LoveReading Says
LoveReading Says
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.
Reviewed by Sarah BroadhurstSarah Broadhurst spent her early working life in the book trade in both retail and wholesale until the arrival of children forced her to look for freelance work she could do from…
More reviews by Sarah Broadhurst About Past Imperfect
From the creator of the Emmy Award-winning Downton Abbey... "Damian Baxter was a friend of mine at Cambridge. We met around the time when I was doing the Season at the end of the Sixties. I introduced him to some of the girls. They took him up, and we ran about together in London for a while...." Nearly forty years later, the narrator hates Damian Baxter and would gladly forget their disastrous last encounter. But if it is pleasant to hear from an old friend, it is more interesting to hear from an old enemy, and so he accepts an invitation from the rich and dying Damian, who begs him to track down the past girlfriend whose anonymous letter claimed he had fathered a child during that ruinous debutante season. The search takes the narrator back to the extraordinary world of swinging London, where aristocratic parents schemed to find suitable matches for their daughters while someone was putting hash in the brownies at a ball at Madame Tussaud's. It was a time when everything seemed to be changing--and it was, but not always quite as expected. Past Imperfect is Julian Fellowes at his best--a novel of secrets, status, and a world in upheaval.
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Past Imperfect Synopsis
From the creator of the Emmy Award-winning Downton Abbey...
"Damian Baxter was a friend of mine at Cambridge. We met around the time when I was doing the Season at the end of the Sixties. I introduced him to some of the girls. They took him up, and we ran about together in London for a while...." Nearly forty years later, the narrator hates Damian Baxter and would gladly forget their disastrous last encounter. But if it is pleasant to hear from an old friend, it is more interesting to hear from an old enemy, and so he accepts an invitation from the rich and dying Damian, who begs him to track down the past girlfriend whose anonymous letter claimed he had fathered a child during that ruinous debutante season.
The search takes the narrator back to the extraordinary world of swinging London, where aristocratic parents schemed to find suitable matches for their daughters while someone was putting hash in the brownies at a ball at Madame Tussaud's. It was a time when everything seemed to be changing--and it was, but not always quite as expected.
Past Imperfect is Julian Fellowes at his best--a novel of secrets, status, and a world in upheaval.
About This Edition
| ISBN: |
9781250020376 |
| Publication date: |
8th May 2012 |
| Author: |
Julian Fellowes |
| Publisher: |
Griffin an imprint of St. Martins Press-3PL |
| Format: |
Paperback |
| Pagination: |
416 pages |
| Primary Genre |
Historical Fiction
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| Other Genres: |
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| Recommendations: |
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Press Reviews
Julian Fellowes Press Reviews
'A gloriously funny, bumpy ride through modern times.' Andrew Barrow, THE EVENING STANDARD
'he knows too, how to create memorable characters. Working with an upper-class cast Fellowes populates PAST IMPERFECT with a gallery of sometimes grotesque but mostley affectionately drawn toffs - acidly observered by the narrator, ever peevish, ever diverting.' Peter Burton, THE DAILY EXPRESS
'PAST IMPERFECT is both a historical document for that vanished era and a comedy of manners....... sharply perceptive and required reading for anyone who was there.' Claire Colvin, THE DAILY MAIL
'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
Author
About Julian Fellowes
Julian Fellowes, actor, writer, producer, was educated at Ampleforth, Magdalene College, Cambridge and the Webber Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art. He trained in repertory theatre at Northampton and Harrogate before making his West End début in 'A Touch of Spring' by Sam Taylor at the Comedy Theatre. He is probably best known for his portrayal of the incorrigible Lord Kilwillie in the BBC's popular Sunday night series, 'Monarch of the Glen'. In the cinema, he was seen in 'Shadowlands' with Anthony Hopkins, 'Damage' with Jeremy Irons and 'Tomorrow Never Dies' with Pierce Brosnan. As a writer for television, he is responsible for the scripts of 'Little Sir Nicholas,' 'Little Lord Fauntleroy' (winner of an International EMMY, 1995) and 'The Prince and the Pauper' (nominated for a BAFTA, 1997) which he also produced. His screenplay début for the big screen was 'Gosford Park' directed by Robert Altman, which won a plethora of prizes, not least the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. His new version of 'Vanity Fair' is currently filming with Reese Witherspoon. He is now writing the book for a new stage musical of 'Mary Poppins' for Cameron Mackintosh and Disney. Julian is married to Emma, née Kitchener, a lady-in-waiting to HRH Princess Michael of Kent. They have a son Peregrine.
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