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verityw's review against another edition
3.0
****Copy from NetGalley in return for an honest review****
If you've only heard of the poet, there's a lot you're missing out on about the Byron family - and this book sets out to change that. I had come across Admiral Byron before - but only in passing in history lectures. But it turns out there's a scandalous sister and a profligate baron who fought in a duel. I enjoyed this, and it's clearly very well researched, but I found it sometimes quite hard to keep track of the large cast of characters (who often share names) and I found the jumps forward and backwards a little confusing - but that may just be the way that it was formatted in the advance e-copy I had. But if you like histories of aristocratic families, this is worth your while - there is so much going on here in so few generations. And if you're interested in the poet, then this has valuable insight into his family and backstory - although not a huge amount about him.
If you've only heard of the poet, there's a lot you're missing out on about the Byron family - and this book sets out to change that. I had come across Admiral Byron before - but only in passing in history lectures. But it turns out there's a scandalous sister and a profligate baron who fought in a duel. I enjoyed this, and it's clearly very well researched, but I found it sometimes quite hard to keep track of the large cast of characters (who often share names) and I found the jumps forward and backwards a little confusing - but that may just be the way that it was formatted in the advance e-copy I had. But if you like histories of aristocratic families, this is worth your while - there is so much going on here in so few generations. And if you're interested in the poet, then this has valuable insight into his family and backstory - although not a huge amount about him.
saralouisemarsbar's review against another edition
5.0
Obsessed with gossip and scandal from the 18th century? Yes, yes I am
annarella's review against another edition
4.0
This is a well written, well researched and entertaining book. I didn't know anything about Byron's family and it was interesting to learn about this extraordinary characters.
I liked how the book is told and how vivid the background is.
A very good read, recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
I liked how the book is told and how vivid the background is.
A very good read, recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.
shelfofunread's review against another edition
2.0
'The Fall of the House of Byron' is a fascinating examination of three generations of the Byron family - and of their home, Newstead Abbey. Beginning with the arrival of the wide-eyed ten-year-old who would later become the infamous 'mad, bad, and dangerous to know' Romantic poet Lord Byron, the book then spirals backwards to the lives of his ancestors including the 4th Baron Byron - a popular amateur composer - and his dissolute heir William, 5th Baron Byron, who becomes known to history as 'the Wicked Lord', before returning to consider the scandalous poet, soldier and adventurer who is the most well known to history today.
Emily Brand has clearly done a lot of research for this book and as someone fairly unacquainted with the Byron family beyond Lord Byron's poetry, I did find myself getting a little lost at times. This may be because reading digitally meant I couldn't easily move between the family tree and the text - I suspect this would have been less of an issue in a hard copy of the book.
The Byron dynasty has a much more complex and fascinating history than I had realised and the book is told in an engaging narrative manner that does draw you in. I have to admit that there were a few moments when I found my interest waning - this is a fairly long and detailed examination that clearly has an academic rigour and occasionally also an academic level of details that went a little beyond my interest as a lay reader of the subject matter - but anyone interested in Byron, the Romantic poets, or the history of Newstead Abbey is sure to find this an extremely rewarding and well-researched read.
Emily Brand has clearly done a lot of research for this book and as someone fairly unacquainted with the Byron family beyond Lord Byron's poetry, I did find myself getting a little lost at times. This may be because reading digitally meant I couldn't easily move between the family tree and the text - I suspect this would have been less of an issue in a hard copy of the book.
The Byron dynasty has a much more complex and fascinating history than I had realised and the book is told in an engaging narrative manner that does draw you in. I have to admit that there were a few moments when I found my interest waning - this is a fairly long and detailed examination that clearly has an academic rigour and occasionally also an academic level of details that went a little beyond my interest as a lay reader of the subject matter - but anyone interested in Byron, the Romantic poets, or the history of Newstead Abbey is sure to find this an extremely rewarding and well-researched read.
cate_ninetails's review against another edition
4.0
I found this book to be at many points too much of a good thing. There is so much information to relay and the author is obviously so passionate that the text becomes overwhelming. I understand the desire to both set the scene and also make use of what must have been staggering amounts of references but, for example in early chapters the reader is pummelled with superfluous names, so much that it becomes a difficult task keeping up with the ones that actually matter. On top of this I felt the text so choked with parentheses and quotations that it was distracting. They are a natural pause point so interrupt the momentum and when so overused did seem to ruin what could have been a more elegant flow. But the book is not the sum of these parts and after persevering I certainly learned more than I ever knew about previous generations in the Byron line, plus a bit about the infamous Lord himself. As my final book of 2019 I'm happy that it was a good one.
rlaurene's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
4.0
This book explores the star-crossed Byron family, several generations before the infamous Lord Byron. There are a host of eccentric and wild characters who really do their hardest to live up to Byron's insistence that just what made him mad and bad was in his blood. The format, told through the viewpoint of the family seat of Newstead Abbey is interesting, and many of the people explored sincerely do deserve the time the book devotes to them (Isabella, John, William and Jack come to mind).
My main issue is that this is a huge family (unsurprising when John impregnates his wife every time he's home for more than five minutes) and it is difficult to keep track of them all. With the audiobook at least, there is no way to remind yourself who is who.
My main issue is that this is a huge family (unsurprising when John impregnates his wife every time he's home for more than five minutes) and it is difficult to keep track of them all. With the audiobook at least, there is no way to remind yourself who is who.
jamieleepilk's review
5.0
⭐ 4.5 rounded up
I loved this book! I had super high expectations as this is one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint.
The format of this book is excellent and really engaging, you have parts of George Bryon arriving and exploring Newstead and how different part connect to his family. I'm not going to lie I didn't know much about Georges family so I was super excited to read this. His family were so interesting and flawed in various ways from.
In a family full of men the women of the family are really the ones to shine, Isabella Byron (whose portrait inside the book with her lilac hair powder made me instantly love her what an icon) a woman who would not be restricted by her husbands wishes and truly was her own woman, Sophia Byron who was strong and charismatic in the face of illness and hardships.
The only reason this book didn't get a full five stars from me was that at times I felt like I was getting too much information in one go and had to re-read passages a couple of times to truly grasp was being told.
This book is insanely well researched, with a warmth and compassion which really connects you to the story of this fascinating family. At times I had to force myself to stop reading because this is the type of book you just want to absorb in one go, utterly brilliant.
I loved this book! I had super high expectations as this is one of my most anticipated books of the year and it did not disappoint.
The format of this book is excellent and really engaging, you have parts of George Bryon arriving and exploring Newstead and how different part connect to his family. I'm not going to lie I didn't know much about Georges family so I was super excited to read this. His family were so interesting and flawed in various ways from.
In a family full of men the women of the family are really the ones to shine, Isabella Byron (whose portrait inside the book with her lilac hair powder made me instantly love her what an icon) a woman who would not be restricted by her husbands wishes and truly was her own woman, Sophia Byron who was strong and charismatic in the face of illness and hardships.
The only reason this book didn't get a full five stars from me was that at times I felt like I was getting too much information in one go and had to re-read passages a couple of times to truly grasp was being told.
This book is insanely well researched, with a warmth and compassion which really connects you to the story of this fascinating family. At times I had to force myself to stop reading because this is the type of book you just want to absorb in one go, utterly brilliant.