Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey: Fiona, The Countess of Carnarvon

"Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey, a transporting companion piece to the New York Times bestseller Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey, tells the story of Catherine Wendell, the beautiful and spirited American who married Lady Almina's son, the man who would become the 6th Earl of Carnarvon.  The couple presided over Highclere Castle, the grand estate that serves as the setting for the hit PBS show Downton Abbey.  Following the First World War, many of the great houses of England faded as their owners' fortunes declined in the new political and social world of the 1920s and 1930s.  As war loomed, Highclere's survival as the family home of the Carnarvons was again in the balance--as was peace between the nations of Europe.

"Using copious materials--including diaries and scrapbooks--from the castle's archives, the current Countess of Carnarvon brings alive a very modern story in a beautiful and fabled setting, paying particular attention to the staff who provide Highclere Castle with continuity between generations."

This book is a semi-sequel to Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey, which I did enjoy -- especially for a work of non-fiction.  When I found out that there was another book revolving around the lives of the very interesting Highclere and the ever-fascinating Carnarvons, I began looking forward to picking it up.  This book was written with a similar ease and wealth of knowledge to the first, and I found this rather impressive.  I can only imagine the countless hours of research, interviews, and combing through records that it took to write this book.  My biggest feedback on this is that it moved in reverse flow from the first one:  While the other book was slow to start, it began picking up its pace and I ended up finishing it quite quickly; this book began very quickly and interestingly (perhaps because it essentially began right where the other finished), but was dramatically and noticeably slowed down when the Second World War began in earnest.  Personally, I feel like this happened for me because I am not a huge fan of war accounts.  I can manage snippets of personal histories and battles, but as soon as an author begins talking of strategy, battalion movements, and tactics...I have been lost.  My eyes begin to glaze over and I feel as if I've been thrust back into high school history class all over again.  The World Wars have always been the points at which I fumble in my passion for European (especially British) history (and I believe this is due in large part to the WAY in which it has been taught in American institutions over the decades -- very dry, date- and name-oriented, rather than broader-picture).  I feel like the second half of the book -- while it did in a very broad sense pertain to the Carnarvons -- certainly strayed from the aim of the rest of the book.  Lady Catherine and her family were mentioned more sporadically rather than as the main subjects.  I think the latter sections of the book would have benefitted from some more tying-in of various events directly to their lives.  While this happened now and then, I don't think it was enough for someone (like myself) who reads a book like this for the biographical aspect, and not as a history of a war.

Overall, however, I quite liked it.  I loved the pictures that were thrown in; they really helped breathe life into the names and personalities contained in the accounts.  The stories were told with a certain amount of finesse that I almost felt at times as if I were reading fiction instead of biographical information.  As a sequel to the other book by the current Countess of Carnarvon -- the wife of Lady Catherine's grandson -- I think this is a great companion work and will surely be fascinating to anyone who loves Downton Abbey.  It's wonderful to see echoes of stories and characters in the lives of the people who really lived at Highclere.

The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde: Neil McKenna

"'I have put my genius into my life, but only my talent into my work.'  So said Oscar Wilde of his remarkable life -- a life more complex, more troubled, and more triumphant than any of his contemporaries ever knew or suspected.  In The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde, Neil McKenna focuses on the tormented genius of Wilde's personal life, reproducing remarkable love letters and details Wilde's previously unknown relationships with men from various walks of life.

"McKenna has spent years researching Wilde's life, drawing on extensive new material, including never-before published poems, letters, and other writings.  He also quotes, for the first time, from recently discovered trial statements made my male prostitutes and blackmailers about Wilde.  McKenna provides explosive evidence of political machinations behind Wilde's trials for sodomy, as well as his central role in the burgeoning gay world of Victorian London.

"Dazzlingly written and meticulously researched, The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde is the first book to fully chart Wilde's astonishing odyssey through London's sexual underworld and to reconstruct his emotional and sexual life and paints an astonishingly vivid psychological portrait of a troubled genius who chose to martyr himself for the cause of love between men."

I picked up this book about a month ago.  Having finished graduate school, I (surprisingly) found myself missing more "serious" reading material.  I hadn't read too much Wilde above and beyond "The Importance of Being Ernest" and The Picture of Dorian Grey in high school, but Wilde had always seemed like a very interesting British literary figure.  I knew he was scandalous and I was interested to gain a better grasp of why.  To be sure, this book certainly went the extra mile to ensure of just how and why Wilde was famous, as well as infamous.

I must start off by saying I learned an astonishing amount about Wilde, and to a depth I certainly was not expecting.  I had an idea that Wilde was a complex man, but I had no clue just how complex.  I am impressed by the sheer amount of primary sources, personal accounts and letter, and diary entries McKenna was able to obtain, let alone work into this biographical work.  I will provide a word of caution, however:  This angle focuses a great deal on Wilde's personal sphere and sexual life -- often using pretty explicit language and descriptions.  I wasn't offended by any means, I was just not expecting it (though, I suppose I should have, given the book's title and description).  I didn't find it gratuitous or included with the sole intent to shock.  I don't feel this should be a deterrent from reading this book -- just don't say that no one warned you!

The book was, overall, very interesting.  I learned so much about the complex man who wrote provocative, highly-controversial, and memorable works, as well as helped promote and support love amongst men in Britain.  I was moved by the obvious depth of his love for Bosie and shocked by the breadth of Wilde's passions and affairs.  There was fascinating information about Wilde's marriage and family life.  I was truly moved by how tragic his marriage to poor Constance was.  The fact that a part of her continued to love and care for Oscar -- even after all his infidelity, overspending, indiscretions, lawsuits, scandals, and imprisonment -- was profoundly moving.  Despite all of Wilde's faults, I found him captivating.  What an interesting man he must have been!  What it must have been like to converse with a mind of his ilk!

I was extremely impressed with this biography.  Though this genre is not normally my cup of tea, I loved how much I learned.  I will admit that it took me much longer to read than I am used to.  The writing was eloquent and filled to the brim with excellent information, so I'm unsure why this was the case.  There were times I would think, "Well this bit was interesting, but I think this could've been shortened by a few paragraphs."  Then, I would consider the fact that those paragraphs contained some interesting source material and it may have been a loss to Wilde's legacy to omit them.  This book ended up being as much a biography if Wilde as it was the history of homosexuality and love between men in Britain.  I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Wilde or this fascinating history.  I will reiterate my caution that the reader cannot be sensitive or easily offended by the material -- more's the pity because you're missing out on some rich, fascinating history!

I want to conclude by including some of my favorite quotes from the book.  Both come from early on in the work and, I think, they really helped to suck me in.  The following quote is from a letter Wilde wrote to a woman to whom he'd proposed when he was younger.  His friend, her brother, died and Wilde wrote this in a letter to her:  "I am so glad you are coming to town.  I want to see you though the memories you will bring with you will be most bitter.  Yet often I think when a friend dies those who are left become very close to one another, just as when an oak falls in the forest the other trees reach our and join branches over the vacant place" (21).  The next quote comes from comments Wilde made about his extended visit and tour of the United States:  "America is a land of unmatched vitality and vulgarity...a people who care not at all about values other than their own and, who, when they make up their minds, love you and hate you with a passionate zeal" (35).  I found the first one profoundly beautiful, and the second quote to be extremely poignant...and familiar.  Is it just me or does this ring true about a hundred years or so after Wilde penned it?

Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey: Lady Fiona Carnarvon, The Countess of Carnarvon

"Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey tells the story behind Highclere Castle, the real-life inspiration and setting for Julian Fellowes's Emmy Award-winning PBS show, Downton Abbey, and the life of one of its most famous inhabitants, Lady Almina, the 5th Countess of Carnarvon.  Drawing on a rich store of materials from the archives of Highclere Castle, including diaries, letters, and photographs, the current Lady Carnarvon has written a transporting story of this fabled home on the brink of war.

"Much like her Masterpiece Classic counterpart, Lady Cora Crawley, Lady Almina was the daughter of a wealthy industrialist Alfred de Rothschild, who married his daughter off at a young age, her dowry serving as the crucial link in the effort to preserve the Earl of Carnarvon's ancestral home  Throwing open the doors of Highclere Castle to tend to the wounded of World War I, Lady Almina distinguished herself as a brave and remarkable woman.

"The rich tale contrasts the splendor of Edwardian life in a great house against the backdrop of the First World War and offers an inspiring and revealing picture of the woman at the center of the history of Highclere Castle."

I originally picked up this book some time ago because it was on a list to read "if you enjoy Downton Abbey."  Unfortunately, I have yet to watch the show (I've been interested in it for a long time, but my schedule hasn't permitted it - I may definitely have to watch it now that I've read this book!), but I thought this non-fiction work might be an interesting read.  I was a touch skeptical because it was penned by the current Countess of Carnarvon, Lady Fiona Carnarvon.  Without sounding too harsh, I wasn't sure that this lady's aristocratic credentials necessarily meant she should be the one to write such a book - her status as a Countess doesn't make her an expert on the topic of her husband's ancestry, nor does it mean she can produce quality writing.  I will follow this up with a statement that I was impressed.  The writing was extremely well done and thoughtful.  The details were beautiful and there was a great deal of care and love put into it.  Any misgivings about the suitability of the current Countess of Carnarvon as an author have been laid to rest.  The history was rich and she really brought Lady Almina and her family to life.  I will say, however, that part of the reason this book took me so long to read was that the beginning dragged a little bit.  A great deal of time was spent on Almina's background (which, having finished the book, I can now see is integral), and this slowed the pace a bit.  It picked back up once Almina and her new husband -- the famous Earl of Carnarvon who, with Howard Carter, discovered the intact tomb of Tutankhamun in Egypt -- moved to Highclere after their wedding.  Lady Carnarvon truly makes the house come alive.  She clearly appreciates the beauty and history of the house.


***It took me so long to complete this review that I actually finished watching the entire Downton Abbey  series a couple of months ago!  I hope my reviewing gets back on track now that I'm finally done with grad school (yay!!!).  My biggest takeaway was how much more I feel I appreciated the television series after having read this account of Highclere.  The setting was spectacular and it felt so much more alive.  I have to believe the creators and writers of the series read the current Lady Carnarvon's accounts, worked very closely with her and her family, or did an astounding amount of research.  I saw threads of real people from Lady Carnarvon's book woven into the series and I found myself thrilled each time I caught a reference or tidbit.  I think it's an excellent idea to read this book and then watch the television series; it makes for a much richer experience.


Back to the book review:  Overall, I found the writing easy to read (even if the first few chapters slowed down a little bit - I do encourage you to persevere because it really is a very interesting nonfiction read) and the anecdotes were very interesting.  It breathed life into one of the most stunning houses England has to offer.  It made history come alive, which is one of my absolute favorite things about literature (it's the reason my undergraduate degrees are in English and history).  I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in England, history, WWI, British aristocracy, or the Downton Abbey television series.  I loved the photographs, the stories, and the enthralling history of this stunning house and its fascinating family.  This was a great non-fiction read and I recommend it to fans of history, England, wartime stories, and, of course, Downton Abbey.