Emma Henderson

In the mid-19th century Anthony Valentine visited a small valley in the Haut-Savoie and fell in love. An avid mountaineer and outdoorsman he built a huge family house on the mountain above the village of Hext which the extended family used every summer, exploring the area and entertaining. Whilst the locals did not like 'les Rosbifs', the money that they family brought into the area was useful. In 1914 Mathilde joined the workforce, a household help known as an 'Ugly', the family only employed unattractive local girls as Lady C felt that they would not catch the eye of her husband. In 1976 George spends the summer at the house following the data of his parents and the stories of the locals and the family become more intertwined and secrets are revealed.

I am not always a fan of these 'family saga' novels but I really enjoyed this one. Henderson has a real love for the Haut-Savoie and it is the area that is both the hero and villain of the tale. The romanticism of the Alpine Club and the idea of the challenges fits in with the upper class ideals, as does the delineation between upstairs and downstairs. There is a lot of plot crammed in here and not all of it is explored as fully as it could have been, by keeping the setting solely in the area around the house the story of Margaret and her scandal is rather underplayed until the very end of the book. Similarly I found the story of Xavier rushed towards the end. However that is to detract from what is a very entertaining read which switches timeframe and narrator with ease.… (altro)