Ashenden
  • Published: 24 April 2013
  • ISBN: 9780241960004
  • Imprint: Penguin General UK
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $19.99

Ashenden

Formats & editions
EBook
2 Jul 2012
Paperback
24 Apr 2013
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An atmospheric debut novel, spanning two and a half centuries, told through the fortunes of an English Palladian house and the people connected with it

Spring 2010, and when Charlie and Ros inherit Ashenden from their aunt Reggie a decision must be made. The beautiful eighteenth-century house, set in acres of English countryside, is in need of serious repair. Do they try to keep it in the family, or will they have to sell?

Moving back in time, in an interwoven narrative spanning two and a half centuries, we witness the house from its beginnings through to the present day. Along the way we meet those who have built the house, lived in it and loved it; those who have worked in it, and those who would subvert it to their own ends, including Mrs Trimble, housekeeper to the rackety, spendthrift Mores; the wealthy Henderson family, in their Victorian heyday; six-year-old Pudge; Walter Beckmann, prisoner in its grounds.

Through good times and bad, the better we get to know the house, the more we care about its survival. A novel about people, architecture and living history, Ashenden is an evocative and allusive reflection on England and its past.
  • Published: 24 April 2013
  • ISBN: 9780241960004
  • Imprint: Penguin General UK
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $19.99
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Praise for Ashenden

An engrossing debut . . . a sparkling jewel: full of fascinating detail, high drama and sly wit

Amanda Foreman

An affecting, intelligent debut

Observer

Lively interlinked historical vignettes display distinct post-Downton commercial savvy . . . a pleasurably subtle web of connections . . . a beguilingly effortless read

Daily Mail

A panoramic view of English family life . . . any reader who loves history and houses will enjoy this verbal magical lantern show

Charlotte Moore

I adored this book; I saw it as a sort of love letter to a vanished way of life, and a slice of English history at the same time, tracing as it does the lives of all the people who lived in Ashenden, a beautiful English country house, for over two hundred years. It's very touching and very compelling

Penny Vincenzi