Reviews

Habits of the House by Fay Weldon

libbykoch's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

awahle's review against another edition

funny lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

hegesteindal74's review against another edition

3.0

"Huset Dilberne", som man av en eller annen grunn har valgt å kalle den på norsk, er grei underholdning, uten å være den helt store leseopplevelsen. Den norske utgaven er dessverre skjemmet av mange feil. Her blandes han/hun og gis feil navn på karakterer. Punktum mangler i tillegg flere steder og her er regelrette setningsfeil. Unødvendig og ødeleggende.

tessisreading2's review against another edition

3.0

This is what "Downton Abbey" should have been. The book begins slowly, introducing us to the assortment of servants and family who populate the (rented) Belgrave House in London; each is an individual, and the upstairs/downstairs divide is clearly but sympathetically depicted. The Dilbernes are a nice, progressive family - Lord is in the House of Lords, a friend of the Prince of Wales, and still in love with his wife; Lady was an heiress yet also - gasp! - illegitimate; daughter Rosina is a suffragette; son Arthur is obsessed with motorcars. But at the same time they are selfish, spoiled, and thoughtlessly awful to their servants - they sing the praises of lady's maid Grace (a former foundling), but don't pay her much (if you pay them TOO much, the others get jealous), worry that she will leave (heavens, what a horrible idea), treat her as a non-person (it doesn't matter if a cat or a dog sees you naked, after all), sexually exploit her (as a teenager Grace was involved with Arthur; she has ambiguous uncomfortable feelings about the involvement and Arthur thinks about it with such defensive justification that you can't quite trust him), and otherwise exploit her (adding duties to her regular job without increasing her pay). Anyway, it develops that Lord Dilberne very unwisely sank all of the family's money into South African gold mines, the Boer War has caused the gold to stop coming in, and the family is desperately impoverished. Son Arthur must marry an heiress. Cue plot.

The book was apparently advertised to fans of Downton Abbey, and I can see where that wouldn't quite have worked: the Dilbernes aren't really very nice people, deep down, and in "Downton Abbey," that was the hook - the family were kind to their staff and took a paternalistic interest in them which, while wildly ahistorical, was gently soothing to witness. All the same, I loved it.

jessicaariel's review against another edition

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

andipants's review against another edition

1.0

I really didn't like this book. I probably wouldn't have finished it, except that it's the only audiobook I brought on a weekend trip, and I didn't want channel surf on the radio. In the entire ensemble cast, there wasn't a single character who wasn't petty, selfish, short-sighted, arrogant, or spiteful, and sometimes all of these things at once. I can understand wanting to portray realistic, flawed characters, but to make them relateable, they can't be wholly irredeemable, and these characters mostly were. At their best, some were occasionally inoffensive; when that's the best you can say about a person, it's pretty damning.

Mechanically, the writing mostly wasn't bad, but there were some long-winded expository moments. There were also some things repeated several times from different characters' points of view, which became repetitive, since no new information or insight was being provided. Additionally, there was some occasional weirdness where it wasn't entirely clear whether a character was speaking aloud, or simply thinking something; I suspect this may have been an issue with the audiobook reader, more than the text, but without seeing it, I can't be sure. Overall though, I was bored and disliked everyone. Would not recommend.

nglofile's review against another edition

I finished the first disc and realized that not only could I not distinguish many of the characters or effectively summarize the plot developments but that I simply didn't care. Table-setting is an important element in any novel, especially historical ones, and even more so when it is the first of a projected trilogy. However, the author seemed so enamored with her own world that she neglected to engage the reader with an actual story.

audiobook note: Considering Katherine Kellgren is one of my favorite narrators, it is especially telling that not even the lure of listening to her was enough to tempt me to continue.

lauralh05's review against another edition

4.0

Fun hiatus read for a Downton Abbey fan, in fact, I had a hard time not picturing some of the characters as Downton characters. Looking forward to reading the next two in the series.

indianajane's review against another edition

1.0

Though this book should have been right up my alley, I quit a quarter of the way through because of the writing and the tone.

emp1234's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars. Like most books, I couldn't remember what this was about or who recommended it when I started, but I generally enjoy period books/movies, so I was game. I listened to this one and thought Katherine Kellgren did a very good job. After finishing, I looked at more reviews and found it funny that others on GR found the characters unlikeable. I thought that was Weldon's point. The fact that everyone was so self centered and their actions so self serving (without being completely vicious) made this book fun!