A beautiful stately home, but at what price?

I'm sure everyone who watches Downton Abbey dreams of living in such a beautiful and historic home (generally upstairs, rather than downstairs!).  As we know from countless television dramas, however, the beautiful stately home can hide terrible secrets.  The book Black Diamonds looks at the intriguing background of Wentworth House in South Yorkshire, the largest privately owned house in Britain.  The book contains a many intriguing aspects:  an aristocratic family with secrets, a class divide, economic upheavals, and even an American connection!

Built in the 1720s, the house is the ancestral home of the Earl of Fitzwilliam and at the time of its construction, the facade was the longest in Europe.  The five miles of passageways were so confusing that guests had to strew confetti to find their back back to their bedrooms after dinner.  The events in the book begin with the inheritance struggle that occurred in 1902 following the death of the 6th Earl Fitzwilliam.  His son and heir had died in 1876, so grandson Billy, who was estranged from the family, inherited, much to the dismay of the old Earl's children.  Billy's Aunt Alice, in particular, set out to prove that the odd circumstances surrounding his birth (in a remote cabin in Canada) must show that he was a "changling" -- a male child substituted for a daughter born to the heir.  Eventually, Billy was declared the rightful heir and took up residence at Wentworth House.

The wealth of the Fitzwilliams was based on coal.  Their mines and others in the area employed over 115,000 men at the time of the 6th Earl's death.  While the "family owned" mines, such as those operated by the Earl, had better conditions than most, the lives of the miners and their families were hard, dirty and poverty-filled.  To make matters worse, some of the mines were operated by outsiders who had no ties to the local area or the people who lived there.  They controlled every aspect of the lives of their employees, who depended on the mine owners not only for their employment but also for housing, food and drink (through company owned stores and pubs).  When the owners refused to pay miners in the small village of Denaby for the time they had to clear away dirt from the mines in order to get to the coal, the miners refused to work.  Eventually, the mine owners sent in the police to evict over 3000 people from their company-owned (but still shoddy and primitive) homes.  In the years following Billy's inheritance, the country was torn by a series of strikes across many industries.  The King and House of Lords were slow to accept that their way of life was changing and that workers were no longer going to accept such poor working and living conditions.

In 1912, King George V and Queen Mary visited Wentworth House.  The plan was for the king to visit one of the Fitzwilliam mines, and to show an interest in the lives of the miners.  During the visit, two explosions occurred in a local mine, killing over 80 miners.  While the royal couple did visit the area during the effort to recover the bodies of those who died, nothing changed in the mining industry.  World War I stopped the growing hostilities between the workers and the mine owners for a time.

Billy's cousin, Toby Fitzwilliam, was also estranged from the family.  In his case his mother, Evie, strongly objected to his marriage with Beryl Morgan.  A former chorus girl herself, Evie had no right to put on airs and reject Toby's lower class choice for a wife, but that's exactly what she did.  She felt that Beryl misrepresented herself as being from a "good" family, when in fact she was only "the daughter of a draper."  Evie grew so upset at the perceived insult from her son that she even suggested that he was illegitimate -- born before she and his father were married.  In this way, she hoped her younger son would inherit from his father instead of the disrespectful (as she saw it) Toby. This family rift was to have consequences for the fate of Wentworth House many years in the future.

After World War I, the old animosity between miners and mine owners resurfaced.  There were calls to nationalize the mines, which the mine owners strenuously fought against.  Fear of Bolshevism as well as a perceived war on their way of life motivated the mine owners and operators to stand firm against the miners.  General strikes in the late 1920s caused unease and fear in the whole country.  At the same time, demand for British coal was falling as other countries were able to provide a less expensive product.

Billy and his wife Maud were the parents of four daughters before their son and heir, Peter was born. There were rumors of infidelity on the part of both Billy and Maud, and Billy was thought to have numerous illegitimate children in the village.   Peter was a pampered, overweight child who was nothing like his robust and athletic father.  In 1933, when he was 23, Peter married Olive "Obby" Plunket.  During World War II, stately homes were requisitioned by the government for various uses, and Wentworth House was no different.  Since it was so large, Billy and Maud moved into the "West Front," part of the house and made sure all valuable objects were moved there as well.  Their son Peter had been called up soon after war was declared and was recognized as a brave and respected soldier.  He and Olive had, after 7 years of marriage, only one child, a daughter called Juliet.

Enter Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy, daughter to US Ambassador Joe Kennedy and sister to future president John F. Kennedy.  She had lived in England with her family in the late 1930s, but as World War II began to seem inevitable, she and her siblings, along with their mother, returned to the US.  In 1943, she came back to England as a Red Cross volunteer.  She renewed an attachment she made before the war, to another Billy, this one the son of the Duke of Devonshire.  They were attracted to each other, but the fact that she was a commoner (not to mention a Catholic) had put a damper on their relationship.  Eventually, they married, but her family never accepted the union.  When Billy was killed during the war, she was accepted back into the Catholic Church and the Kennedy family.

The war had taken a toll on Wentworth House and the Fizwilliam family.  The newly elected Labour government nationalized the coal industry, which meant that the rich coal seams in the gardens and fields surrounding the stately home could be mined with no payment or consideration to the family.  The environmentally destructive "open-cast mining" operation dug up centuries of carefully tended parkland. The 7th Earl, Billy, had died, and Peter took over as the 8th, but the family wealth and power were waning.  There was wrangling over the ownership of the house, with Peter offering it to the National Trust, but that offer fell through.  Eventually, his Aunt Mabel struck a deal to allow the house to be used as a school for female PE teachers, with the family allowed to stay in their private apartments.  The cost of repairs and upkeep would fall to the County Council.

At this time, Peter, the 8th Earl Fitzwilliam met the widowed Kick.  He was still married to his wife Obby, but their time spent apart during the war had caused their relationship to become strained.  He had a well-known reputation as a gambler and philanderer, so Kick's friends were less than impressed with the relationship.  Once again, her family (especially her mother) threatened a complete break if she were to marry Peter.  A tragedy occurred that put Wentworth House in the center of a court battle, the outcome of which has repercussions to this day.

It was so fascinating to read about the history of this beautiful house, which, because it is not open to the public, is largely unknown.  While we like to think we'd love to live in such opulent surroundings, the toll on the land and families who lived there make it more of a tragic house than a beloved stately home.  I really enjoyed reading about the downfall of the Fitzwilliam family, and to learn about what has been the fate of Wentworth House since the fortunes of the family and the coal industry, which supported it, have collapsed.  Now in private hands, one can only hope that at some point in the future Wentworth House will be opened for the public to tour and appreciate.

Disclaimer:  I received a copy of Black Diamonds from the publisher in exchange for this review.

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Secret Rooms Winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered my giveaway to win a copy of the book The Secret Rooms by Catherine Bailey.  Random.org choose the winner:

who was tatertot374 (beth)!

Thanks again to everyone who entered, and to The Penguin Group for providing the prize!

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More than one secret and a giveaway!

Since the wild success of Downton Abbey, everyone seems to be more than a little interested in the lives of the British aristocracy and the events that take place behind castle (and stately home) walls.  That's why I was thrilled to get a copy of the new book The Secret Rooms: A True Story of a Haunted Castle, a Plotting Duchess, & a Family Secret by Catherine Bailey.  Sounds like all the elements are in place for a fascinating story!  Keep reading to find out how you can enter to win your very own copy!

In 2008, historian Catherine Bailey was granted access to the papers of John, the 9th Duke of Rutland, who had died in 1940.  The current Duke is his grandson, the 11th Duke.  Ms. Bailey wanted to research the effect of World War I on the area surrounding the Duke's ancestral home of Belvoir Castle.  Nearly a fifth of the men who lived on the Duke's lands had gone off to fight in World War I, and many of them didn't return.  They were generally farm workers who had never been more than a few miles from their homes.  The author was planning a book about the war experiences on these men and their families -- both those who died in the war and those who returned home to a country that had been changed forever.

The 9th Duke had spent his life collecting, organizing and cataloging the papers, letters, diaries and historical documents that related to his family.  Soon after arriving at the castle to begin her research, the author was intrigued by the stories she heard about the Duke.  Although the castle where he lived had 356 rooms, many of them beautifully and expensively decorated, he chose to wall himself off in a small unheated part of the castle to work on his organization project of the family archives.  He rarely left these rooms and had little contact with the outside world -- or indeed, with anyone other than his valet.  When the Duke was desperately ill with pneumonia, even doctors were kept at bay as the Duke worked feverishly to finish a "project."  After his death, his son sealed off his father's rooms and papers for over 60 years.  So it was with a great deal of anticipation that the author approached the huge collection of family and castle history that the Duke had been working with at his death.

As she began her research, however, she soon noticed something extremely odd:  there were gaps in the documents.  The Duke's mother was an unbelievably busy correspondent, writing to many, many people and some even more than once per day.  The Duke also kept a diary from his own life.  There were three periods where no documentation of any kind could be found:  one from when the Duke was around 8 years old and surrounded the death of his older brother Haddon; one from his time serving in the diplomatic service in Rome as a young man; and the last, particularly vexing given the subject of the book, a 6 month period in 1915 when John had been serving as an officer in World War I.  John's diary ends on July 6 of that year, and no letters or other correspondence could be found from that date until December 5 of the same year.  What had happened?  Was the "project" that John had to finish on his deathbed an attempt to erase all trace of something that occurred during this time?

Because of this mystery, and how it impacted her original plan, the author changed course and decided instead to write a book about the Duke's life. She was determined to discover just what these mysterious gaps were about and what the Duke had been at such pains to cover up.  The lengths the author had to go to in search of the answers were extraordinary!  She consulted the families of those the Duke's mother corresponded with to see if they still had letters from her, reviewed official war records, worked to decipher some of John's letters that had been written in code, and so on.  Ms. Bailey really needs to get a job with a Cold Case crime squad somewhere, because when she's on the trail of a mystery, she doesn't give up!

The book contains many letters from the family and helps to paint a very vivid portrait of both the individual family members and the privileged society in which they lived.  The castle is also an important part of the story, as is the history of the curse place on it and the family by some disgruntled witches (are there any other kind?).  I really was eager to keep reading and to both find out the answers to some of the questions raised by the missing documents, and to marvel at the author's ability to re-construct the events that took place nearly 100 years ago into a fascinating narrative.  I also enjoyed the epilogue which gave more information about what eventually happened to many of the characters in the book.

Thanks to The Penguin Group, I have a copy of the book to give away!  To be in with a chance to win, please leave a comment stating what holiday reading is going to keep you occupied until Downton Abbey premiers on January 5!  One entry per person and you must have a US address to receive the book. Be sure to leave your email address in the comment or make sure it's visible in some other way so I can contact you. I will contact the winner on Jan. 3 and you will have 72 hours to get back to me with an address, or I will have to choose another winner.  Thanks for participating and good luck!

Disclaimer: I received a copy of The Secret Rooms (and one to give away) from The Penguin Group in exchange for this review

Final Verdict for The Secret Rooms:  Four Gherkins, for being an amazing look at the unraveling of a real life mystery!

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