Readers who fell in love with Patrice Kindl's first novel, Owl in Love, have ceased to be surprised by the versatility with which she tackles a variety of genres, a tip of the hat to fairy tales, Greek myths and the like (Goose Chase; Lost in the Labyrinth). Her fans will feel that this latest novel was well worth the 10-year wait. Part farce, part comedy of manners, Keeping the Castle transports us to the era of Jane Austen, and a society where "ideal match" has little or nothing to do with the heart and all to do with title and, preferably, money.
Seventeen-year-old Althea Crawley may be "one of the most beautiful women in Europe," but she has no dowry and, as we say in modern society, no filter. But that makes her an irresistible narrator. Take this opening scene of courtship. "I love you, Althea--you are so beautiful," says Mr. Godalming. " 'I love you too,' I confessed. I averted my gaze and added privately, 'You are so rich.' Unfortunately, I apparently said this aloud." And there goes one of Althea's more promising prospective matches. How will she keep her family's (nicknamed "Crooked") castle from crumbling into the North Sea?
Luckily, word spreads that the heirs to Lord Boring's estate, in Lesser Hoo, plan to host a ball--and also to bring in some eligible London bachelors. Nearly everyone here masquerades as wealthier than he or she is, title or no. And narrator Althea is no exception. After her father's death, her mother remarried for wealth, but her second husband died swiftly, leaving her and Althea and little Andrew stuck with two more mouths to feed. Of marrying age, stepdaughters Prudence and Charity keep their purse strings tightly closed in order to preserve their dowries.
So with three marriageable young women in the house, and a parade of men from London, one can only imagine the shenanigans. The pleasure derives from Kindl's way with words, as when Lord Boring visits Crawley Castle: "I was pleased but not surprised to find that Lord Boring had come, and surprised but not pleased that he had brought along his unpleasant cousin." You might not think it possible to find anyone more filterless than Althea, but there he is: Mr. Fredericks, cousin to Lord Boring, who rifles through the Crawleys' tapestries and proclaims their portrait frames of "shoddy workmanship." Yet Andrew and Fido, a puppy given to Althea during a subsequent visit from Lord Boring and Mr. Fredericks, take a shine to the "unpleasant" fellow, so why can't Althea?
Kindl layers on the intrigue, some of it introduced by additional characters, such as the charming Miss Vincy, who paints Althea's portrait and to whom Althea takes an instant liking. Even though readers figure out her proper match before Althea does, her adventures are the stuff of great entertainment, and the witty repartee makes the pages fly. --Jennifer M. Brown
Shelf Talker: The latest novelistic feat from the author of Owl in Love--part farce, part comedy of manners, and all wit.