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A review by thereadingmum
The Ballad of Castle Reef by Honor Tracy
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
4.0
This is a hard one to rate.
Francis Barraclough, heir to Castle Reef, is called home from Paris following his father's death. He brings his American wife, whom he married the day after being telegraphed about his father's death. Back in his ancestral home, he finds out his father has thrown him a curve ball from beyond the grave. The intention was to give Francis a shock, which succeeded a bit too spectacularly.
At just over 150 pages, it's more of a novella and that definitely works in its favour. I laughed out loud many times so it is a humorous book. I didn't like Francis to begin with as his relations with his father were very distant and his reaction to his father's death was not admirable. However, many father-son relationships are like that. Particularly from this time period and class of people. As the story progresses, as he realises his heritage means more to him than he thought, along with how he treats everyone, I ended up liking him immensely.
You do need to remember when this was written and when the story is set as there are several racist and classist asides that would get the author pilloried today.
Francis Barraclough, heir to Castle Reef, is called home from Paris following his father's death. He brings his American wife, whom he married the day after being telegraphed about his father's death. Back in his ancestral home, he finds out his father has thrown him a curve ball from beyond the grave. The intention was to give Francis a shock, which succeeded a bit too spectacularly.
At just over 150 pages, it's more of a novella and that definitely works in its favour. I laughed out loud many times so it is a humorous book. I didn't like Francis to begin with as his relations with his father were very distant and his reaction to his father's death was not admirable. However, many father-son relationships are like that. Particularly from this time period and class of people. As the story progresses, as he realises his heritage means more to him than he thought, along with how he treats everyone, I ended up liking him immensely.
You do need to remember when this was written and when the story is set as there are several racist and classist asides that would get the author pilloried today.