Habits of the House
Before there was Downton Abbey, there was Upstairs, Downstairs, and, having written the first episode of that iconic television series, it is only fitting that Weldon now returns to the scene of the crime to further explore the disparate worlds of “them that has and those what serve ’em.” On the brink of the twentieth century, all is not well in the House of Dilberne. The earl has gambled away most of his patrimony and lost the remainder in an ill-timed investment. Inspired by his own fortuitous marriage to Isobel, daughter of a wealthy coal baron, his lordship’s only hope of saving the family bacon is to marry his son, Arthur, off to the daughter of an American businessman. What with Arthur’s predilection for a local trollop and preoccupation with experimental automobiles, this won’t be an easy task. Luckily, there’s a mansion’s worth of dubiously loyal maids, butlers, and cooks to conduct vital backroom negotiations. Always a ripe target for mockery and disdain, the British aristocracy comes in for a thorough drubbing in Weldon’s snarky send-up.  HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: The first novel in beloved British writer Weldon’s new series launches with a hefty print run and all-out national marketing campaign carrying the banner, “Poised for Bestsellerdom.” --Carol Haggas