The House of Vandekar

Title:

The House of Vandekar

Author:

Anthony, Evelyn

Subject:

Family Life

Romance

Suspense

Fiction

Historical

Description:

Three generations of women grapple with a legacy of secrets, lies, love, and loss Ashton. The place dreams are made of? For most of her life, Nancy Vandekar has been haunted by the same disturbing nightmare in which a menacing figure in the shadows calls out her mother's name: Diana. When Nancy found love, she thought she'd left her past far behind. But now a capricious twist of fate brings her back to Ashton. The magnificent family home masks a legacy of damning secrets, illicit love, suicide, and violence that casts its long shadow over three generations of women. First, there's Nancy's grandmother Alice, the spirited American beauty whose passionate wartime romance has far-reaching consequences for those who come after her. Then Diana, the vivacious debutante whose sexual obsession nearly destroys them all. And finally Nancy, the last remaining heir. She alone can restore the Vandekar name. But is she ready to face the truth about her family? Spanning decades of extraordinary change, The House of Vandekar paints an indelible portrait of three unforgettable women.

Publisher:

Open Road Media

Date:

2015-12-15

Summary

Three generations of women grapple with a legacy of secrets, lies, love, and loss

Ashton. The place dreams are made of?

For most of her life, Nancy Vandekar has been haunted by the same disturbing nightmare in which a menacing figure in the shadows calls out her mother's name: Diana . When Nancy found love, she thought she'd left her past far behind. But now a capricious twist of fate brings her back to Ashton. The magnificent family home masks a legacy of damning secrets, illicit love, suicide, and violence that casts its long shadow over three generations of women.

First, there's Nancy's grandmother Alice, the spirited American beauty whose passionate wartime romance has far-reaching consequences for those who come after her. Then Diana, the vivacious debutante whose sexual obsession nearly destroys them all. And finally Nancy, the last remaining heir. She alone can restore the Vandekar name. But is she ready to face the truth about her family?

Spanning decades of extraordinary change, The House of Vandekar paints an indelible portrait of three unforgettable women.

Author Notes

Evelyn Bridget Patricia Stephens was born in London, England on July 3, 1928. As her writing career began in the early 1950s, she wrote under the pseudonym Evelyn Anthony. She began her career writing historical romances but switched to writing espionage thrillers in the late 1960s. Her romance novels included Rebel Princess and Anne Boleyn: A Novel. Her espionage thrillers include The Defector, The Legend, The Assassin, and The Doll's House. The Tamarind Seed was adapted into a film released in 1974. She died from heart failure on September 25, 2018 at the age of 92.

(Bowker Author Biography)

Reviews (2)

Publisher's Weekly Review

With the period details and skillful fore shadowing that have distinguished her 27 previous novels, Anthony ( The Tamarind Seed ) depicts England's wealthy Vandekar clan, a family plagued by tragedy. The marriage of Boston debutante Alice Holmes Fry and Hugo Vandekar, in 1934, is marred by her averson to sex. They purchase a magnificent estate called Ashdown, where Alice gives birth to Fern, a child she shuns. During World War II, Ashdown is temporarily converted into a convalescent home for officers, one of whom becomes Alice's pet patient and father of her illegitimate son, Richard. The Vandekars' strained relations worsen when Richard (Alice's favorite) marries nymphomaniac Diana Brayley, and Fern (Hugo's favorite) weds struggling artist Brian Kiernan. Eventually, Diana's infidelities destroy Richard, and, after the family discovers her shocking liaison with Brian, she dies suddenly at Ashdown. Years later, Nancy, Diana's daughter, warily investigates her mother's death, unearthing the surprising identity of her killer. Anthony renders her characters' soured romances and dramatic confrontations with compelling realism. (September) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Kirkus Review

Veteran romance-suspenser Anthony now offers a fast-moving but generally humdrum story of a three-generation English house. The saga begins in 1935 with Alice--a fascinating, fortune-hunting American beauty--marrying the immensely rich, Anglo-Dutch banker Hugo Vandekar. Unfortunately, Alice turns out to be frigid, but they buy Ashdown and proceed to create a feverishly glamourous social/political life and even produce a daughter, Fern, who, unloved by Alice, becomes whiney and mean-spirited, hates her mother, and dotes on her father. During WW II, Alice falls in love with one of the glamorous officers recuperating at Ashdown and, in spite of her frigidity, has an affair with him. She then has a son, Richard, whose paternity will remain in doubt until the end of the book. Meanwhile, Richard adores his mother, and eventually marries a beautiful nymhomaniac, Diana, whose infidelities are supposedly what drive him to become an alcoholic. Diana seduces Fern's husband, and then dies under suspicious circumstances, thereby providing a bit of mystery. Many yearn later, after Alice's death, vindictive Aunt Fern drives Richard and Diana's daughter, Nancy, away from Ashdown, and it is only with the support of A Good Man that Nancy finally solves the puzzle of her mother's death. Not without reminders of Anthony's storytelling talent, but the unconvincing and silly pop-psych motivations here will make this one a disappointment to fans of her earlier--and usually more effective--items. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.