A review by kdawn999
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh

4.0

I happened to get the ugliest cover, but, no matter, I really liked this slow, nostalgic British book. I feel I may have to give a spoiler up front—this is not a grand, gay, tragic romance, and that’s a bit of a shame. I really think without all the misleading marketing almost no one would be sold on the scant scandals here. Well, if it’s not about repressed and forbidden love, what is this about? England—that’s it. It’s about England and the loss of the old ways and old castles that no one can afford to keep up anymore. It’s about how artists see the world and people and their place in it—which is ultimately in a war, literally and figuratively. I really liked all the historical backdrop, but I don’t know many people like me who enjoy slow, pompous British drama. My friend Katie, who also read this in book club with me, said it was like Downton Abbey with unlikeable people. Yes and yes. What makes this book successful has to be the elegance of the writing. It is superb. If you want to read a British version of The Great Gatsby without the accident and murder, this will do.

P. S. For the record, I like this better than Gatsby.