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A review by twitchyredpen
Rutherford Park by Elizabeth Cooke
1.0
DNF'd about a quarter of the way through -- was, frankly, only reading to see if there was going to be a twist and Emily-the-knocked-up-servant had survived after all and would cause drama by existing later. Got bored of it all and started flipping through, eventually reaching the end where one of the reader's-guide questions mentioned her death, so I suppose not.
The prose isn't painful; I've never watched Downton Abbey to be disappointed by comparisons; I am not a history/aristocracy expert to fuss over forms of address. My complaint is simply that wow, do I not care about these characters at all. Rich aristocrats wishing they weren't constrained, sleeping with people they aren't supposed to be, justifying it to themselves, gossiping. If you are usually leery of books that have "A Novel" on the front, then be advised that this book is very much "A Novel."
The prose isn't painful; I've never watched Downton Abbey to be disappointed by comparisons; I am not a history/aristocracy expert to fuss over forms of address. My complaint is simply that wow, do I not care about these characters at all. Rich aristocrats wishing they weren't constrained, sleeping with people they aren't supposed to be, justifying it to themselves, gossiping. If you are usually leery of books that have "A Novel" on the front, then be advised that this book is very much "A Novel."