From the Bookshelf of Retro Reads…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought
There was so much to love about this book -- the old English house, called China Court because its owners made their fortune mining the special clay used to produce china -- plus three generations of fascinating family members. Unfortunately most of them led unhappy lives, until the youngest granddaughter makes an appearance. Her parents were divorced and she was taken away at an early age by her mother, but she cherishes her childhood memories of China Court and loves it just as much as does he
...more
Mar 11, 2024
Barb in Maryland
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
historical-fiction
Lol, need to revisit this one so that I can write a review.
I really enjoyed this novel of life in an English country house throughout five generations. Although the characters at first were confusing (the author jumps around with time periods and you have to keep your head together while reading), I became enamored of the main character, Ripsie, pretty quickly.
Ripsie is a young 'waif', a poor village child who cannot stop gazing in through the gates of China House. Soon she becomes playmates with the children who live there, although the class distincti ...more
Ripsie is a young 'waif', a poor village child who cannot stop gazing in through the gates of China House. Soon she becomes playmates with the children who live there, although the class distincti ...more
I really struggled with this book at first, but once you become familiar with the family and servants, and the generational hopscotch writing, the story slowly draws you in. Thankfully my copy had the family tree on both ends of the book, which I referred to frequently! Mrs. Quin and her granddaughter Tracy are my favorite characters in a most unusual telling of life in an English country house over a century ago.
Feb 19, 2018
Hillary
marked it as to-read
May 24, 2018
Leslie
marked it as to-read
Jun 24, 2018
Elaine
marked it as to-read
Jul 10, 2018
Jan W. Mc
marked it as to-read
Mar 17, 2020
Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽
marked it as to-read
Loved it!
