attempt at a comic tone which seemed completely out of place. As the World War One story developed in tandem the details merged with the modern day narrative - this created confusion rather than tension, as the stories unravelled there many implausibilities and coincidences, not least the implausibility of a group of men in the western front in some sort of isolated backwater. To be honest by the end I couldn’t be bothered to try to follow it.
October 24, 2019
Loved this book. Brilliant interweaving of the past and present, fascinating to see how the actions of those in the war affected all that came after them.
September 3, 2019
Solomon Farthing is an heir hunter, someone who tries to find distant or estranged relatives of deceased people in order that they can inherit. And, of course, get a cut of that inheritance himself as a fee. When Thomas Methven passes away with no apparent heirs and with £50,000 sewn into his burial suit, Solomon has his work cut out for him. All he has to go on is a very old pawn ticket found among the old man's belongings. Solomon was brought up by his grandfather, Godfrey, who had a pawn shop and there the first of the connections began.
Because for me this book was all about connections. Connections to the past, connections to people, even connections to The Other Mrs Walker. Margaret Penny from that book gets a few mentions and makes an appearance, though is usually referred to in a disparaging way as that dreadful Penny woman! Thomas Methven has links to a group of soldiers in the 1st World War and so does Godfrey's grandfather. Solomon at one point muses that "Everyone was connected, one way or another, that was what he thought. "
There were so many echoes of the past linking with the present throughout the novel from phrases such as "his second best shirt", to the items that the soldiers used for gambling resurfacing at significant points: a centime, a tanner, a spool of pink cotton, a walnut shell, a cap badge. As Solomon investigates Methven's family tree he slowly begins the unpacking of the mystery and uncovers "a line that ran parallel to Solomon's own, connected by blood at the top, divided by secrets at the bottom." Fleshing out the story, we also hear from Godfrey Farthing's men in the last days of WW1 and then at various points in between then and the present day.
This was a book which appealed to me on so many levels. New Register House in Edinburgh, where Solomon carries out some of his genealogical research is a place I'm familiar with having researched my own family tree there. I recognise the thrill of discovery - "this was what he liked most about his profession - that moment when the dead waited for the living to wake them, bring them home again" - or the frustration of not being able to track someone down in the records. At least two of my great uncles served in WW1 in the Royal Scots which is the regiment Godfrey Farthing and others are part of. I very much enjoyed the parts of the book set in Edinburgh with the descriptions not only of familiar places but also the Edinburgh Ladies and Edinburgh Men - those capitals are deliberate!
The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing is a superb story, very cleverly told. It's a book which reminds us again of the futility of war and the repercussions affecting the soldiers and their families for years to come. Mary Paulson-Ellis writes with great insight about the way the men coped or didn't after their experiences in the Great War. It's a well-crafted and compelling piece of historical fiction with a fascinating mystery to be resolved. I loved following Solomon in his in investigations and finding out the stories of the men during and after the Great War, even though they were sometimes sad. I highly recommend this book.
Because for me this book was all about connections. Connections to the past, connections to people, even connections to The Other Mrs Walker. Margaret Penny from that book gets a few mentions and makes an appearance, though is usually referred to in a disparaging way as that dreadful Penny woman! Thomas Methven has links to a group of soldiers in the 1st World War and so does Godfrey's grandfather. Solomon at one point muses that "Everyone was connected, one way or another, that was what he thought. "
There were so many echoes of the past linking with the present throughout the novel from phrases such as "his second best shirt", to the items that the soldiers used for gambling resurfacing at significant points: a centime, a tanner, a spool of pink cotton, a walnut shell, a cap badge. As Solomon investigates Methven's family tree he slowly begins the unpacking of the mystery and uncovers "a line that ran parallel to Solomon's own, connected by blood at the top, divided by secrets at the bottom." Fleshing out the story, we also hear from Godfrey Farthing's men in the last days of WW1 and then at various points in between then and the present day.
This was a book which appealed to me on so many levels. New Register House in Edinburgh, where Solomon carries out some of his genealogical research is a place I'm familiar with having researched my own family tree there. I recognise the thrill of discovery - "this was what he liked most about his profession - that moment when the dead waited for the living to wake them, bring them home again" - or the frustration of not being able to track someone down in the records. At least two of my great uncles served in WW1 in the Royal Scots which is the regiment Godfrey Farthing and others are part of. I very much enjoyed the parts of the book set in Edinburgh with the descriptions not only of familiar places but also the Edinburgh Ladies and Edinburgh Men - those capitals are deliberate!
The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing is a superb story, very cleverly told. It's a book which reminds us again of the futility of war and the repercussions affecting the soldiers and their families for years to come. Mary Paulson-Ellis writes with great insight about the way the men coped or didn't after their experiences in the Great War. It's a well-crafted and compelling piece of historical fiction with a fascinating mystery to be resolved. I loved following Solomon in his in investigations and finding out the stories of the men during and after the Great War, even though they were sometimes sad. I highly recommend this book.
December 30, 2019
Wow! Yes, this is a wow book and I'm pretty sure it has just marched onto my favourite books of the year list.
I'm finding that books set during the First World War are really capturing my attention these days and parts of this book are set in the final days of that conflict when Captain Godfrey Farthing and his comrades are waiting for orders, wondering if they will come before the bells ring to signify the end of the war. Godfrey wants to keep his company safe if at all possible without disobeying orders.
The other strand of the story follows Godfrey's grandson, Solomon, in 2016. He's an heir hunter tasked to find out if a recently deceased man had any next of kin. If books set in World War One are particular favourites for me then most definitely so are genealogical ones with investigations into family trees and long lost relatives.
What a perfect combination, therefore, The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing is. It is plotted beautifully so as to tie all the strands in without doing so in a really obvious way. It's a companion piece to The Other Mrs Walker, Mary Paulson-Ellis's first book and I really enjoyed the way characters from the book popped up in this one. As with that first book this is one that ideally needs reading and then reading again to fully slot all the pieces together. I love a book that is like a jigsaw puzzle but it also means that greater concentration is needed and a fair amount of flicking backwards to put it all into its place. That is absolutely not a negative point though as I found it completely enthralling from beginning to end. It's a real voyage of discovery.
This is a big book at just over 500 pages but not for a moment was I tempted to rush it. The author has done a magnificent job at portraying the emotion of the war both through the minds and actions of soldiers at the time and also in looking at what happened afterwards and how the effects rippled down through the generations.
This is my kind of read. Deliciously complex, moving and thoughtful, I spent the last few pages in tears as all the threads were pulled together to the conclusion. Paulson-Ellis is a very talented writer. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.
I'm finding that books set during the First World War are really capturing my attention these days and parts of this book are set in the final days of that conflict when Captain Godfrey Farthing and his comrades are waiting for orders, wondering if they will come before the bells ring to signify the end of the war. Godfrey wants to keep his company safe if at all possible without disobeying orders.
The other strand of the story follows Godfrey's grandson, Solomon, in 2016. He's an heir hunter tasked to find out if a recently deceased man had any next of kin. If books set in World War One are particular favourites for me then most definitely so are genealogical ones with investigations into family trees and long lost relatives.
What a perfect combination, therefore, The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing is. It is plotted beautifully so as to tie all the strands in without doing so in a really obvious way. It's a companion piece to The Other Mrs Walker, Mary Paulson-Ellis's first book and I really enjoyed the way characters from the book popped up in this one. As with that first book this is one that ideally needs reading and then reading again to fully slot all the pieces together. I love a book that is like a jigsaw puzzle but it also means that greater concentration is needed and a fair amount of flicking backwards to put it all into its place. That is absolutely not a negative point though as I found it completely enthralling from beginning to end. It's a real voyage of discovery.
This is a big book at just over 500 pages but not for a moment was I tempted to rush it. The author has done a magnificent job at portraying the emotion of the war both through the minds and actions of soldiers at the time and also in looking at what happened afterwards and how the effects rippled down through the generations.
This is my kind of read. Deliciously complex, moving and thoughtful, I spent the last few pages in tears as all the threads were pulled together to the conclusion. Paulson-Ellis is a very talented writer. I can't wait to see what she comes up with next.
September 24, 2021
The Inheritance Of Solomon Farthing is a tale set over two timelines, present day Edinburgh and 1918 France.
During WW1 the story is of the soldiers in France, their camaraderie, tragedies and determination……
In present day Edinburgh, there is the mystery of a £50.000 inheritance after a ticket is found in funeral clothes, so a hunt begins to find living relatives…..
As the search begins we find what a small world we really live in as people and their secrets are linked.
This is not an easy read as I found it jumped around between the timelines a bit too quickly, not giving you time to get to know the characters. (I have to admit I skipped a few pages at times as I was just lost). I did like the historical fiction more and I found that an emotional read. Unfortunately it wasn’t really for me.
During WW1 the story is of the soldiers in France, their camaraderie, tragedies and determination……
In present day Edinburgh, there is the mystery of a £50.000 inheritance after a ticket is found in funeral clothes, so a hunt begins to find living relatives…..
As the search begins we find what a small world we really live in as people and their secrets are linked.
This is not an easy read as I found it jumped around between the timelines a bit too quickly, not giving you time to get to know the characters. (I have to admit I skipped a few pages at times as I was just lost). I did like the historical fiction more and I found that an emotional read. Unfortunately it wasn’t really for me.
November 19, 2022
When an old man does in a nursing home with a small fortune sewn into his suit, chronic failure heir hunter (a little like an ambulance chaser) Solomon Farthing is called onto the case. If he can find an heir to this money, he might be able claim a percentage as his finders fee.
As Solomon continues his search, we take a look back almost a Century at the man who connects the deceased & the hunter, Solomon's grandfather Godfrey.
This book is a powerful tale about inheritance, bothy physical & psychological, family, fear and our ability to transcend our circumstances. Paulson-Ellis does a wonderful job of weaving between multiple timelines, creating a beautiful grand narrative from seemingly disparate stories.
A lesson on how we ought to be more tolerant of LGBTQI persons felt like a clunky addition to a WWI section, but it didn't change the beauty of a well told story overall.
As Solomon continues his search, we take a look back almost a Century at the man who connects the deceased & the hunter, Solomon's grandfather Godfrey.
This book is a powerful tale about inheritance, bothy physical & psychological, family, fear and our ability to transcend our circumstances. Paulson-Ellis does a wonderful job of weaving between multiple timelines, creating a beautiful grand narrative from seemingly disparate stories.
A lesson on how we ought to be more tolerant of LGBTQI persons felt like a clunky addition to a WWI section, but it didn't change the beauty of a well told story overall.
July 27, 2021
Poignant
April 19, 2024
I enjoyed this book.
May 23, 2024
Read for Book Club. Had great potential but did not live up to it as far as I was concerned. Heir hunting and connection with a First World War story sounded promising but I found it confusing (very quick changed between present and past), too many coincedences and too many 'lucky breaks'. Overall disappointing and too long.
January 18, 2020
Huge potential, but only builds to one major climax. Wonderfully descriptive language spoilt by digressions, eg Solomon hops into an old mini to make an important journey. The mini is richly described, but also the graveyard where the car was parked-for no apparent reason.
February 4, 2020
A large complex novel with two strands - one a present day hunt for the heirs of an old soldier who has died without a will in an Edinburgh nursing home, and two the taxing tale of a group of WW1 soldiers in the trenches of France. While the plot is compelling, it is very easy to get lost in the fog of characters and twists in the story. The narration of the soldiers' lot in France is the better and more believable story. The grandson of the Captain is the Heir Hunter in the second thread who is searching for the true story of the dead soldier - who just happens to be one from his grandfathers unit. Just a few too many coincidences for me I'm afraid. A good editor would not have gone astray.
September 29, 2019
Thank you to Pan Macmillan/Mantle for granting my wish for an eARC via NetGalley of Mary Paulson-Ellis’ ‘The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing’ in exchange for an honest review. It was published on 5th September.
Edinburgh, May 2016. Heir Hunter Solomon Farthing is rather down on his luck and in debt to a shady character. After an old soldier dies in a nursing home with no will or known relatives, the funeral home is surprised to discover £50,000 in used notes sewn into the lining of his burial suit. Solomon is offered the opportunity to claim the 20% fee if he can locate the soldier’s closest living relative. However, he is given a strict deadline of four days and only a pawn ticket belonging to the man. This sets him on a journey where he discovers links to between the soldier and his own family history.
This novel is another one that takes place in multiple time periods. While Solomon is running about seeking answers, other chapters explore the experiences of a small group of British soldiers on the cusp of the November 1918 armistice. The unit has commandeered a farmhouse and are waiting for either their orders to go over the top or for it all to be over. They are bored and personalities are clashing.
They are led by Captain Godfrey Farthing, Solomon’s grandfather, who after returning home from the war opens a pawnshop in Edinburgh.
A few objects are present in both the past and present including the pawn ticket, a battered sixpence, a silver regimental cap badge, and the burial suit. These seemingly insignificant items act as tokens linking the characters over time. Rather sweetly in both 1918 and 2016 two small dogs act as companions and influence events.
It is a gentle mystery that reveals its secrets slowly. Mary Paulson-Ellis does a masterful job in creating memorable characters and bringing her settings vividly to life.
It is quite a complex tale that requires close reading. I found myself caught up in this moving tale. I will likely recommend it to my reading group next year as it is the kind of novel that can reveal more in a second reading and there is a lot of scope for discussion alongside its interesting story.
4.5 stars rounded up to 5.
Edinburgh, May 2016. Heir Hunter Solomon Farthing is rather down on his luck and in debt to a shady character. After an old soldier dies in a nursing home with no will or known relatives, the funeral home is surprised to discover £50,000 in used notes sewn into the lining of his burial suit. Solomon is offered the opportunity to claim the 20% fee if he can locate the soldier’s closest living relative. However, he is given a strict deadline of four days and only a pawn ticket belonging to the man. This sets him on a journey where he discovers links to between the soldier and his own family history.
This novel is another one that takes place in multiple time periods. While Solomon is running about seeking answers, other chapters explore the experiences of a small group of British soldiers on the cusp of the November 1918 armistice. The unit has commandeered a farmhouse and are waiting for either their orders to go over the top or for it all to be over. They are bored and personalities are clashing.
They are led by Captain Godfrey Farthing, Solomon’s grandfather, who after returning home from the war opens a pawnshop in Edinburgh.
A few objects are present in both the past and present including the pawn ticket, a battered sixpence, a silver regimental cap badge, and the burial suit. These seemingly insignificant items act as tokens linking the characters over time. Rather sweetly in both 1918 and 2016 two small dogs act as companions and influence events.
It is a gentle mystery that reveals its secrets slowly. Mary Paulson-Ellis does a masterful job in creating memorable characters and bringing her settings vividly to life.
It is quite a complex tale that requires close reading. I found myself caught up in this moving tale. I will likely recommend it to my reading group next year as it is the kind of novel that can reveal more in a second reading and there is a lot of scope for discussion alongside its interesting story.
4.5 stars rounded up to 5.
August 3, 2022
This is a book about love, loss and.. debt - both the financial and emotional kind.
I did like the Anti-hero Solomon eventually- he has to grow on you a bit though. Lots of “ghosts” of the past and very thought provoking at times about what you leave behind when you go.
I did enjoy the mixed time line narrative as each section of time was long enough to progress the story rather than leave you wondering.
The WW1 parts felt so real - the sense of hopelessness and pointlessness as well as the traumatic experiences of the troops both then and how it affected their lives afterwards.
There was a nice bit of redemption at the end for Solomon too. Thoroughly recommend this book.
I did like the Anti-hero Solomon eventually- he has to grow on you a bit though. Lots of “ghosts” of the past and very thought provoking at times about what you leave behind when you go.
I did enjoy the mixed time line narrative as each section of time was long enough to progress the story rather than leave you wondering.
The WW1 parts felt so real - the sense of hopelessness and pointlessness as well as the traumatic experiences of the troops both then and how it affected their lives afterwards.
There was a nice bit of redemption at the end for Solomon too. Thoroughly recommend this book.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 26, 2021
This is one of those books where, in the end, I was glad I had read it. It's dense in places, and the dialogue and cultural references are so thickly Scottish that they are sometimes hard to follow for a non-Scottish (or possibly non-Glaswegian) reader. Nevertheless, I learned a great deal about the first world war through the eyes of a small group of men, and the threads that follow these men through several decades are, though complex, ultimately well drawn. This book is not an easy read, or at least it wasn't for me, but it was gripping in places.
August 29, 2020
Very interesting and with believable characters and incidents.
The last three chapters tied all the people together and was almost like it had been written by a different author.
The book was too long with the story dragging out in the middle could have held my attention much more if it had been like the last three chapters. A bit too much time was spent in the encampment playing cards and killing chickens.
The last three chapters tied all the people together and was almost like it had been written by a different author.
The book was too long with the story dragging out in the middle could have held my attention much more if it had been like the last three chapters. A bit too much time was spent in the encampment playing cards and killing chickens.
November 24, 2019
⭐️⭐️ = it was okay
This was a strange book. It had multiple characters and time periods to follow, but by the author’s not wanting to give too much away I found the storyline so vague I had trouble keeping track of what was going on, and who the characters were. I also found most of the story and characters very negative/ sad.
Wouldn’t recommend it.
This was a strange book. It had multiple characters and time periods to follow, but by the author’s not wanting to give too much away I found the storyline so vague I had trouble keeping track of what was going on, and who the characters were. I also found most of the story and characters very negative/ sad.
Wouldn’t recommend it.
February 10, 2021
In the dying days of the first world war a squad of British soldiers with orders to undertake a highly dangerous river-crossing wile away the days before the attack by gambling. A greenhorn lieutenant eager for his first taste of action sows dissent among the men. One of them is killed, his legacy a pawnbroker's ticket. The soldiers are all representative types: the 'old sweat', the gay couple, the captain weighed down by his responsibilities, the coward, the wide boy,
In modern-day Edinburgh, Solomon, grandson of the officer in charge of the squad, tries to find the heir to an old man who has died in a nursing home, his clue being a pawnbroker's ticket. His search takes him to a foundling home in Northumbria.
The story shuttles between these two narratives; there are also snippets telling what happened to some of the soldiers after the war.
I found the first world war storyline a very slow build. One knew at once that someone (maybe more than one) had died because that is given ion the very first page. This hook was necessary because the soldiers did nothing for a long time except gambling and worrying and squabbling. This was tremendously authentic and the interplay between the characters was fascinating, but it was slow.
The modern storyline was significantly more surreal, though narrated with everyday and sometimes gritty reality. A trio of women sitting around a coffin appear at the start and the end. Solomon, in debt to a loan shark, escapes prison because a police officer wants him to do him a favour. On his journey south to find the heir he seems to have a charmed existence, turning up evidence wherever he goes and never questioning the most obscure clues. Characters from the first-world-war story keep cropping up in their descendants and coincidences abound, including resonances into his own murky past. Companions (a dog and a schoolboy) join him for portions of his quest. And I think the word quest explains what is happening. This storyline has a mythic quality. It is as if when Solomon leaves Edinburgh he enters a world which, for all its everydayness, is not quite real. It seems like a 'hero's jounrey' sort of story.
So back to the WWI storyline: is that also mythic? The farmhouse they find themselves at, in the last days of the war, with peace just around the corner and annihilation available just over the river, is more than once referred to as Eden and at least one of them acts as an Iago-like serpent. And, of course, they are all, in the present-day of the Solomon narrative, already dead.
So it seemed to me that the book was not just a simple whodunnit-style Heir Hunting story but one which offered totally unexpected resonances.
Some memorable moments:
"Some men were born to give instruction and others to take it. That's just the way it is." (The Debt, 1918, 2)
"Heir Hunting was full of false trails, but Solomon knew from experience that there was never a dead end on a family tree, only another branch to explore." (The Pawn, 2016, 2)
"Edinburgh, a city in which one often reached the destination one wanted, without ever quite understanding the route." (The Bet, 2016, 3)
"What was it about a society that called them heroes ... when all it ever did was use boys as fodder for the guns." (The Charge, 2016, 1)
In modern-day Edinburgh, Solomon, grandson of the officer in charge of the squad, tries to find the heir to an old man who has died in a nursing home, his clue being a pawnbroker's ticket. His search takes him to a foundling home in Northumbria.
The story shuttles between these two narratives; there are also snippets telling what happened to some of the soldiers after the war.
I found the first world war storyline a very slow build. One knew at once that someone (maybe more than one) had died because that is given ion the very first page. This hook was necessary because the soldiers did nothing for a long time except gambling and worrying and squabbling. This was tremendously authentic and the interplay between the characters was fascinating, but it was slow.
The modern storyline was significantly more surreal, though narrated with everyday and sometimes gritty reality. A trio of women sitting around a coffin appear at the start and the end. Solomon, in debt to a loan shark, escapes prison because a police officer wants him to do him a favour. On his journey south to find the heir he seems to have a charmed existence, turning up evidence wherever he goes and never questioning the most obscure clues. Characters from the first-world-war story keep cropping up in their descendants and coincidences abound, including resonances into his own murky past. Companions (a dog and a schoolboy) join him for portions of his quest. And I think the word quest explains what is happening. This storyline has a mythic quality. It is as if when Solomon leaves Edinburgh he enters a world which, for all its everydayness, is not quite real. It seems like a 'hero's jounrey' sort of story.
So back to the WWI storyline: is that also mythic? The farmhouse they find themselves at, in the last days of the war, with peace just around the corner and annihilation available just over the river, is more than once referred to as Eden and at least one of them acts as an Iago-like serpent. And, of course, they are all, in the present-day of the Solomon narrative, already dead.
So it seemed to me that the book was not just a simple whodunnit-style Heir Hunting story but one which offered totally unexpected resonances.
Some memorable moments:
"Some men were born to give instruction and others to take it. That's just the way it is." (The Debt, 1918, 2)
"Heir Hunting was full of false trails, but Solomon knew from experience that there was never a dead end on a family tree, only another branch to explore." (The Pawn, 2016, 2)
"Edinburgh, a city in which one often reached the destination one wanted, without ever quite understanding the route." (The Bet, 2016, 3)
"What was it about a society that called them heroes ... when all it ever did was use boys as fodder for the guns." (The Charge, 2016, 1)
March 25, 2020
A group of Great War soldiers is waiting for orders. During the last skirmishes of the war, men are still dying. Will the men receive orders to retreat or advance? Who will live or who will die? There are two strands to ‘The Inheritance of Solomon Farthing’ by Mary Paulson-Ellis and the title refers to the second. A contemporary man in Edinburgh, an heir hunter, finds a pawn ticket amongst the possessions of Thomas Methven, an old soldier who died alone.
This is a detailed story with many layers and many characters introduced as the two strands are told and hesitantly connected. At times the detail became confusing with so many descriptive repetitions I found myself skipping forwards. Paulson-Ellis writes scenes so well – the soldier’s gambling scene with the chicken is totally believable, and her portrayal of the foundling school in NE England is heart breaking. As Solomon tracks the life story of the deceased soldier, we see flashes of his own story, orphaned at seven and sent to live with his grandfather. Though interesting I found this distracting, it took me away from the story of the soldiers and added even more characters and family trees to remember.
The message is that the debts of the past do not disappear. Captain Godfrey Farthing is waiting, always waiting; to live to die, to advance, to retreat. He is simply trying to keep his men safe to the end of the war, which they suspect may come at any time. But Farthing’s intentions may be wrecked by enemy attack, by orders to attack, or by his own men themselves who are confined and bored. ‘A strange peace was coursing through his veins; that terrible calm that comes when a man knows the end is coming, but not in the way he had imagined when he began.’
Gambling is a continuous theme throughout the WW1 strand, and I lost track of the treasures gambled, won and lost, coveted, stolen and hidden. There are 11 soldiers involved, surely too many. Like ‘The Lord of the Flies’, the boredom of the men, their jealousies, petty rivalries and guns come to dominate their world, as if the war is already over. The treasures they gamble can be the smallest thing which to us may seem irrelevant but in war is crucial. Not monetary value as known at home, but representing an emotional or practical value.
Different rules apply during wartime and items that are significant then are cast into the spotlight when they survive across the generations to be found by modern day relatives. I admit to confusion about who was related to who and perhaps the cutting of a few peripheral characters would help. Given my interest in family history and WW1, I expected to love this book but longed for a firmer editing hand.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-revie...
This is a detailed story with many layers and many characters introduced as the two strands are told and hesitantly connected. At times the detail became confusing with so many descriptive repetitions I found myself skipping forwards. Paulson-Ellis writes scenes so well – the soldier’s gambling scene with the chicken is totally believable, and her portrayal of the foundling school in NE England is heart breaking. As Solomon tracks the life story of the deceased soldier, we see flashes of his own story, orphaned at seven and sent to live with his grandfather. Though interesting I found this distracting, it took me away from the story of the soldiers and added even more characters and family trees to remember.
The message is that the debts of the past do not disappear. Captain Godfrey Farthing is waiting, always waiting; to live to die, to advance, to retreat. He is simply trying to keep his men safe to the end of the war, which they suspect may come at any time. But Farthing’s intentions may be wrecked by enemy attack, by orders to attack, or by his own men themselves who are confined and bored. ‘A strange peace was coursing through his veins; that terrible calm that comes when a man knows the end is coming, but not in the way he had imagined when he began.’
Gambling is a continuous theme throughout the WW1 strand, and I lost track of the treasures gambled, won and lost, coveted, stolen and hidden. There are 11 soldiers involved, surely too many. Like ‘The Lord of the Flies’, the boredom of the men, their jealousies, petty rivalries and guns come to dominate their world, as if the war is already over. The treasures they gamble can be the smallest thing which to us may seem irrelevant but in war is crucial. Not monetary value as known at home, but representing an emotional or practical value.
Different rules apply during wartime and items that are significant then are cast into the spotlight when they survive across the generations to be found by modern day relatives. I admit to confusion about who was related to who and perhaps the cutting of a few peripheral characters would help. Given my interest in family history and WW1, I expected to love this book but longed for a firmer editing hand.
Read more of my book reviews at http://www.sandradanby.com/book-revie...
October 10, 2019
This book should without a doubt be on some prestigious lists. It is a superbly told story and Paulson-Ellis is a spectacular storyteller. The way she weaves the individual threads through the timelines and the story, is done in such a subtle way you almost don't realise she is doing it.
The story takes place in the present with the heir hunter Solomon Farthing and in the past with his grandfather in the First World War. Whilst the story bounces back and forth it also takes pit-stops in the years in between. Connections are drawn from the small group of soldiers to the same men in the future and their offspring. The result is a well-plotted narrative about guilt, brotherhood, loyalty and a question of conscience.
There is a parallel between the betting games the soldiers play to pass the time and to fight the fear and anxiety, and the veterans who connect with each other after the war, specifically the items they place as bets. Each one of them brings something, leaves an item and then takes another thing with them. A spool of thread, buttons, walnuts, fruit, cap badges and a pawn ticket. Anything can become one man's treasure in a setting where every single item can become as precious as a cave full of gold.
At times I had tears in my eyes, it's emotional and nostalgic, especially because the author brings realism and authenticity to the table. As a reader you can't help but think about the young boys and men who died under appalling circumstances. Often following the orders that meant they knew they were nothing but bullet fodder for the enemy. Nothing but numbers for their own country.
Would you lead your brothers in arms into death - on a suicide mission? Would you risk death to ensure others cheat death? Of course disregarding an order meant death by firing squad. The crimes of cowardice, pacifism and just pure trauma took far too many victims in the war.
It's historical war fiction, literary fiction and simultaneously a story filled with unanswered questions and mysteries. It is an excellent read. A book that belongs on best books lists.
*I received a courtesy copy*
The story takes place in the present with the heir hunter Solomon Farthing and in the past with his grandfather in the First World War. Whilst the story bounces back and forth it also takes pit-stops in the years in between. Connections are drawn from the small group of soldiers to the same men in the future and their offspring. The result is a well-plotted narrative about guilt, brotherhood, loyalty and a question of conscience.
There is a parallel between the betting games the soldiers play to pass the time and to fight the fear and anxiety, and the veterans who connect with each other after the war, specifically the items they place as bets. Each one of them brings something, leaves an item and then takes another thing with them. A spool of thread, buttons, walnuts, fruit, cap badges and a pawn ticket. Anything can become one man's treasure in a setting where every single item can become as precious as a cave full of gold.
At times I had tears in my eyes, it's emotional and nostalgic, especially because the author brings realism and authenticity to the table. As a reader you can't help but think about the young boys and men who died under appalling circumstances. Often following the orders that meant they knew they were nothing but bullet fodder for the enemy. Nothing but numbers for their own country.
Would you lead your brothers in arms into death - on a suicide mission? Would you risk death to ensure others cheat death? Of course disregarding an order meant death by firing squad. The crimes of cowardice, pacifism and just pure trauma took far too many victims in the war.
It's historical war fiction, literary fiction and simultaneously a story filled with unanswered questions and mysteries. It is an excellent read. A book that belongs on best books lists.
*I received a courtesy copy*
Displaying 1 - 30 of 124 reviews