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Grace Russell, at fourteen, has already had to adjust to a devastating accident from which she'll never recover. Now she and her newly-single mother are leaving their suburban home for Flambards house, out in the Essex countryside. The house has a long history, and Grace's mother is to work there for the summer - an exciting new opportunity. But, for Grace, everything feels wrong. She's doesn't want yet another change. However, in spite of herself, she find herself becoming involved with two boys: Jamie, who leads her down a path of thrilling freedom, and the deeply troubled Marcus, who is dealing with his difficult, potentially violent father. Over time, Grace discovers her own links to the house and landscape she has just arrived in, and in turn, her own place in the world.… (more)
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Set in Edwardian England in the years just before World War I, Flambards is not only a coming of age story, but vividly displays the coming social upheaval as the automotive revolution brought change to a more traditional way of life.
I enjoyed this story, although on the whole I think it has some flaws. It starts out as a coming-of-age, overcoming-a-hard-childhood type story but then seems to shift gears - and too abruptly - into a who-will-she-chose sort of love story. So the whole thing goes through a bit of an identity crisis, it seems, but nonetheless I liked the story enough not to mind so much.
I was surprised at how absorbing I found this book. I want to read the rest of 'em now.
In order to survive at Flambards, Christina is forced to take up riding and forms a strong friendship with Dick, one of the grooms working at Flambards who is assigned the task of teaching her to ride. Dick is kind and under his tutelage, she becomes a competent rider.
William's accident is met with derision by his father and brother, Mark, and Christina discovers William's hatred of riding and the cruelty and dark reactionary values prevailing at Flambards. William is a disappointment and scapegoat to his father and Mark and considered a family misfit. Model flying machines hanging from the ceiling of William's room give Christina a clue that her cousin is harboring a secret which she later discovers.
Set at the turn of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, in the years preceding the First World War, Mark and William symbolize the feudal and outdated values of the old century stubbornly opposing the promise of new ideals and progress of the new. I will definitely be reading Flambard's sequel...
The main character in the Flambards series is Christina Parsons, an Edwardian era orphan with prospects. She is an heiress, raised by aunts in
Her Uncle Russell is a hard, bitter man, crippled in a hunting accident. He expects everyone to be as dedicated to hunting as he is and has no patience with people who aren’t. Mark is selfish, reckless, arrogant and even though he is a good rider, he is the worst type of horseman. He is also good natured, fun-loving, forgiving and a surprisingly good sport. His younger brother, William is a budding socialist and reformer who completely rejects the mores and standards of British Edwardian society.
The Russells live the life of sporting gentry and the household is obsessed with horses, hounds and hunting, with the exception of William. William is fascinated by flight and airplanes and is determined to devote his life to being a pilot and aircraft engineer. As a result he is the black sheep of the family and the target for his bitter, intolerant father’s frustrations.
Christina becomes an avid hunter and horsewoman; but she also shares William’s passion for flight, which draws them closer and deepens their friendship. The result of this drives the plot to an ending much different than the path her family had chosen for her future.
The characters in this book are complex, realistic humans; all of them flawed and none of them perfect, by any means. .As a character, Christina is a resilient, smart and resourceful girl, doing her best in the circumstances that life has given her. She disobeys her uncle and saves the life of an injured horse that she loves and then tries to right the wrongs that result from her actions but fails. I can’t help but think that if this book were written by current standards, this teenage girl would have re-educated and enlightened her uncle, transforming him into a new person, before going on to single-handedly prevent the outbreak of the first world war and saving the entire world, making it a paradise for all of humanity. Unfortunately, this book was written at a time when fictional characters acted like real human beings instead of idealized comic-book super heroes, so it has little appeal at this time. There are no flags in this book for the virtue-signal readers to wave.
As for myself, I enjoyed the trilogy and will continue on with my re-read of the next two books.
The characters are beautifully vivid despite the book