Book description
Beneath the still quiet of rural England as the century turned lay a
complex and fatally linked series of destinies. The mistress of
Fiennders Abbey was often pleased to have her corsets loosened by the
estate gardener. Her elder son, Richard, never forgot his true childhood
love - Mary - the daughter of the Fiennders' trusted gamekeeper. The
world was changing: pony, trap and track gave way to motor car and road.
Class divisions and prejudices were heightened even as the new century
promised to end them. Here in Fiennders Abbey, the internationally
renowned actress and writer Jean Marsh has written an extraordinarily
gripping novel of emotional and social upheaval in an apparently
timeless community with considerable elegance, thought and wit. 'Jean
Marsh's treatment of character is warm and her descriptions of period
and place enjoyably detailed' The Times 'A very special book' Elizabeth
Buchan
A Londoner by birth, Jean Marsh has spent most of her adult life in
Oxfordshire and New York. She is best known for her Emmy-winning role
as Rose Buck in Upstairs, Downstairs, which she co-created with
Eileen Atkins, and in which she reappeared in the BBC's 2010
three-part remake of the series. She has acted in a wide variety of
shows on stage, in film and television. Her performances have included
works by Shakespeare, Shaw, Ibsen and Coward.
Articles by Jean Marsh have appeared in the Sunday Times,
New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Washington
Post and the TV Times. She enjoys good food and walking.
