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House Of Eliott #2
House at War: The Continuing Story of the House of Eliott
A sequel to "The House of Eliott", this book follows the fortunes of two sisters, Beatrice and Evangeline. As the war in Europe begins, London society is alive with excitement and activity. Within months, however, the atmosphere changes dramatically, and the sisters' lifestyle comes under threat.
- GenresHistorical Fiction
247 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
September 11, 2009
Decided I just can't finish this. I can't make myself get back into it. This may or may not be well-written, but I'm perfectly content never knowing. I care too much about the characters as I already know them from the TV series to include in their life whatever this author says.
Actually ... I'd rather write my own ending for The House of Eliott ....
Actually ... I'd rather write my own ending for The House of Eliott ....
abandoned
February 19, 2013The first 100 pages or so were quite painful. But I cared so much about the characters and wanted to know how they made out that I persevered. The writer seems to have embraced a 'Bulwer/Lytton' style describing every stitch of clothing and every single bite of food they stick in their mouths.
December 2, 2020
I was a huge fan of 'The House of Eliott' back in the nineties, when it was on television and, after reading Jean Marsh's book, I was interested to see that Elizabeth O'Leary had written a sequel, which I enjoyed. The characters' situations change, they are under the shadow of the war, even Tilly has an adventure of her own. I wish there was more.
May 23, 2014
Uhm, what did I think? Not entirely sure. I think my main feeling is disappointment.
I bought this book because I'd just finished watching the reruns of the House of Eliott. That series ended on an abrupt note with discord between the sisters, and this book was advertised as the story to tie up the loose ends. But it doesn't. For one thing it appears to have ignored the third series altogether. It could well have been written before Jean Marsh finished writing series three, but the fact that she apparently collaborated on this book makes the exclusions of certain characters odd.
So, basically, there's no Daniel, who Evie married, yet he appears on the front cover. Instead Evie's romantic interest is Hugo, who appeared in two episodes in series one. I remembered him liking Evie, but he was too boring for her. Yet here, they have a backstory of a torrid passionate affair and him asking her to marry him three times. What?!
There's no Madge, either, which is irritating as she was integral to the downstairs part of the show. And Tilly is more or less reduced to a walk-on part. There are errors in the ages of the sisters (it's a twelve year gap, not ten). This book spans fifteen years, yet Bea appears to remain forty whilst Evie is permanently mid-thirties. In the television series, Evie is 18 in 1920, so by the end of the war, she should be 43/44. Oh, give me some of that magic dust!
It's also not very well written. There's this emphasis on food, as if she needed to pad out the book. Jack says something whilst 'peeling a pear', but as that's the last line of the chapter, it's unnecessary. It doesn't add anything to his character, to the current situation, or say anything except that he likes pears. (I must just stop typing and peel this orange on my bed ... see unnecessary!) I didn't mind the details about clothes, mind you, because that I did think was necessary as this is a story about a fashion house, and mentioning the wartime rationing was in place, but really did we have to glean every detail of every course when Bea and Cyril are lunching/dining/etc etc?
The main problem is that this book spans a long time period and the author has tried to cram in as many characters as she can from the series, added a few more, but has done little to develop them. I really did not give a monkeys about Connie or Beryl. Hugo made so little impression on me that I was sorely tempted to skip parts. Grief is dealt with in such a basic way (but then the series did that a bit , too) and I ended up reading quickly just so I could get to the end and mark it as finished. The book is quite short, too, so details about the war are skimmed over in a few words, and the sudden changes in time are jarring.
So, why does this have two stars and not one? There's one scene in the book that made me feel much more than I was expecting. Also I did think the voices of Bea and Evie were caught well, and Jack was in character.
To sum up, I was looking for a book so I could continue the story of the Elliot sisters because the end of series three left everything up in the air. Sadly, this isn't it.
I bought this book because I'd just finished watching the reruns of the House of Eliott. That series ended on an abrupt note with discord between the sisters, and this book was advertised as the story to tie up the loose ends. But it doesn't. For one thing it appears to have ignored the third series altogether. It could well have been written before Jean Marsh finished writing series three, but the fact that she apparently collaborated on this book makes the exclusions of certain characters odd.
So, basically, there's no Daniel, who Evie married, yet he appears on the front cover. Instead Evie's romantic interest is Hugo, who appeared in two episodes in series one. I remembered him liking Evie, but he was too boring for her. Yet here, they have a backstory of a torrid passionate affair and him asking her to marry him three times. What?!
There's no Madge, either, which is irritating as she was integral to the downstairs part of the show. And Tilly is more or less reduced to a walk-on part. There are errors in the ages of the sisters (it's a twelve year gap, not ten). This book spans fifteen years, yet Bea appears to remain forty whilst Evie is permanently mid-thirties. In the television series, Evie is 18 in 1920, so by the end of the war, she should be 43/44. Oh, give me some of that magic dust!
It's also not very well written. There's this emphasis on food, as if she needed to pad out the book. Jack says something whilst 'peeling a pear', but as that's the last line of the chapter, it's unnecessary. It doesn't add anything to his character, to the current situation, or say anything except that he likes pears. (I must just stop typing and peel this orange on my bed ... see unnecessary!) I didn't mind the details about clothes, mind you, because that I did think was necessary as this is a story about a fashion house, and mentioning the wartime rationing was in place, but really did we have to glean every detail of every course when Bea and Cyril are lunching/dining/etc etc?
The main problem is that this book spans a long time period and the author has tried to cram in as many characters as she can from the series, added a few more, but has done little to develop them. I really did not give a monkeys about Connie or Beryl. Hugo made so little impression on me that I was sorely tempted to skip parts. Grief is dealt with in such a basic way (but then the series did that a bit , too) and I ended up reading quickly just so I could get to the end and mark it as finished. The book is quite short, too, so details about the war are skimmed over in a few words, and the sudden changes in time are jarring.
So, why does this have two stars and not one? There's one scene in the book that made me feel much more than I was expecting. Also I did think the voices of Bea and Evie were caught well, and Jack was in character.
To sum up, I was looking for a book so I could continue the story of the Elliot sisters because the end of series three left everything up in the air. Sadly, this isn't it.
January 30, 2012
I so enjoyed the first book in this series that I was really looking forward to this one, but I found it disappointing. There are lots of references to things that the reader is assumed to understand without explanation, such as a failed shop in Paris and one line referring to "that business in Shropshire." What business in Shropshire? The characters in the book know, but the reader doesn't.
The War is managed with remarkably little fuss with regard to rationing; the ladies seem to manage with only marginal difficulty in acquiring fabric and food (quite a different experience from what most Brits had). In a novel written by a Londoner, this is rather surprising.
In light of my experience with House at War, I don't think I'll be continuing with the series. I'll stick with the television programme.
The War is managed with remarkably little fuss with regard to rationing; the ladies seem to manage with only marginal difficulty in acquiring fabric and food (quite a different experience from what most Brits had). In a novel written by a Londoner, this is rather surprising.
In light of my experience with House at War, I don't think I'll be continuing with the series. I'll stick with the television programme.
January 13, 2013
As a huge, huge fan of the show this was a must read. I didn't read it expecting a follow on from the series, this is very much a follow on from Jean Marsh's novel which differs greatly from what appeared on screen. However, whereas Marsh's book was literate and engaging, this is reads like 'fanfic'. There are some nice ideas, I particularly liked some of the drama around Jack and Bea and their children in WWII but on the whole, this lacks the tone, grit and sparkle of it's predecessor and bares little resemblance to the characters themselves.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews