The Legacy of Hartlepool Hall
Hartlepool Hall has been in Ed’s family for generations – but is that about to change, and who is the mysterious Lady Alice?
‘A deliciously dark comedy about class, snobbery and a vanishing way of life’ GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
‘Gloriously enjoyable’ DAILY MAIL
‘Excellent’ METRO
Ed Hartlepool has been living in self-imposed exile for five years, but with a settlement regarding his inheritance looming, he must return to his ancestral seat, Hartlepool Hall. On his return, he discovers that his father has left him, along with the house, a seven million pound tax bill, two massive overdrafts, an 80-year-old butler, and a vast country estate that is creaking at the seams. Not only that, but there is a strange woman in residence – Lady Alice – who seems to have made herself very much at home.
With the debts mounting, it seems that Ed’s only recourse is to turn to his friend Annabel’s new boyfriend, a property developer who plans to turn Hartlepool Hall into luxury flats and a golf course. But can Ed save his inheritance without such a drastic move? And is Lady Alice really the person she claims to be?
‘A deliciously dark comedy about class, snobbery and a vanishing way of life’ GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
‘Gloriously enjoyable’ DAILY MAIL
‘Excellent’ METRO
Ed Hartlepool has been living in self-imposed exile for five years, but with a settlement regarding his inheritance looming, he must return to his ancestral seat, Hartlepool Hall. On his return, he discovers that his father has left him, along with the house, a seven million pound tax bill, two massive overdrafts, an 80-year-old butler, and a vast country estate that is creaking at the seams. Not only that, but there is a strange woman in residence – Lady Alice – who seems to have made herself very much at home.
With the debts mounting, it seems that Ed’s only recourse is to turn to his friend Annabel’s new boyfriend, a property developer who plans to turn Hartlepool Hall into luxury flats and a golf course. But can Ed save his inheritance without such a drastic move? And is Lady Alice really the person she claims to be?
Reviews
A novel that's quirky, funny, moving and peopled with superbly drawn characters
Gloriously enjoyable
This is a novel about decay and destruction, but bracingly unsentimental and surprisingly moving
It's a novel that should enhance his reputation for excellent, ingenious writing
More intriguing is the skein of darkness that, in common with much of Torday's fiction, runs discretely through the story - one sequence is sufficiently macabre as to recall the work of a young McEwan
A black comedy of manners and a poignant social commentary.
It grabs you right from page one and is another great read from the author of SALMON FISHING IN THE YEMEN
A deliciously dark comedy about class, snobbery and a vanishing way of life