num_pages: 320
description: From the award-winning novelist and writer of Upstairs Downstairs the launch of a brilliant new trilogy about what life was really like for masters and servants before the world of Downton AbbeyAs the Season of 1899 comes to an end the world is poised on the brink of profound irrevocable change. The Earl of Dilberne is facing serious financial concerns. The ripple effects spread to everyone in the household: Lord Robert who has gambled unwisely on the stock market and seeks a place in the Cabinet; his unmarried children Arthur who keeps a courtesan and Rosina who keeps a parrot in her bedroom; Lord Roberts wife Isobel who orders the affairs of the household in Belgrave Square; and Grace the ladys maid who orders the life of her mistress.Lord Robert can see no financial relief to an already mortgaged estate and though the Season is over his thoughts turn to securing a suitable wife (and dowry) for his son. The arrival on the London scene of Minnie a beautiful Chicago heiress with a reputation to mend seems the answer to all their prayers.As the writer of the pilot episode of the original Upstairs DownstairsFay Weldon brings a deserved reputation for magnificent storytelling. With wit and sympathyand no small measure of mischiefHabits of the House plots the interplay of restraint and desire manners and morals reason and instinct.
language: English
title: Habits of the House
publisher: St. Martin's Press