The Upstart

This book is one of Catherien Cookson's best. you can feel for this family the pain & unhappeness they go through. The father thinks he is better than everyone else even though he isn't & the children and his wife are not happy with their lives. Some rebel.

In 1898 England, wealthy shoe merchant Samuel Fairbrother decides to move his wife and eight children out of their working middle class environment into a home once owned by a penniless aristocrat. Samuel wants his family to hobnob with the gentry, though his household is very contented where they are. In spite all of his money, the local gentry refuses to accept him as their equal. Samuel still feels that his money, the home and his butler, Roger Maitland will eventually provide the necessary bridge to his goal. However, his upscale lifestyle begins to fall apart when his wife announces that she no longer loves him because he loves only money. Nine years later, the world is about to collapse around the Fairbrother family. The oldest son, Howard has become a lying cheat, who tries to get money from anyone he can in any manner he must. Alice, the oldest daughter is falling in love with Roger, an unacceptable situation to Samuel. Because he has failed to love his family, Samuel may end up with no one who cares for him. Readers will enjoy the latest family drama from the great Catherine Cookson. The story line about the hypocrisy of the British class system is well written and made interesting by the various characters. With THE UPSTART, the author has cooked up a classy Victorian relationship novel that will be devoured by Ms. Cookson's myriad of fans and by readers of historical fiction. Harriet Klausner