Julian Fellowes, Belgravia

This novel by the creator of Downton Abbey tells the story of two families, the aristocratic Bellasises and the social-climbing Trenchards, as their paths collide on the eve of Waterloo and again 25 years later. James Trenchard begins the novel as Wellington’s chief supplier, and thus he has some contact with high society despite being a mere tradesman. When his beautiful daughter Sophia catches the eye of Lord Edmund Bellasis, James is certain that a marriage will soon take place, despite the skepticism of Anne, his pragmatic wife. But Edmund tragically dies at Waterloo, and Sophia follows shortly thereafter – but not before giving birth to his child. The Trenchards place the baby with a foster family in an attempt to hush up the scandal, but the secret threatens to emerge when Anne decides to search for Sophia’s child, Charles Pope, now an intelligent young man of 25. When Charles is introduced into society despite his (supposedly) working-class origins, rumors start flying, and several people begin to ask questions about his true identity. What they uncover is a secret that could be dangerous not only to the Trenchards’ social standing, but to the young man’s very life.

I watched Downton Abbey from start to finish, so I was intrigued that its writer, Julian Fellowes, had written a book set during my favorite historical period. However, I was left feeling pretty underwhelmed by this novel. Much as I enjoyed Downton, it often had problems with pacing and with juggling its large ensemble cast, and those same problems are apparent in Belgravia. The “suspense,” such as it is, comes from the question of whether (or when) the scandal of Charles’s birth will be revealed, but since the reader knows the secret from almost the beginning of the novel, it’s not a very compelling question. I also didn’t care at all about most of the secondary characters. The villain of the piece has moments of being interesting, but he’s largely a flat character who only cares about money and social status. And the downstairs characters get very short shrift, in my opinion; while a couple of the servants do play a role in the plot, their characterization is negligible. Overall, I found this book to be very “meh,” although avid Downton Abbey fans may find it worth reading.