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A Dubious Legacy by Mary Wesley
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A Dubious Legacy (original 1992; edition 1992)

by Mary Wesley

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355472,068 (3.6)18
When James and Matthew spent the weekend with Henry Tillotson in 1954, they took an instant liking to the country house that Henry had inherited from his father. His wife was a bit odd though - she never seemed to get out of bed. Gossip suggested that Henry had inherited her as well.
Member:LadyLoulabelle
Title:A Dubious Legacy
Authors:Mary Wesley
Info:Corgi (1992), Paperback, 389 pages
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A Dubious Legacy by Mary Wesley (1992)

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A very subtle story centred on Henry, who married a woman that his now deceased father chose to rescue by making her Henry's wife, the dubious legacy of the title. When Henry takes Margaret to his home she went to bed and there she stayed. It's a sparsely-written story - spread over 40 years, more of a saga - that is in places hard to believe but nevertheless packed with passion. The outdoor dinner party was like a scene from a horror version of A Midsummer Night's Dream. ( )
  VivienneR | Apr 19, 2022 |
Not the ending I was expecting; a good twist. ( )
  cougargirl1967 | Mar 23, 2021 |
Riveted by it. ( )
  Roarer | Dec 6, 2019 |
Showing 3 of 3
The English author of witty, elegant novels continues her cheerful splaying out of human rottenness, eruptions of goodness, and general asininity—all with a faint brushing of enchantment. Here, in an ancient, lakeside, woodside estate, a dear man of admirable affections has been cursed with a marital legacy from a deceased, high-minded father. To Cotteshaw, the country house of Henry Tilotson, come Barbara and Antonia, "two determined little beauties'' who think Henry is rather dishy." The young things have just accepted the proposals of two rather stodgy young men, thereby escaping boring jobs and parents. Meanwhile, in Midsummer Night's Dream fashion, the lovers quarrel, love, and stalk off by wood and water as preparation for an outdoor dinner party gets underway. Anticipation shimmers, but upstairs—where she stays all the time—is beautiful Margaret, the bad fairy—Henry's simply awful, horrid wife. Finally, the guests arrive: a sweet homosexual couple, a brace of bores, the lovers, an old flame of Henry's and her husband, and the servants—a faithful retainer and a mother and son rescued years ago, by Henry's father, from death in Spain. It's happy time by the dark woods—until it's "ill met by moonlight'" when Margaret arrives to perform savage and terrible acts, scattering the feast and wits. Years later, Margaret will drown (a joyous event with mystery attached). Also as the years pass—alas—lovely girls grow old (but there are secrets), and Henry leaves, unlike his father's "dubious legacy," something quite marvelous. As always, the dialogue snaps with vigor, and there are delightful signature touches (e.g., animals have a haunting presence—from Henry's Greek chorus of dogs to the antic cockatoo, Margaret's sacrificial victim). For Wesley fans: another bright and biting novel.
added by VivienneR | editKirkus Reivews (Apr 19, 2022)
 
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For Isobel
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'I thought you said you had a car?'
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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When James and Matthew spent the weekend with Henry Tillotson in 1954, they took an instant liking to the country house that Henry had inherited from his father. His wife was a bit odd though - she never seemed to get out of bed. Gossip suggested that Henry had inherited her as well.

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