.gif){kind=small}
Sarah Broadhurst's view...
Reviewed on Richard & Judy on Wednesday 13 May 2009.
Featured on The Book Show on Sky Arts on 29 January 2009.
Wealthy Damian Baxter is dying without an heir when an unsigned letter arrives inferring he had a son thirty years ago. The story backtracks to the late 60s and into the lives of six girlfriends who he slept with before mumps rendered him sterile. It’s the dying days of debs, the last coming-our balls of the season and a period when the upper classes were having to adjust to changing times. Full of terrific observations on human nature, it’s funny, poignant and enormously enjoyable.
Comparison: Jilly Cooper, Eva Rice (Lost Art of Keeping Secrets), Veronica Henry.
If you like Julian Fellowes you might also like to read books by Wendy Holden, Penny Vincenzi and Claudia Carroll.
Who is Sarah BroadhurstSynopsis
Past Imperfect by Julian Fellowes
Damian Baxter is very, very rich - and he's dying. He lives alone in a big house in Surrey, looked after by a chauffeur, butler, cook and housemaid. He has but one concern: who should inherit his fortune...
PAST IMPERFECT is the story of a quest. Damian Barker wishes to know if he has a living heir. By the time he married in his late thirties he was sterile (the result of adult mumps), but what about before that unfortunate illness? He was not a virgin. Had he sired a child? A letter from a girlfriend from these times suggests he did. But the letter is anonymous.
Damian contacts someone he knew from their days at university. He gives him a list of girls he slept with and sets him a task: find his heir...
Reviews
'A gloriously funny, bumpy ride through modern times.' Andrew Barrow, THE EVENING STANDARD
"Julian Fellowes has a wickedly keen eye for observing the habits of the upper classes ... Past Imperfect is intelligently and wittily written." DAILY EXPRESS
'Its plot cannot fail to grip the reader...... what elevates this novel to much more than a comedy of manners is the depth of compassion the author displays for his characters.' Elisa Segrave, THE SPECTATOR
'An elegant satire, it offers an entertaining commentary on our times and a heartfelt lament for a kinder, more courteous Britain' Sebastian Shakespeare, TATLER
'It is amusingly written, ends neatly, quietly subverts the surface stereotyping of its characters, and will have a certain kind of social historian swooning with pleasure.' DJ Taylor, THE GUARDIAN
About the Author
|
|
Loading similar books...
Loading other formats...
Book Info
Publication date
30th April 2009Author
Julian FellowesMore books by Julian Fellowes
Author 'Like for Like'
recommendations
Author's Facebook Latest
Loading facebook updates...
Loading twitter updates...
Publisher
Orion Publishing CoFormat
Paperback528 pages
Categories
Family DramaLiterary FictioneBook Favourites
Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945)ISBN
9781780229232I love the newsletter with reviews of all the new books coming out. Can't wait to open it when it arrives in my inbox.
Rachel Aygin
You'll always find what you never knew you were looking for and you're always spoilt for choice.
Helen Jones
Lovereading is pitched at just the right level for all the various types of people who enjoy reading in its many forms.
Pam Woodburn
The best new books on the market, reviewed honestly, to give your readers the best choices.
Julie Cook
Love books. Love reading. Love reading books. And, here's the trick. Here's a website which caters for people like me.
Ian Harvey-brown
I love Lovereading for the wonderful like for like author recommendations and for highlighting new books, it's a great resource for readers!
Lindsay
Lovereading has all the new books and also suggestions for 'similar' authors whilst waiting for your favourites new books.
Carol Peace
Lovereading recommends, honestly reviews and promotes books-what more can I say?!
Rachel Bridgeman
Share this page
What is this?