Secrets of Cavendon
The Ingham and Swann families have intermarried and are highly cooperative in the family business ventures in the late 1940s. Each member has unique design, acting, financial and other skills that complement their relationships as much as their businesses. WWII, however, has taken its toll on England, and Cecily Swann Ingham is worried. If they don’t do something about the lack of money clashing with the huge expenses inherent in running a family estate and businesses, she could wind up losing everything.
That quandary leads her to have several fraught conversations with her family that wind up with several workable solutions that, if accomplished carefully, will again make her clothing, gift, jewelry and other concern stores best-sellers once again. The idea of running shooting grouse tours at the family estate may seem a bit past times, but it ironically points out the exotic tastes of rich Americans, a somewhat tongue-in-cheek satire deftly inserted into the conflict. Two romances develop, one which foreshadows the grasping plans of a “wannabe” young man aching to become an integral part of the upper aristocracy and the other a heartfelt, sincere romance that manages to bypass minor hurdles.
Here is another of Bradford’s “lifestyles of the rich and famous” stories, replete with numerous descriptions of artwork, cutlery, designer furnishings, exquisitely simple and healthy menus, perfectly fashionable clothing that pleases the eye as much as the surrounding furniture, and ambience. There’s just enough humanity in the characters, with strengths and foibles, to hold the reader’s interest without over-taxing credibility. For those who love a good story, Barbara Taylor Bradford once again delivers nicely.
