The Infamous Gilberts
A Novel
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4.0 • 7 Ratings
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
“A thrilling debut that absolutely delivers” (Town & Country) in which the lines between eccentricity and madness, cruelty and love become hilariously, heartbreakingly blurred.
The keys to the mighty Gothic mansion of Thornwalk are about to be handed over to a luxury hotelier. They will spend millions in the restoration, but in doing so, what will be erased?
The reader is invited on a tour of this crumbling estate, guided by an enigmatic narrator. Each room holds a secret, from the bolt on the blue room door to a silver spoon in a wooden box. Wrapped around these seemingly insignificant objects are the stories of the five fatherless children who lived here.
Taking us from the eve of World War II to the early 2000s, Angela Tomaski paints a “droll” (The New Yorker) and indelible portrait of a once-grand family brought to its knees. What begins as a bucolic snapshot of five children playing cricket on the lawn soon unravels as the world becomes a place they no longer recognize. The Infamous Gilberts is the darkly funny tale of an unusual family, lovingly portrayed.
“This dark little novel should be Wes Anderson’s next movie...Tomaski puts a quirky spin on Gothic storytelling…with rare control and evident relish.” —The New York Times Book Review
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tomaski debuts with a fresh story of an eccentric English family and its crumbling manor. It begins in 2002, when the Gilberts hand over Thornwalk House to a hotelier, and then rewinds to unfurl the life stories of the five Gilbert siblings, who were raised by their mother and their late father's sister. At age 15 in 1928, Lydia, the eldest child, was routinely locked in her room to stop her from seeing the tutor with whom she had fallen in love. A burn mark remains on the library rug from an incident in 1921, when five-year-old Annabel quietly watched a blaze spread from the fireplace. Readers may initially struggle with the multiple story lines and crowded cast of characters, but the narrative coheres as Tomaski reveals the backstabbing, mental illness, and other problems that brought about the estate's decline, showing how imperious Hugo, the oldest of two brothers, takes over the family's mercantile business, while his restless younger brother, Jeremy, and their troubled youngest sibling, Rosalind, each take off in search of greener pastures. Along the way, Tomaski imbues the narrative with pathos and wit ("A woman scorned is nothing compared to the girl whose lover suddenly has a reputation for bad breath"). Patient readers will find much to enjoy.
