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The Favour
'Absorbing, intelligent and atmospheric... Genius' Elizabeth Haynes _________________________ Fortune favours the fraud... When she was thirteen years old, Ada Howell lost not just her father, but the life she felt she was destined to lead. Now, at eighteen, Ada is given a second chance when her wealthy godmother gifts her with an extravagant art history trip to Italy. In the palazzos of Venice, the cathedrals of Florence and the villas of Rome, she finally finds herself among the kind of people she aspires to sophisticated, cultured, privileged. Ada does everything in her power to prove she is one of them. And when a member of the group dies in suspicious circumstances, she seizes the opportunity to permanently bind herself to this gilded set. But everything hidden must eventually surface, and when it does, Ada discovers she's been keeping a far darker secret than she could ever have imagined... 'Intelligent, elegant and immersive' Claire Kendal
352 pages, Paperback
First published February 4, 2021
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June 25, 2021
When Ada Howell’s adoptive father dies she and her mother are forced to sell the grand but fading country house in Wales and move to a much more modest home in the suburbs of London. How is Ada to make the connections she craves with the sophisticated and privileged elite from this humble base, she wonders. And then a rejection from Oxford University rubs salt in the wound. But a gift from her godmother, who largely funds a two month art and history trip to Italy, provides Ada with an opportunity to rub shoulders with just the sort of people she is seeking. So starts this engrossing tale, a story that starts slowly but ends with a punch to the gut I’m still reeling from.
The trip is to commence in Venice and move through various locations including Florence and Rome. When Ada joins the group – she arrives a little late as she’s saved money on travel by booking a cheap flight to more distant Treviso rather than the city’s official airport – she quickly realises that many of the small group are established friends and some are even related to each other. Integrating herself successfully into this group is going to be harder work than she expected. The trip is run by a small company called Dilettanti Discoveries and the party will be accompanied on their journey by three young, well informed guides.
Ada comes across as scheming and rather hard to like, dropping into conversation tales of the grand house the family were required to sell off and calling attention to the fact that her late father was a writer. She’s tough on the one naïve American in the group and watchful of the others, ever looking for ways of gaining their interest and their trust. One member of the group in particular takes a dislike to her – and she to him. The author introduces a lot of detailed information on art and architecture here which is a little on the heavy side for my tastes but did a provide a sense of authenticity to this trip, designed to be a modern representation of the Grand Tour of old. But then an incident occurs, a death. The circumstances are odd and it shakes up the group, disrupting the mood of reverie and self-congratulation.
This first section of the book is really just a warm up to the main story. We follow Ada’s ongoing communications and occasional meetings with members of the party on their return from the trip, her determined attempts not to lose contact with the Dilettanti, as they now call themselves. Is she still an outsider or has she now cemented her place amongst these more wealthy and better connected people? And what of her future: what course should her career, and in fact the rest of her life, take - and can she use her ‘friendship’ with these people to oil the wheels along her chosen route?
From this point I really wasn’t sure where the story was going to go. There’s some interesting byplay between the characters: some achieve stellar success and others drift away somewhat and there’s a degree of sniping too. But it all comes together in a tense finale where the story is truly stood on its head. This is a well written, if somewhat artsy, tale that held my interest throughout and produced what for me was a truly surprising, indeed shocking, ending. It’s the first adult novel from this author who has previously written a number of books for children. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for more of her literary mysteries, which put me in mind of Emily St. John Mandel and Donna Tartt.
My sincere thanks to W.F. Howes Ltd and NetGalley for providing an audio copy of this book – ably narrated by Helen Keeley – in exchange for an honest review.
The trip is to commence in Venice and move through various locations including Florence and Rome. When Ada joins the group – she arrives a little late as she’s saved money on travel by booking a cheap flight to more distant Treviso rather than the city’s official airport – she quickly realises that many of the small group are established friends and some are even related to each other. Integrating herself successfully into this group is going to be harder work than she expected. The trip is run by a small company called Dilettanti Discoveries and the party will be accompanied on their journey by three young, well informed guides.
Ada comes across as scheming and rather hard to like, dropping into conversation tales of the grand house the family were required to sell off and calling attention to the fact that her late father was a writer. She’s tough on the one naïve American in the group and watchful of the others, ever looking for ways of gaining their interest and their trust. One member of the group in particular takes a dislike to her – and she to him. The author introduces a lot of detailed information on art and architecture here which is a little on the heavy side for my tastes but did a provide a sense of authenticity to this trip, designed to be a modern representation of the Grand Tour of old. But then an incident occurs, a death. The circumstances are odd and it shakes up the group, disrupting the mood of reverie and self-congratulation.
This first section of the book is really just a warm up to the main story. We follow Ada’s ongoing communications and occasional meetings with members of the party on their return from the trip, her determined attempts not to lose contact with the Dilettanti, as they now call themselves. Is she still an outsider or has she now cemented her place amongst these more wealthy and better connected people? And what of her future: what course should her career, and in fact the rest of her life, take - and can she use her ‘friendship’ with these people to oil the wheels along her chosen route?
From this point I really wasn’t sure where the story was going to go. There’s some interesting byplay between the characters: some achieve stellar success and others drift away somewhat and there’s a degree of sniping too. But it all comes together in a tense finale where the story is truly stood on its head. This is a well written, if somewhat artsy, tale that held my interest throughout and produced what for me was a truly surprising, indeed shocking, ending. It’s the first adult novel from this author who has previously written a number of books for children. I’ll definitely be on the lookout for more of her literary mysteries, which put me in mind of Emily St. John Mandel and Donna Tartt.
My sincere thanks to W.F. Howes Ltd and NetGalley for providing an audio copy of this book – ably narrated by Helen Keeley – in exchange for an honest review.
June 4, 2021
(3.5) When the sun comes out, my brain turns to mush; I would love to be the sort of person who can lounge around reading Huysmans or Proust in the baking heat, but I’m just not – I need simple fare with broad-brush characters and twisty plots. (This is why the concept of the ‘beach/holiday read’ has always seemed useful, rather than derogatory, to me.) Coincidentally, The Favour is the third novel in a row I’ve read (after
Voyeur
and A Ladder to the Sky) that might be described as a privilege thriller, in which social climbing/ambition/escaping a background perceived as unglamorous is a character’s motivation for dark deeds.
Ada is the stepdaughter of a writer from old money – money that’s close to running out by the time he marries her mother. She passes an idyllic childhood at the ancestral country house, Garreg Las, but when her stepfather dies, the crumbling building is sold off. Clinging onto her beloved memories of ‘Daddy’, Ada vows to rejoin the elite, whatever it takes. (Ada is at pains to let us know that rejoining is the point – she is not a true outsider – though it’s hard not to feel this is the author telling us the novel’s USP as much as the character announcing herself.) Spending the summer before university in Venice, she sees a chance to ingratiate herself with a group of posh friends, and her efforts pay off, albeit under unfortunate circumstances: a tragic incident that, it seems, binds Ada to wealthy half-siblings Annabelle and Lorcan forever. That takes us to the halfway point; the rest deals with Ada’s attempts to hide the truth and stay in the orbit of this gilded clique over the next decade. It’s preposterous, absolutely nobody in it is likeable, and there are about three times as many twists as any plot needs, all of which made it perfect to read in one long stretch on a hot afternoon.
TinyLetter | Linktree
Ada is the stepdaughter of a writer from old money – money that’s close to running out by the time he marries her mother. She passes an idyllic childhood at the ancestral country house, Garreg Las, but when her stepfather dies, the crumbling building is sold off. Clinging onto her beloved memories of ‘Daddy’, Ada vows to rejoin the elite, whatever it takes. (Ada is at pains to let us know that rejoining is the point – she is not a true outsider – though it’s hard not to feel this is the author telling us the novel’s USP as much as the character announcing herself.) Spending the summer before university in Venice, she sees a chance to ingratiate herself with a group of posh friends, and her efforts pay off, albeit under unfortunate circumstances: a tragic incident that, it seems, binds Ada to wealthy half-siblings Annabelle and Lorcan forever. That takes us to the halfway point; the rest deals with Ada’s attempts to hide the truth and stay in the orbit of this gilded clique over the next decade. It’s preposterous, absolutely nobody in it is likeable, and there are about three times as many twists as any plot needs, all of which made it perfect to read in one long stretch on a hot afternoon.
TinyLetter | Linktree
February 4, 2021
This was an exceptionally well written tale about desperation to fit in. It starts with a cultural trip to Italy for Ada, as part of the Dilettante. We are taken on two journeys- the sights and sounds of marvelous Italy and the observations and revelations of all the characters in the group. The former is filled with indepth and interesting information on various artworks and the latter highlights the differences between the haves and the hoping to be like the haves.
At the the centre is Ada, whose sole claim to fame is a crumbling home that she lived in because of her step father. His death has necessitated that her mother sell and move. Ada is desperate to be seen like those in the Dilettante group - coming from the right background and knowing the right people and moving in the right connected circles and will do anything to be part of this clique. When a crime is committed while in Italy it provides her with an opportunity to at least in her mind, prove invaluable to two key players. Thus begins 'the favour' she feels they owe her as she ingratiates herself parasitically into their lives.
4 and half stars.
At the the centre is Ada, whose sole claim to fame is a crumbling home that she lived in because of her step father. His death has necessitated that her mother sell and move. Ada is desperate to be seen like those in the Dilettante group - coming from the right background and knowing the right people and moving in the right connected circles and will do anything to be part of this clique. When a crime is committed while in Italy it provides her with an opportunity to at least in her mind, prove invaluable to two key players. Thus begins 'the favour' she feels they owe her as she ingratiates herself parasitically into their lives.
4 and half stars.
March 15, 2021
The Favour was a novel I fell into, it moves slowly but surely through an ever changing character driven drama where the people you meet are not always likeable but always utterly compelling.
Ada, our main protagonist, feels a lot of entitlement, her family having fallen from grace, she broods internally about how therefore to achieve the life she feels she deserves. An impromptu trip to Italy seems to offer Ada the connections she so craves, an in with the elite of the world she thinks she truly belongs in, but her machinations may not end well…
Italy comes to life under the pen of Laura Vaughan who writes with a vivid immersive quality that is a joy to read. She sets the reader up beautifully, letting the characters speak and their actions resonate, until the pitch perfect, unexpected finale hits home.
I loved this. It is a literary page turner with a mystery twist and one of those books where the characters will stay with you long after you turn that final page.
Highly recommended.
Ada, our main protagonist, feels a lot of entitlement, her family having fallen from grace, she broods internally about how therefore to achieve the life she feels she deserves. An impromptu trip to Italy seems to offer Ada the connections she so craves, an in with the elite of the world she thinks she truly belongs in, but her machinations may not end well…
Italy comes to life under the pen of Laura Vaughan who writes with a vivid immersive quality that is a joy to read. She sets the reader up beautifully, letting the characters speak and their actions resonate, until the pitch perfect, unexpected finale hits home.
I loved this. It is a literary page turner with a mystery twist and one of those books where the characters will stay with you long after you turn that final page.
Highly recommended.
February 7, 2021
Now this ended up being a good read but, given that I am not a lover of history, or an art historian, and therefore an extremely uncultured reader, I have to admit to not liking the first third of this book. I found it slow going and littered with references I knew nothing about. That in itself isn't a bad thing because it is enriching to learn new things and it certainly widens one's reading experience. However, for me personally, there was such a mismatch between what the author knows and loves and what I know and love that this gap spoiled my initial enjoyment.
It doesn't help that the characters are vile! They are a bunch of mostly very entitled young people brought together on a gap year kind of excursion to Italy to live, albeit briefly, immersed in a creative bubble with like-minded and moneyed peers.
Our narrator, now living in London thanks to the sale of the family country home Garreg Las, missing her writer father (he has died) and desperate to belong to the in-crowd, Ada Howell embarks on her journey of deception where lies are created not by brushstrokes but by careful wording, planned responses and studied behaviour. And this desperate need to fit in will have devastating consequences.
Once the book moves away from the art references and focuses more on the characters and interplay between them, I found myself hooked. The portrayal of image and how we can be so determined to invent ourselves, crazily consumed by what others think of us, is extremely well written with an exacting attention to detail. Add in tragedy and lies and the tension that is created trying to keep the truth under wraps, and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.
Join Mallory, Annabelle, Lorcan, Oliver, Nate, Clemency, Petra and others as they battle for supremacy within the Dilettante Discoveries group.
The truth is shocking and distasteful with an ending that certainly favoured those brave enough to continue the fraud.
Thank you Laura Vaughn, the publisher and Pigeonhole for the chance to read this book.
It doesn't help that the characters are vile! They are a bunch of mostly very entitled young people brought together on a gap year kind of excursion to Italy to live, albeit briefly, immersed in a creative bubble with like-minded and moneyed peers.
Our narrator, now living in London thanks to the sale of the family country home Garreg Las, missing her writer father (he has died) and desperate to belong to the in-crowd, Ada Howell embarks on her journey of deception where lies are created not by brushstrokes but by careful wording, planned responses and studied behaviour. And this desperate need to fit in will have devastating consequences.
Once the book moves away from the art references and focuses more on the characters and interplay between them, I found myself hooked. The portrayal of image and how we can be so determined to invent ourselves, crazily consumed by what others think of us, is extremely well written with an exacting attention to detail. Add in tragedy and lies and the tension that is created trying to keep the truth under wraps, and I couldn't turn the pages fast enough.
Join Mallory, Annabelle, Lorcan, Oliver, Nate, Clemency, Petra and others as they battle for supremacy within the Dilettante Discoveries group.
The truth is shocking and distasteful with an ending that certainly favoured those brave enough to continue the fraud.
Thank you Laura Vaughn, the publisher and Pigeonhole for the chance to read this book.
February 23, 2021
This book was compared to both The Talented Mr. Ripley and Cruel Intentions, and I can completely see why the comparison was made. I was really intrigued by the premise of Ada trying to do whatever she could to join the ranks of the elite and I was sure this was going to be a gossipy type of novel about a blatant social climber, but I was completely wrong.
This book has lush, poetic writing and the story is complex and multi-layered. There's death and a lot of secrets and many things the reader uncovers along with Ada. There are a few twists and turns, but overall, this is a literary novel about an entitled young woman trying to find herself and lying to everyone (and herself) along the way.
I think it was extremely difficult to like any of the characters in this book because they were all either superficial or genuinely detestable. There was also an antagonist thrown in for no other reason than to cause more drama, but it was really unnecessary. However, I found myself rooting for Ada and wanting her to succeed, though I wasn't happy about it.
I think this is a really successful novel and I'd be very interested to read Laura Vaughan's future works.
This book has lush, poetic writing and the story is complex and multi-layered. There's death and a lot of secrets and many things the reader uncovers along with Ada. There are a few twists and turns, but overall, this is a literary novel about an entitled young woman trying to find herself and lying to everyone (and herself) along the way.
I think it was extremely difficult to like any of the characters in this book because they were all either superficial or genuinely detestable. There was also an antagonist thrown in for no other reason than to cause more drama, but it was really unnecessary. However, I found myself rooting for Ada and wanting her to succeed, though I wasn't happy about it.
I think this is a really successful novel and I'd be very interested to read Laura Vaughan's future works.
March 16, 2021
What an amazing, intelligent, atmospheric and beautiful book. It surrounded me like the open arms of that claustrophobic summer in Venice. I could smell the heat, the flowers, the sadness, the humid streets, and the clammy perspiration of deceit. I sound pretentious don’t I, but pretentiousness is at the heart of this book.
The so-called Dilettante, a group of posh, rich, public school educated teenagers pay £12,000 each to go on a tour of Venice, Florence and Rome, learning about art and attempting to find the inner beauty that will enhance their lives for ever. But in this group of over-privileged art students, there are two that are different. Mallory is American and Jewish. She is not really accepted by the group, including by our main protagonist Ada, who is the other odd-one-out.
Ada is really rather horrid. Having spent her childhood living in a ramshackle mansion with her mother and published-author father, she loses everything when he dies and they have to move to an ordinary home in London. Her mum finds love with Brian, an ordinary chap with an ordinary name (no Lorcans or Clemencys in their lives), but Ada can’t accept their ordinariness. She wants to be extraordinary and she desperately wants this group of Dilettantes to accept her. But they are hiding secrets and she is barely tolerated by everyone except Mallory, whose friendship she rejects.
But this book is more than that. Ada does some terrible things to be one of the right set, hiding a crime and using it to her advantage, but she also grows as a person and her development is cleverly sewn into the tapestry of the story. Brilliant, beautifully written and thought provoking. I loved it.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours.
The so-called Dilettante, a group of posh, rich, public school educated teenagers pay £12,000 each to go on a tour of Venice, Florence and Rome, learning about art and attempting to find the inner beauty that will enhance their lives for ever. But in this group of over-privileged art students, there are two that are different. Mallory is American and Jewish. She is not really accepted by the group, including by our main protagonist Ada, who is the other odd-one-out.
Ada is really rather horrid. Having spent her childhood living in a ramshackle mansion with her mother and published-author father, she loses everything when he dies and they have to move to an ordinary home in London. Her mum finds love with Brian, an ordinary chap with an ordinary name (no Lorcans or Clemencys in their lives), but Ada can’t accept their ordinariness. She wants to be extraordinary and she desperately wants this group of Dilettantes to accept her. But they are hiding secrets and she is barely tolerated by everyone except Mallory, whose friendship she rejects.
But this book is more than that. Ada does some terrible things to be one of the right set, hiding a crime and using it to her advantage, but she also grows as a person and her development is cleverly sewn into the tapestry of the story. Brilliant, beautifully written and thought provoking. I loved it.
Many thanks to @annecater for inviting me to be part of #RandomThingsTours.
June 2, 2021
This was disappointing. In terms of being a thriller, it was seriously lacking. It was rather slow moving and mainly focused on the main character social climbing (to which she was terribly bad at).
I would say this book slots somewhere in the dark academia sub-genre. But I don't think the execution was particularly strong. The characters were filled with stereotyping which read for rather one dimensional characters and the main character, Ada, was a bore to read. The only redeeming character was Oliver, he was the only thing the maintained my interest.
I would say this book slots somewhere in the dark academia sub-genre. But I don't think the execution was particularly strong. The characters were filled with stereotyping which read for rather one dimensional characters and the main character, Ada, was a bore to read. The only redeeming character was Oliver, he was the only thing the maintained my interest.
January 18, 2023
”…Plato had a point with his distrust of art. It beautifies unbearable things.”
3.5 ⭐️
Wow, what a ride! I truly was not expecting that ending 👀
This was an incredibly written story about privilege, dark secrets, & favours, centred around an art history trip to Italy gone awry
It reminded me of a British version of Gossip Girl, only all of the characters are as twisted & unlikeable as those from The Secret History
3.5 ⭐️
Wow, what a ride! I truly was not expecting that ending 👀
This was an incredibly written story about privilege, dark secrets, & favours, centred around an art history trip to Italy gone awry
It reminded me of a British version of Gossip Girl, only all of the characters are as twisted & unlikeable as those from The Secret History
April 22, 2021
The Favour is a character-driven drama where the people in it are not necessarily likeable but are nonetheless preoccupying. Set in Italy, the scenes that Laura Vaughan paints are beautiful, and made me want to visit the various different places that the students did to experience the sights for myself.
The story focuses on the central character of Ada Howell, who lost her father when she was thirteen along with the life she thought she would have. Ada's godmother gifts her an art history trip beginning in Venice and the reader follows Ada as she tries to fit in with the rest of her group; a privileged, sophisticated and cultured set, but one of them dies in suspicious circumstances.
Dark, immersive, and full of secrets and lies, I found The Favour a thoroughly enjoyable read. I didn’t foresee see the final twist.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Corvus via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.
The story focuses on the central character of Ada Howell, who lost her father when she was thirteen along with the life she thought she would have. Ada's godmother gifts her an art history trip beginning in Venice and the reader follows Ada as she tries to fit in with the rest of her group; a privileged, sophisticated and cultured set, but one of them dies in suspicious circumstances.
Dark, immersive, and full of secrets and lies, I found The Favour a thoroughly enjoyable read. I didn’t foresee see the final twist.
I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Corvus via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.
February 3, 2021
Three and a half stars from me, although I find myself a bit conflicted.
Whilst I can admire and appreciate the writing style, the subject matter was not something I enjoyed. So many vacuous and shallow characters do not sit well with me. Double crossing, lies and acting to be accepted cannot last and true characters will out, no matter how well written.
Ada is such a parasite, who uses people and employs moral blackmail in order to be accepted. She is so delusional that the thinks that the group she meets in Venice have accepted her as a friend. But she has met her match.
There were parts of this book that I found very slow, and I was skim reading and not really invested. But I persevered to see what happened and I'm pleased that I did.
Thanks to Laura Vaughan and Pigeonhole for the opportunity to read this.
Whilst I can admire and appreciate the writing style, the subject matter was not something I enjoyed. So many vacuous and shallow characters do not sit well with me. Double crossing, lies and acting to be accepted cannot last and true characters will out, no matter how well written.
Ada is such a parasite, who uses people and employs moral blackmail in order to be accepted. She is so delusional that the thinks that the group she meets in Venice have accepted her as a friend. But she has met her match.
There were parts of this book that I found very slow, and I was skim reading and not really invested. But I persevered to see what happened and I'm pleased that I did.
Thanks to Laura Vaughan and Pigeonhole for the opportunity to read this.
February 3, 2021
I read this novel courtesy of the Pigeonhole, so actually the ebook rather than the hardback (but, pre-release, it’s Pigeonhole’s ebook from the proofs, I guess).
Really good book. Even though we could see where the plot was going from a couple of points in Part Two, the details kept me intrigued and reading. As other early readers have pointed out in their reviews here, it’s not the first book to play around with the idea of someone desperate to become part of what they perceive to be a golden group of friends which the reader can see is actually a horrible set of petty people. It’s USP is that the narrator, Ada, is not presented as a wide-eyed naive fool, but a mean-spirited, money-grubbing manipulator, obsessed with getting back the house her mother sold when her father died.
What I found most clever was not the plot (although it is intricate) but the characterisation. We see in slow motion how Ada deceived her mother, godmother, and mainly herself. There is something very wrong with Ada, and there are hints at some kind of undiagnosed and vague sociopathy - her unwillingness or inability to prioritise being happy with what she has, and her mother’s happiness, but instead to hanker after a house she only lived in for a few years; her rejection of people who are clearly trying to befriend her while she trails after a group she has to blackmail for social invitations; and her belief she can manipulate life as one might the plot of a novel. In the epilogue she even refers to herself as a deus ex machina, clearly believing this to be a good quality. The epilogue itself is brilliant - a speeded-up version of what we have seen in the rest of the book - Ada’s desire and ability to gloss over what has happened and put herself, and her beloved family home, at the glamorous centre of things.
I’d give this one 4.5 stars if I could, and would definitely recommend it. Thanks to Pigeonhole and the publisher for the ARC.
Really good book. Even though we could see where the plot was going from a couple of points in Part Two, the details kept me intrigued and reading. As other early readers have pointed out in their reviews here, it’s not the first book to play around with the idea of someone desperate to become part of what they perceive to be a golden group of friends which the reader can see is actually a horrible set of petty people. It’s USP is that the narrator, Ada, is not presented as a wide-eyed naive fool, but a mean-spirited, money-grubbing manipulator, obsessed with getting back the house her mother sold when her father died.
What I found most clever was not the plot (although it is intricate) but the characterisation. We see in slow motion how Ada deceived her mother, godmother, and mainly herself. There is something very wrong with Ada, and there are hints at some kind of undiagnosed and vague sociopathy - her unwillingness or inability to prioritise being happy with what she has, and her mother’s happiness, but instead to hanker after a house she only lived in for a few years; her rejection of people who are clearly trying to befriend her while she trails after a group she has to blackmail for social invitations; and her belief she can manipulate life as one might the plot of a novel. In the epilogue she even refers to herself as a deus ex machina, clearly believing this to be a good quality. The epilogue itself is brilliant - a speeded-up version of what we have seen in the rest of the book - Ada’s desire and ability to gloss over what has happened and put herself, and her beloved family home, at the glamorous centre of things.
I’d give this one 4.5 stars if I could, and would definitely recommend it. Thanks to Pigeonhole and the publisher for the ARC.
March 4, 2021
The Favour is a rollercoaster ride spanning years, a twisted tale of privilege and the desire to fit in. What would you do to be part of another world, one you thought you were destined for?
The story is told through main character Ada’s perspective, which provides a first-hand account of the various goings on. This gave a more rounded view of Ada, although I didn’t really warm to her! I found her quite a character, but she felt a little too entitled and dismissive. Nevertheless, she was well written and her personality was definitely evident.
Despite this she is a realistic character and growing up with her and the Dilettanti was interesting. Her fleeting relationships and desire to be liked are accurate of her age at the beginning of the novel – portraying an authentic display of late teens. As she grows older this somewhat lingers but it’s interesting to see how their relationships change.
The novel is split into three parts; Trompe l’Oeil, I Trionfi and Pentimento. The three elements to the story and the various years and occurrences entangled within. I don’t want to go into too much detail but I thought this was an interesting way to present the novel. I liked the way the narrative flowed and it provided an interesting direction, as I wasn’t sure where the story was heading!
It is evident that Laura Vaughan’s interests lie with Art History and Italy. Learning of her studies I can really see how much knowledge she has on her subjects. Specifically the first third of the book, when Ada is actually in Italy with Dilettanti Discoveries, there are many interesting facts about various paintings and Italy itself. It was fascinating, if a little heavy at times. It’s clear that Laura’s passion lies within the subjects and it’s wonderful to read of her expertise.
The twist at the end of the novel was one I definitely didn’t see coming. I was captivated by the direction it took and thoroughly engrossed until the end, where I was left digesting what I’d read!
The Favour is an interesting, twisty tale full of atmosphere and deceit. I’d recommend, especially to fans of The Secret History.
Thank you to Readers First for my copy in exchange for an honest review!
The story is told through main character Ada’s perspective, which provides a first-hand account of the various goings on. This gave a more rounded view of Ada, although I didn’t really warm to her! I found her quite a character, but she felt a little too entitled and dismissive. Nevertheless, she was well written and her personality was definitely evident.
Despite this she is a realistic character and growing up with her and the Dilettanti was interesting. Her fleeting relationships and desire to be liked are accurate of her age at the beginning of the novel – portraying an authentic display of late teens. As she grows older this somewhat lingers but it’s interesting to see how their relationships change.
The novel is split into three parts; Trompe l’Oeil, I Trionfi and Pentimento. The three elements to the story and the various years and occurrences entangled within. I don’t want to go into too much detail but I thought this was an interesting way to present the novel. I liked the way the narrative flowed and it provided an interesting direction, as I wasn’t sure where the story was heading!
It is evident that Laura Vaughan’s interests lie with Art History and Italy. Learning of her studies I can really see how much knowledge she has on her subjects. Specifically the first third of the book, when Ada is actually in Italy with Dilettanti Discoveries, there are many interesting facts about various paintings and Italy itself. It was fascinating, if a little heavy at times. It’s clear that Laura’s passion lies within the subjects and it’s wonderful to read of her expertise.
The twist at the end of the novel was one I definitely didn’t see coming. I was captivated by the direction it took and thoroughly engrossed until the end, where I was left digesting what I’d read!
The Favour is an interesting, twisty tale full of atmosphere and deceit. I’d recommend, especially to fans of The Secret History.
Thank you to Readers First for my copy in exchange for an honest review!
February 3, 2021
I really enjoyed reading this, although with a cast of terrible characters it was hard to feel any empathy for any of them apart from Mallory and Clemency. I really couldn't care what happened to the rest.
I loved the writing style and especially loved the descriptions of Italy. Even though I've never been, it managed to make me feel like I was there.
Thank you to Pigeonhole and author, Laura Vaughan for the chance to read this book.
I loved the writing style and especially loved the descriptions of Italy. Even though I've never been, it managed to make me feel like I was there.
Thank you to Pigeonhole and author, Laura Vaughan for the chance to read this book.
February 6, 2021
This is a great book. Evocative of The Secret History, this tells the tale of Ada, who grew up in a massive old house in Wales, with a stepfather who was a writer. When he died, her mother returned them to an unremarkable existence in London, leaving Ada with a yearning to be special.
When offered the chance to go on an Art trip to Italy by her godmother, Ada jumps at the chance to hang out with monied, well connected young adults for the summer. The death of one of these Dilettante as they are known gives Ada the chance to cover up a mystery and to try to bring about The Favour of the title.
Beautifully written - it makes Italy come alive, but with a cast of thoroughly despicable gilded youth and a clever tying together of the artistic term pentimento with the events of the summer, where everything is painted over, but the dark original is uncovered. Very clever.
Read with The Pigeonhole
When offered the chance to go on an Art trip to Italy by her godmother, Ada jumps at the chance to hang out with monied, well connected young adults for the summer. The death of one of these Dilettante as they are known gives Ada the chance to cover up a mystery and to try to bring about The Favour of the title.
Beautifully written - it makes Italy come alive, but with a cast of thoroughly despicable gilded youth and a clever tying together of the artistic term pentimento with the events of the summer, where everything is painted over, but the dark original is uncovered. Very clever.
Read with The Pigeonhole
March 19, 2021
Have you ever done someone a favour for purely selfish reasons? Have you ever kept a secret for someone with self interest being your reason? We probably all have to some extent, if we really think about. Ada definitely has. She wants the life that her father’s reputation would have given her, the one that she wasn’t destined to get now he had gone. Enter stage left fairy godmother Delilah with the offer of a lifetime. A trip to Italy – oh I’d have loved that at 18, just before going to university. And this trip changes Ada and her life.
I didn’t know what to make of Ada. Over the course of the book, she changes. She starts out as this innocent introvert teenager but as the story goes along, she becomes manipulative and bitchy, a self confident young woman but borderline arrogant which I personally started t dislike. Her relationship with the other Dilettantis also changes over the course of the book but I don’t want to go into that too much #nospoilers.
This tense thriller played out over a number of years shows the determination of one individual trying to maintain a friendship through secrets. Will Ada be found out? Will her loyalty be worth it? As I followed Ada through this, I wasn’t sure which way I was going to be led. I felt like I had a vague roadmap to the end but with each chapter my roadmap changed before my eyes with the landscape altering. Was this Ada’s doing through her actions or was something at play? Vaughan’s first step in to adult fiction is an interesting one. I was gripped to find out where my ever-changing route was going to lead me and it was not a destination I would have guessed!!
I didn’t know what to make of Ada. Over the course of the book, she changes. She starts out as this innocent introvert teenager but as the story goes along, she becomes manipulative and bitchy, a self confident young woman but borderline arrogant which I personally started t dislike. Her relationship with the other Dilettantis also changes over the course of the book but I don’t want to go into that too much #nospoilers.
This tense thriller played out over a number of years shows the determination of one individual trying to maintain a friendship through secrets. Will Ada be found out? Will her loyalty be worth it? As I followed Ada through this, I wasn’t sure which way I was going to be led. I felt like I had a vague roadmap to the end but with each chapter my roadmap changed before my eyes with the landscape altering. Was this Ada’s doing through her actions or was something at play? Vaughan’s first step in to adult fiction is an interesting one. I was gripped to find out where my ever-changing route was going to lead me and it was not a destination I would have guessed!!
February 28, 2021
When I first started reading The Favour, I couldn’t bring myself to like the main character Ada at all. I found her to be quite whiny and wanting to be someone she wasn’t, and as the book continued I started to find myself pitying her as she tried to fit in with the group of (mostly awful) art history students while they were travelling Italy. I then grew to dislike her again as she tagged along with the group well into their adult life and being somewhat oblivious to Lorcan and Annabelle’s “generosity” being because they felt indebted to her. My mind changed again in part three, to genuinely beginning to like Ada as she finally seemed to have figured things out for herself.
The scenes that Laura Vaughn paints of Italy are beautiful, and made me want to visit the various different places that the students did to take in the sights of Italy for myself. The art that was described were so descriptive that I could almost envision them and upon looking them up I found that the pieces that were described more in depth weren’t that far off what I had imagined.
While the first two parts of the book were very descriptive (although I wished that the tour of Italy they went on was described more!) I found them to be quite slow. But when it got to the third part of the book, and the group going back to Italy, that’s when things really started to pick up in pace and get exciting. I couldn’t put the book down at all for part three! In the last 100 pages or so, so much was revealed of that fateful night that I had to go back and reread paragraphs as I was so shocked! It wasn’t until 15 pages before the end I realised what Mallory had actually seen, and the revelation of what had been happening all those years before was something I hadn’t seen coming at all! The last two pages were even more of a shock and completely turned some of the events on their head. Some amazing twists at the end of the book, which made the slow but descriptive start completely worth it. I will definitely be recommending this to anyone who asks and anyone who enjoys a good book with some unpredictable twists!
Overall, I would give this 4/5 stars!
The scenes that Laura Vaughn paints of Italy are beautiful, and made me want to visit the various different places that the students did to take in the sights of Italy for myself. The art that was described were so descriptive that I could almost envision them and upon looking them up I found that the pieces that were described more in depth weren’t that far off what I had imagined.
While the first two parts of the book were very descriptive (although I wished that the tour of Italy they went on was described more!) I found them to be quite slow. But when it got to the third part of the book, and the group going back to Italy, that’s when things really started to pick up in pace and get exciting. I couldn’t put the book down at all for part three! In the last 100 pages or so, so much was revealed of that fateful night that I had to go back and reread paragraphs as I was so shocked! It wasn’t until 15 pages before the end I realised what Mallory had actually seen, and the revelation of what had been happening all those years before was something I hadn’t seen coming at all! The last two pages were even more of a shock and completely turned some of the events on their head. Some amazing twists at the end of the book, which made the slow but descriptive start completely worth it. I will definitely be recommending this to anyone who asks and anyone who enjoys a good book with some unpredictable twists!
Overall, I would give this 4/5 stars!
February 23, 2021
Be careful who you owe favours to...
After a bit of a slow build up, I eventually found myself riveted by Ada and her new 'friends' - and was eager to spend time with them.
As someone who studied Art History at university, I loved all the Italian references to art and architecture and loved the chance to leave cold and rainy England behind for a few hours.
The story focuses on Ada and the lengths she goes to, in order to fit back in amongst the society and people she believes she belongs to and has been somewhat cheated out of since her father passed away.
What follows is lots of secrets and misunderstandings, turning into quite a good and enjoyable read.
If you're looking for a bit of escapism and a trip to a sunnier and cultured climate, you can't go too wrong with this one. What starts out as an art trip for well-heeled young people, results in decisions being made which shows the impact of class, expectation and privilege.
Thanks to Readers First for providing an ARC.
After a bit of a slow build up, I eventually found myself riveted by Ada and her new 'friends' - and was eager to spend time with them.
As someone who studied Art History at university, I loved all the Italian references to art and architecture and loved the chance to leave cold and rainy England behind for a few hours.
The story focuses on Ada and the lengths she goes to, in order to fit back in amongst the society and people she believes she belongs to and has been somewhat cheated out of since her father passed away.
What follows is lots of secrets and misunderstandings, turning into quite a good and enjoyable read.
If you're looking for a bit of escapism and a trip to a sunnier and cultured climate, you can't go too wrong with this one. What starts out as an art trip for well-heeled young people, results in decisions being made which shows the impact of class, expectation and privilege.
Thanks to Readers First for providing an ARC.
February 23, 2021
I read this book over a couple of days and couldn’t wait to keep picking it up to read more. I love Italy but haven’t been to Venice yet (I hope to go soon) and so the descriptions of this beautiful city and other places made me want to read on.
The book focusses on the central character of Ada, who lost her father when she was thirteen and with that a life she thought she would have. As we go through the first part of the novel, we are introduced to the people Ada meets as part of her art history trip to Italy. As such, there are lots of art references in the book.
Throughout the novel, Ada tries to fit in with the group, but as the story progresses we see there are secrets and lies that unfold as she struggles to be part of this group.
I really enjoyed this; I needed to know what would happen next and this created a lot of suspense and drama for me. I would recommend this book to others.
Thanks to Readers First for and ARC.
The book focusses on the central character of Ada, who lost her father when she was thirteen and with that a life she thought she would have. As we go through the first part of the novel, we are introduced to the people Ada meets as part of her art history trip to Italy. As such, there are lots of art references in the book.
Throughout the novel, Ada tries to fit in with the group, but as the story progresses we see there are secrets and lies that unfold as she struggles to be part of this group.
I really enjoyed this; I needed to know what would happen next and this created a lot of suspense and drama for me. I would recommend this book to others.
Thanks to Readers First for and ARC.
February 25, 2021
This is a good read that takes your imagination on a trip to Italy.
When Ada finds herself with the opportunity to go to Italy she sees it as a way to get a second chance at the wealthy life that she feels should always have been hers.
Desperate to belong she tries to be part of the group until a favour puts her right in the middle and she permanently binds herself to this group of socialites.
Ada does everything in her power to prove that she is one of them, but can she convince them?
This is a slow burner, but you could say it gives the reader plenty of time to get a feel for the many relationships within the novel.
Thanks to Atlantic Books/Corvus and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.
When Ada finds herself with the opportunity to go to Italy she sees it as a way to get a second chance at the wealthy life that she feels should always have been hers.
Desperate to belong she tries to be part of the group until a favour puts her right in the middle and she permanently binds herself to this group of socialites.
Ada does everything in her power to prove that she is one of them, but can she convince them?
This is a slow burner, but you could say it gives the reader plenty of time to get a feel for the many relationships within the novel.
Thanks to Atlantic Books/Corvus and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book.
December 5, 2020
The Favour is a novel about lies and secrets, and someone trying to grasp back the life they thought they should have. Ada Howell lost her father and his Welsh country house when she was thirteen, and her mother moved them to a less fancy existence in Brockley. After a failed Oxford interview cuts off one route of getting back into the rarified world she longs for, Ada has a stroke of luck: her bohemian godmother gifts her money for a modernised grand tour, an art history trip round Italy with others who can afford the price. On the trip, Ada tries to bind herself to her fellow students, desperate to become part of their lives, and a death gives her the perfect opportunity, but perhaps she wasn't quite keeping the secrets she thought she was.
This is your classic 'trying to be part of the rich people' type novel, in which someone tries to reinvent themselves to become part of a group, but their hold isn't steady. What I found distinctive about it was how vividly Ada is characterised—I found her annoying very quickly, so obsessed with seeming a bit posher than she was, and that worked well—and her voice is created. There were a few moments when I found the narrative voice odious in Ada's thoughts on class, which was needed to show how desperately she wanted to 'return' to the societal position she felt she had before her author adoptive father died. That element—the fact it wasn't her thinking she wanted to improve her 'position' in terms of class and wealth, but that she needed to return to it—made The Favour different to other books about people trying to fall in with the wealthy elite.
The narrative, however, was pretty typical, down to the kinds of secrets revealed (without spoilers, a twist near the end is very typical of the 'rarified elite do something bad' genre, especially as a way of making the foolish protagonist realise things were more intense than they realised) and the pacing, which follows them on the Italian trip and then speeds through later years using various gatherings to move things forward. The atmosphere, especially whilst the characters were in Italy, was well done, and again some of this was Ada's narrative voice, which captured the way she was trying to present the trip and her frustrations when things didn't quite work as she wanted. Strangely, I found this narrative voice and the fact Ada was often unlikable made me enjoy the book more, despite finding the narrative predictable.
Not a book for people who enjoy likeable characters, The Favour is a decently immersive book that, as it is being marketed, does have a Talented Mr Ripley vibe, and fits well with other novels about someone trying desperately to break into a rich, rarified world. Ada's fraud and justifications draw you in, and those who don't usually read any books with the 'group of elite friends involved in something dark' vibe might find the story less predictable.
This is your classic 'trying to be part of the rich people' type novel, in which someone tries to reinvent themselves to become part of a group, but their hold isn't steady. What I found distinctive about it was how vividly Ada is characterised—I found her annoying very quickly, so obsessed with seeming a bit posher than she was, and that worked well—and her voice is created. There were a few moments when I found the narrative voice odious in Ada's thoughts on class, which was needed to show how desperately she wanted to 'return' to the societal position she felt she had before her author adoptive father died. That element—the fact it wasn't her thinking she wanted to improve her 'position' in terms of class and wealth, but that she needed to return to it—made The Favour different to other books about people trying to fall in with the wealthy elite.
The narrative, however, was pretty typical, down to the kinds of secrets revealed (without spoilers, a twist near the end is very typical of the 'rarified elite do something bad' genre, especially as a way of making the foolish protagonist realise things were more intense than they realised) and the pacing, which follows them on the Italian trip and then speeds through later years using various gatherings to move things forward. The atmosphere, especially whilst the characters were in Italy, was well done, and again some of this was Ada's narrative voice, which captured the way she was trying to present the trip and her frustrations when things didn't quite work as she wanted. Strangely, I found this narrative voice and the fact Ada was often unlikable made me enjoy the book more, despite finding the narrative predictable.
Not a book for people who enjoy likeable characters, The Favour is a decently immersive book that, as it is being marketed, does have a Talented Mr Ripley vibe, and fits well with other novels about someone trying desperately to break into a rich, rarified world. Ada's fraud and justifications draw you in, and those who don't usually read any books with the 'group of elite friends involved in something dark' vibe might find the story less predictable.
February 3, 2021
This was a great read based in a beautiful setting in which it was wonderful to escape. It is beautifully written but with a large cast of mostly unlikable characters so it was a little difficult to feel any real empathy for them, or as much as I would have liked to. I found Ada, the main character, to be extremely frustrating at times. There were a couple of twists towards the end that I honestly did not see coming which was great! I enjoyed reading this book with The Pigeonhole and definitely recommend!
November 25, 2020
I really enjoyed The Favour. I was gripped very quickly and my interest was held throughout as the full story unfolded.
Moving through a period of about 10 years, we see the characters change and mature under the shadow of the incidents that happened when they were teenagers.
I know it’s a cliche to say that I couldn’t put it down, but the fact that I read it until past midnight 2 nights running is testament to how much I was enjoying it. I didn’t see the final twist coming, which is unusual for me. I could feel my heart start to best faster as in the last few pages it became evident I’d got it all wrong! Wonderful!
This is exactly the sort of book you hope you’ll chose before a long train journey. You’d start reading it in London and the next time you looked up you’d be in Aberdeen!
Moving through a period of about 10 years, we see the characters change and mature under the shadow of the incidents that happened when they were teenagers.
I know it’s a cliche to say that I couldn’t put it down, but the fact that I read it until past midnight 2 nights running is testament to how much I was enjoying it. I didn’t see the final twist coming, which is unusual for me. I could feel my heart start to best faster as in the last few pages it became evident I’d got it all wrong! Wonderful!
This is exactly the sort of book you hope you’ll chose before a long train journey. You’d start reading it in London and the next time you looked up you’d be in Aberdeen!
February 3, 2021
Pigeonhole
March 7, 2021
At the start of the story we are immediately thrown into Ada’s world of grief and upheaval as she faces leaving behind her lifestyle and ancestral home upon the death of her father. After a move to London and a generous offer from a wealthy relative, Ada embarks upon an art history adventure travelling through Italy as a Dilletante. For Ada, this is the break she has always desired, to discover her true purpose and destiny within a world of like-minded people. The trouble is, fitting in with the social elite isn’t always as easy as it seems (not when you have secrets to hide) – and after a tragic accident at a party, the relationships between the travel buddies is severely tested as they return home and try to go on living their usual lives amidst its aftermath.
Ada was a thrillingly complicated and unreliable narrator. Her character arc was spectacularly crafted and took me on an incredible journey of shifting emotions. My empathy towards her varied greatly at different episodes in the story. Her feelings of mis-identity and that strong yearning to fit in with her fellow Dilletantes showed you this sense of loneliness and vulnerability which she must have been feeling – but then in the next breath, her fabrication of particular gestures or her backstory and her yearning to fit in has you wondering just what type of person she truly is. Her voice gave off a sense of dissociation which was intriguing; was she actually witnessing her life from outside of her body or was she truly experiencing all of those emotions and events from within her own head? In part, it reminded me of Eleanor’s narrative voice in Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.
As we got deeper into the plot and some of the Dilletantes started to reveal their true motives, it really made me wonder what kind of reality Ada was missing out on due to her tunnel-visioned focus into this lifestyle that she’d only ever been on the periphery of? The way the ‘favour’ masked Ada’s guilt at being an accomplice and her vehement self-denial was the flipside of a split-personality which just craved friendship and belonging. The multi-facetedness of her character and the tantalisingly dark plot twists gave this novel an unpredictability which I found fascinating to read.
Being set in Italy was such a draw for me. Travelling to Venice, Florence and Rome was one of my favourite and most memorable holidays so it was almost like journeying back to the past to see those places again through Ada’s eyes. I was immediately transported into those gloriously artisan surroundings with tavernas, canals and piazzas oozing with creativity and delicious food (and wine!). Vaughan’s lyrical writing helped to bring that Italian world to life in a way that made me want to keep on reading and exploring those galleries and museums with their beauty and Renaissance charm.
The technicalities of the artwork were expressed in a way which I found intriguing without being too overwhelming. I still couldn’t define for you what a pentimento is, but I enjoyed the way that some of those art techniques and famous paintings/sculptures tied in to the themes and plot of the novel.
I loved how sentient the ‘favour’ seemed to be and how it was used and moulded by several different characters all for their own motives. At first, the favour seemed to be created out necessity and tragedy, an act of quick-thinking combined with the desperation of trying to protect someone whilst at the same time cementing your place within their world. As the plot unravels, that same favour spiralled and shifted out of control leaving you to wonder who was the real puppet-master manipulating its strings. All of that drama made for such mind-bending reading and the plot twists came thick and fast right up until the very end.
In a similar way, Ada’s ancestral home, Garreg Las, almost became one of the characters itself – always waiting there in the depths of Ada’s subconscious, an explicit reminder of how the house ties itself to Ada’s sense of identity and belonging. Sometimes it could be a status symbol to prove that Ada was a part of the Dilletante world, whereas at other times it was a refuge, a little corner of Wales that Ada felt she was truly home. I loved the way it would appear at different intervals within the narrative, like a guest star who makes special appearances and has to ensure they find their way into the encore before the final curtain fall.
Overall, The Favour is a tremendously well-constructed story with Vaughan giving you teeny segments at a time whilst slowly building up to that spectacular final twist. Ada’s narration had me constantly second-guessing if I could trust her or whether in some ways she truly is a victim of her own making or sheer circumstance. Combining that dark and twisty narrative with the wondrously charming Italian surroundings made The Favour such a compelling read, and although at the start of the novel I was readily signing myself up a Dilletanti Discoveries style adventure… let’s just say I’d definitely be a little warier about trusting my fellow travel buddies after reading this!
Ada was a thrillingly complicated and unreliable narrator. Her character arc was spectacularly crafted and took me on an incredible journey of shifting emotions. My empathy towards her varied greatly at different episodes in the story. Her feelings of mis-identity and that strong yearning to fit in with her fellow Dilletantes showed you this sense of loneliness and vulnerability which she must have been feeling – but then in the next breath, her fabrication of particular gestures or her backstory and her yearning to fit in has you wondering just what type of person she truly is. Her voice gave off a sense of dissociation which was intriguing; was she actually witnessing her life from outside of her body or was she truly experiencing all of those emotions and events from within her own head? In part, it reminded me of Eleanor’s narrative voice in Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.
As we got deeper into the plot and some of the Dilletantes started to reveal their true motives, it really made me wonder what kind of reality Ada was missing out on due to her tunnel-visioned focus into this lifestyle that she’d only ever been on the periphery of? The way the ‘favour’ masked Ada’s guilt at being an accomplice and her vehement self-denial was the flipside of a split-personality which just craved friendship and belonging. The multi-facetedness of her character and the tantalisingly dark plot twists gave this novel an unpredictability which I found fascinating to read.
Being set in Italy was such a draw for me. Travelling to Venice, Florence and Rome was one of my favourite and most memorable holidays so it was almost like journeying back to the past to see those places again through Ada’s eyes. I was immediately transported into those gloriously artisan surroundings with tavernas, canals and piazzas oozing with creativity and delicious food (and wine!). Vaughan’s lyrical writing helped to bring that Italian world to life in a way that made me want to keep on reading and exploring those galleries and museums with their beauty and Renaissance charm.
The technicalities of the artwork were expressed in a way which I found intriguing without being too overwhelming. I still couldn’t define for you what a pentimento is, but I enjoyed the way that some of those art techniques and famous paintings/sculptures tied in to the themes and plot of the novel.
I loved how sentient the ‘favour’ seemed to be and how it was used and moulded by several different characters all for their own motives. At first, the favour seemed to be created out necessity and tragedy, an act of quick-thinking combined with the desperation of trying to protect someone whilst at the same time cementing your place within their world. As the plot unravels, that same favour spiralled and shifted out of control leaving you to wonder who was the real puppet-master manipulating its strings. All of that drama made for such mind-bending reading and the plot twists came thick and fast right up until the very end.
In a similar way, Ada’s ancestral home, Garreg Las, almost became one of the characters itself – always waiting there in the depths of Ada’s subconscious, an explicit reminder of how the house ties itself to Ada’s sense of identity and belonging. Sometimes it could be a status symbol to prove that Ada was a part of the Dilletante world, whereas at other times it was a refuge, a little corner of Wales that Ada felt she was truly home. I loved the way it would appear at different intervals within the narrative, like a guest star who makes special appearances and has to ensure they find their way into the encore before the final curtain fall.
Overall, The Favour is a tremendously well-constructed story with Vaughan giving you teeny segments at a time whilst slowly building up to that spectacular final twist. Ada’s narration had me constantly second-guessing if I could trust her or whether in some ways she truly is a victim of her own making or sheer circumstance. Combining that dark and twisty narrative with the wondrously charming Italian surroundings made The Favour such a compelling read, and although at the start of the novel I was readily signing myself up a Dilletanti Discoveries style adventure… let’s just say I’d definitely be a little warier about trusting my fellow travel buddies after reading this!
March 2, 2021
Thought Provoking.....
Firstly thank you so much to Readers First for my free copy in turn for an honest review. I was really intrigued from reading the first impression and was delighted to have the opportunity to read this book.
The Favour overall was quite a thought provoking read and proved to be a book that I quite enjoyed reading. It had me questioning ideas about being true to yourself and how far someone would go just to fit in.
The book follows Ada, who at the age of thirteen lost her father to cancer and with it her family and childhood home. This resulted in Ada feeling that she had lost a part of herself and the life she was expected and was entitled to have and live. This was a very intriguing angle which developed throughout the book.
At the age of eighteen Ada was given the opportunity to travel to Italy to visit the artistic wonders of Venice, Florence and Rome and become a Dilettanti student on a prestigious and elitist art history course. And, with this, gave Ada the opportunity to try and find her roots and get back to the elitists life she so desperately craved, desired and felt entitled to.
On the whole, I found the story a really interesting one and really enjoyed the first few chapters, although I did find the book a little slow to begin with. In particular the descriptions brought the scenes Ada was seeing in Venice to life and reminded me of times I personally spent in Italy.
The second part of the book, I felt lost the story a little bit, however the third part picked up the pace and towards the end had a lot of unexpected twists, turns and a hint of mystery thrown in. I was definitely not expecting the final twist in the Epilogue.
Additionally, I found the unfolding of the story to be a little different to what I initially expected. I thought the whole book was going to be set in Venice and during the art history course. However, the story was split between the course, their lives back home and finally a reunion back in Venice ten years later.
I quire enjoyed the way the story was presented and the sequence of events as it it gave you a glimpse of Ada's experience in Venice and how she dealt with life and the consequences afterwards.
Although, I enjoyed the book for the most part, I did feel the ending could of had more of an explanation to it and left me feeling a little confused. I'm also still wondering who the mystery person is at the very start of the book. Might have to re-read and see how many of the red-herrings and clues I can pick up on.
Furthermore, throughout the book, I found Ada a very hard character to like and at times felt very frustrated by her thoughts and her actions. At the same time though, this added a depth of intrigue to her. None of the characters in the book are particularly likeable, apart from Mallory, who I would of liked to know more about.
Overall, I feel this book has a lesson about being true to yourself and a warning that sometimes when you are trying to be someone you are not or trying to impress someone or trying to belong to something and someone things can go wrong or may not appear as they first seem, providing room for misunderstandings and misinterpretations. And in some case, as in The Favour, there can be fatal consequences with serious repercussions.
This book in some ways has left me with more questions than answers and a sense that the story in some ways felt unfinished, that there could be another chapter. I would recommend this book and will look out for more books by Laura Vaughan in the future.
Firstly thank you so much to Readers First for my free copy in turn for an honest review. I was really intrigued from reading the first impression and was delighted to have the opportunity to read this book.
The Favour overall was quite a thought provoking read and proved to be a book that I quite enjoyed reading. It had me questioning ideas about being true to yourself and how far someone would go just to fit in.
The book follows Ada, who at the age of thirteen lost her father to cancer and with it her family and childhood home. This resulted in Ada feeling that she had lost a part of herself and the life she was expected and was entitled to have and live. This was a very intriguing angle which developed throughout the book.
At the age of eighteen Ada was given the opportunity to travel to Italy to visit the artistic wonders of Venice, Florence and Rome and become a Dilettanti student on a prestigious and elitist art history course. And, with this, gave Ada the opportunity to try and find her roots and get back to the elitists life she so desperately craved, desired and felt entitled to.
On the whole, I found the story a really interesting one and really enjoyed the first few chapters, although I did find the book a little slow to begin with. In particular the descriptions brought the scenes Ada was seeing in Venice to life and reminded me of times I personally spent in Italy.
The second part of the book, I felt lost the story a little bit, however the third part picked up the pace and towards the end had a lot of unexpected twists, turns and a hint of mystery thrown in. I was definitely not expecting the final twist in the Epilogue.
Additionally, I found the unfolding of the story to be a little different to what I initially expected. I thought the whole book was going to be set in Venice and during the art history course. However, the story was split between the course, their lives back home and finally a reunion back in Venice ten years later.
I quire enjoyed the way the story was presented and the sequence of events as it it gave you a glimpse of Ada's experience in Venice and how she dealt with life and the consequences afterwards.
Although, I enjoyed the book for the most part, I did feel the ending could of had more of an explanation to it and left me feeling a little confused. I'm also still wondering who the mystery person is at the very start of the book. Might have to re-read and see how many of the red-herrings and clues I can pick up on.
Furthermore, throughout the book, I found Ada a very hard character to like and at times felt very frustrated by her thoughts and her actions. At the same time though, this added a depth of intrigue to her. None of the characters in the book are particularly likeable, apart from Mallory, who I would of liked to know more about.
Overall, I feel this book has a lesson about being true to yourself and a warning that sometimes when you are trying to be someone you are not or trying to impress someone or trying to belong to something and someone things can go wrong or may not appear as they first seem, providing room for misunderstandings and misinterpretations. And in some case, as in The Favour, there can be fatal consequences with serious repercussions.
This book in some ways has left me with more questions than answers and a sense that the story in some ways felt unfinished, that there could be another chapter. I would recommend this book and will look out for more books by Laura Vaughan in the future.
March 8, 2021
Ada Lovelace is a figment of her own imagination. She has no biological connection with the man she calls father, and therefore no share in his aristocratic heritage, but she claims it for her own. Everything she dreams of becoming is embodied in the crumbling country pile where she grew up. When her stepfather dies and her down-to-earth middle-class mother sells Garreg Las, she is determined to recover her lost status. ‘I wasn’t trying to break in, you see. I was trying to get back.’
The method Ada employs to progress in a world dominated by inherited privilege is despicable, but also very clever. Having failed to win a place at Oxford, where she hoped to rub shoulders with the ‘young demigods’, she swiftly locates another water hole frequented by these semi-mythical beasts. Thanks to a generous gift from a godmother who is not really her godmother, she joins a horrendously expensive gap-year Art History trip to Venice. There, she tracks down a herd of beautiful teenagers from unimaginably wealthy families. Having located her prey, she lays a trail of signals that establish her as part of their world: the big house in the country, the inherited pearls, the famous literary forebear.
‘Ada does everything in her power to prove she is one of them. And when a member of the group dies in suspicious circumstances, she seizes the opportunity to permanently bind herself to this gilded set.’
Narrated in first person, the plot of The Favour is skilfully woven and intriguing, but what I found most enjoyable about this novel was the brilliant characterisation. The reader is initially encouraged to sympathise with Ada, whose life falls apart when she is thirteen. Her efforts to fit in with the gilded youth are entertaining, and when she is successful in convincing them she belongs, it is tempting to admire her nerve. As the plot develops, there are moments when it looks as if Ada’s future with her circle of well-connected friends is going to be bright. Only one of her targets, Oliver, does not fall for her grooming technique, hinting at danger to come.
If Ada had been able to leave her adventures in Italy behind and take charge of her own life, The Favour would have had a different and more positive outcome. Unfortunately, she remains dependent on unrealistic values for personal validation. Everything good in her life is in the gift of others; her random jobs in publishing, her social life, her clothes. As for the wealthy people she has trapped in false friendship, over the ten years covered in the novel age brings out their true characters. The golden lads and lasses come to dust, and when they return to the scene of the crime, Venice seems less beautiful and the palazzos are decaying, even before the truth comes out.
Laura Vaughan is an experienced writer with a background in Art History. Her descriptions of Italy are delightful, and many people will enjoy The Favour for that reason alone. I especially liked her accurate observation of the trappings of unearned privilege.
The method Ada employs to progress in a world dominated by inherited privilege is despicable, but also very clever. Having failed to win a place at Oxford, where she hoped to rub shoulders with the ‘young demigods’, she swiftly locates another water hole frequented by these semi-mythical beasts. Thanks to a generous gift from a godmother who is not really her godmother, she joins a horrendously expensive gap-year Art History trip to Venice. There, she tracks down a herd of beautiful teenagers from unimaginably wealthy families. Having located her prey, she lays a trail of signals that establish her as part of their world: the big house in the country, the inherited pearls, the famous literary forebear.
‘Ada does everything in her power to prove she is one of them. And when a member of the group dies in suspicious circumstances, she seizes the opportunity to permanently bind herself to this gilded set.’
Narrated in first person, the plot of The Favour is skilfully woven and intriguing, but what I found most enjoyable about this novel was the brilliant characterisation. The reader is initially encouraged to sympathise with Ada, whose life falls apart when she is thirteen. Her efforts to fit in with the gilded youth are entertaining, and when she is successful in convincing them she belongs, it is tempting to admire her nerve. As the plot develops, there are moments when it looks as if Ada’s future with her circle of well-connected friends is going to be bright. Only one of her targets, Oliver, does not fall for her grooming technique, hinting at danger to come.
If Ada had been able to leave her adventures in Italy behind and take charge of her own life, The Favour would have had a different and more positive outcome. Unfortunately, she remains dependent on unrealistic values for personal validation. Everything good in her life is in the gift of others; her random jobs in publishing, her social life, her clothes. As for the wealthy people she has trapped in false friendship, over the ten years covered in the novel age brings out their true characters. The golden lads and lasses come to dust, and when they return to the scene of the crime, Venice seems less beautiful and the palazzos are decaying, even before the truth comes out.
Laura Vaughan is an experienced writer with a background in Art History. Her descriptions of Italy are delightful, and many people will enjoy The Favour for that reason alone. I especially liked her accurate observation of the trappings of unearned privilege.
February 28, 2021
The feeling of entitlement underpinning this story made it a really compelling and powerful read and shows just how far reaching and damaging the consequences of such beliefs can be!
From the opening page alone, I loved the intrigue that was created. For example, which city has Ada returned to and who is the guy she is so keen to impress after all this time? In the first chapter we then learn how Ada blames her mother for selling their family home shortly after her father’s death from cancer, when she was only thirteen years old. Not only had she lost her father but she also felt she’d lost the life she was destined to lead, and therefore believes things would have “turned out differently” if the house hadn’t been sold.
When Ada turns eighteen she finds herself being given a second chance, when her wealthy godmother presents her with the opportunity to embark on an eight week art history course in Italy. A chance to be amongst the privileged and cultured people she aspires to be like. Throughout the trip Ada is determined to do everything in her power to prove she can be just like the members of the group. And on one devastating night, when one of the group members dies in suspicious circumstances, she takes the opportunity to bind herself to them for good. But, many years later when the truth is finally revealed to Ada, she discovers that she has been keeping a secret far darker than she could ever have imagined!
I found myself hooked by this story from the outset and Ada was such an intriguing character. I really enjoyed getting to learn about her thoughts and motivations as the story progressed and how these feelings led her to behave towards the people on the Italy trip and in the months/years that followed.
The descriptions were so beautiful throughout too, and I could really imagine myself there with Ada as she soaked up the sights and the culture around her. The people on the trip with Ada were also very interesting and alluring and I enjoyed getting to learn more about them as the story evolved. I also absolutely loved the twist when the truth was revealed to Ada! I didn’t see it coming and now knowing what I do, it’s made me want to re-read the book to pick up on the subtleties as it was just so clever!
I have really enjoyed Laura Vaughan’s adult debut, and am excited to read more of her books in the future!
From the opening page alone, I loved the intrigue that was created. For example, which city has Ada returned to and who is the guy she is so keen to impress after all this time? In the first chapter we then learn how Ada blames her mother for selling their family home shortly after her father’s death from cancer, when she was only thirteen years old. Not only had she lost her father but she also felt she’d lost the life she was destined to lead, and therefore believes things would have “turned out differently” if the house hadn’t been sold.
When Ada turns eighteen she finds herself being given a second chance, when her wealthy godmother presents her with the opportunity to embark on an eight week art history course in Italy. A chance to be amongst the privileged and cultured people she aspires to be like. Throughout the trip Ada is determined to do everything in her power to prove she can be just like the members of the group. And on one devastating night, when one of the group members dies in suspicious circumstances, she takes the opportunity to bind herself to them for good. But, many years later when the truth is finally revealed to Ada, she discovers that she has been keeping a secret far darker than she could ever have imagined!
I found myself hooked by this story from the outset and Ada was such an intriguing character. I really enjoyed getting to learn about her thoughts and motivations as the story progressed and how these feelings led her to behave towards the people on the Italy trip and in the months/years that followed.
The descriptions were so beautiful throughout too, and I could really imagine myself there with Ada as she soaked up the sights and the culture around her. The people on the trip with Ada were also very interesting and alluring and I enjoyed getting to learn more about them as the story evolved. I also absolutely loved the twist when the truth was revealed to Ada! I didn’t see it coming and now knowing what I do, it’s made me want to re-read the book to pick up on the subtleties as it was just so clever!
I have really enjoyed Laura Vaughan’s adult debut, and am excited to read more of her books in the future!
March 4, 2021
This is a gloriously dark novel full of secrets and intrigue which I have, quite literally, not put down today (apart from to pour a glass of Prosecco because I am nothing if not suggestible 🥂)!
Ada Howell is not a likeable character - after losing her father as a teenager she feels as though she missed out on the life of privilege and wealth she was entitled to, and when she spends a year in Italy with the kind of people she wants to be, she will stop at nothing to ingrain herself, even if that means covering up a murder...
Oh how I love to hate my characters sometimes - and none more so than Ada! Whilst the loss of her father is tragic, the sense of entitlement she has despite being in what many would consider a comfortable position is infuriating, although I do (resentfully) admire her determination and how oblivious she is to the distance the others clearly try to keep her at. The character development and interactions between Ada and these “friends” is brilliant - without ever hearing their narratives it’s up to us as the reader to work out how they really feel about her.
With this group of young privileged adults with their country homes and endless riches, and a year in Italy focused on art history, this is of course a wonderfully glamorous and romantic novel in some ways - from the clothes to the evenings spent drinking wine and discussing culture in Venice, Florence and Rome. Whilst I didn’t always understand the art references, I still found myself swept away by the beauty of it all and imagining evenings of my own back in Rome one day!
This is a thrilling story in every way - the characters are vile and manipulative, the locations exquisite, and it is a tale full of surprises which will make your jaws drop! Loved it.
Ada Howell is not a likeable character - after losing her father as a teenager she feels as though she missed out on the life of privilege and wealth she was entitled to, and when she spends a year in Italy with the kind of people she wants to be, she will stop at nothing to ingrain herself, even if that means covering up a murder...
Oh how I love to hate my characters sometimes - and none more so than Ada! Whilst the loss of her father is tragic, the sense of entitlement she has despite being in what many would consider a comfortable position is infuriating, although I do (resentfully) admire her determination and how oblivious she is to the distance the others clearly try to keep her at. The character development and interactions between Ada and these “friends” is brilliant - without ever hearing their narratives it’s up to us as the reader to work out how they really feel about her.
With this group of young privileged adults with their country homes and endless riches, and a year in Italy focused on art history, this is of course a wonderfully glamorous and romantic novel in some ways - from the clothes to the evenings spent drinking wine and discussing culture in Venice, Florence and Rome. Whilst I didn’t always understand the art references, I still found myself swept away by the beauty of it all and imagining evenings of my own back in Rome one day!
This is a thrilling story in every way - the characters are vile and manipulative, the locations exquisite, and it is a tale full of surprises which will make your jaws drop! Loved it.
March 3, 2021
Now I'll admit to reading a few reviews about this book before delving in myself.
Some said it was too slow, not enough going on.
Now I'll agree that it is slow, but that meant that it was methodical. The pace was necessary for the story to work.
The details were rolled out steadily.
Each chapter had a sinister atmosphere to it.
I was waiting for another piece of the puzzle to be revealed. Left with an uneasy feeling the more that I read (in part due to the narration from the protagonist) and my thoughts on certain characters were proved entirely wrong as I neared the end of the story.
Intelligent, immersive and imaginative.
What Laura has written is a clever creation of literature.
Astonishing.
The Favour is a novel that will leave you with a chill whilst longing for a trip to Italy! The emotions stirred up are ever so conflicting and I have to say I liked that.
Some said it was too slow, not enough going on.
Now I'll agree that it is slow, but that meant that it was methodical. The pace was necessary for the story to work.
The details were rolled out steadily.
Each chapter had a sinister atmosphere to it.
I was waiting for another piece of the puzzle to be revealed. Left with an uneasy feeling the more that I read (in part due to the narration from the protagonist) and my thoughts on certain characters were proved entirely wrong as I neared the end of the story.
Intelligent, immersive and imaginative.
What Laura has written is a clever creation of literature.
Astonishing.
The Favour is a novel that will leave you with a chill whilst longing for a trip to Italy! The emotions stirred up are ever so conflicting and I have to say I liked that.
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