Julian Fellowes

This is a beautifully written and thoughtful book. It was a pleasure to read not only for its prose and its careful observation and humor, but for its humanity. Perhaps I am reaching a similar stage in my life as the narrator (who bears remarkable similarities to the author) who leads us through the book. A comparison between those heady times when ones life is before you and the possibilities are seemingly endless and the days when the vast majority of ones life is receding into the show more distance and the possibilities more proscribed by choice and circumstance.

The narrator reluctantly takes on Damian Baxter's dying request to determine whether he had fathered a child by one of his many past girlfriends so he may leave his legacy to an heir. The narrator and Damian had a notorious falling out 40 years previously.

The book is a record of that journey, and an interesting comment on the interpretation and perception of ones self and of others. It is also a meditation on the overarching effect of the choices made or avoided and where those decisions have taken us and the consequences thereof (a consistent theme for Fellowes, as this was the profound message of his excellent first novel, "Snobs").

The books also speaks to the great dilemma of the young in balancing whether to commit to personal visions, possibilities, and desires despite youthful inexperience, or to be overrun by the expectations and projections of parents and others who allegedly have experience and wisdom, yet are bound by the myopia of their time and their own regrets.

There are many interesting and often poignant juxtapositions of well drawn characters, such as between the two "self made" outsiders, Damian Baxter and Kieran de Yong, and again, most touchingly, between the widow and widower in the story.

While "Past Imperfect" is neither an elegiac lament for departed youth or bygone era, it nonetheless has a subdued and elegiac tone, with the conclusion calling to mind the penultimate lines of Thomas Gray's "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard": "He gave to Mis'ry all he had, a tear, / He gain'd from Heav'n ('twas all he wish'd) a friend." show less

Reads like an essay or etiquette book about the upper classes, disguised as a novel. Self consciously clever and witty insights, but very unoriginal plot. First person narrator knows more of Edith's inner thoughts than makes sense. Only "enlivened" by an implausible ending.

It's a shame, because he's much better as a screenwriter: Gosford Park was wonderful, and the first series of Downton Abbey was excellent (subsequent series bordered on parody, but by then it was an international brand, so show more the market requirements were different). Maybe he appeals more to non-Brits, as a describer of the alien and exotic, than to Brits who think (often erroneously) that they're more familiar with his subjects? show less

I picked this book up because it was written by the guy who wrote the scripts for Downton Abbey.

It really has very little plot and is more of a character study of the aristocrats and wannabes. It's not a comedy of manners, because it's not presented in a satirical way. It is a glimpse inside the world from an observer on the fringes. It seems nearly to be a Roman a Clef. The author admits that he was born and raised on the edge of this world and went to debutante dances and the like, so he show more is writing from experience--Talk about "write what you know..."

This is a great book for anyone fascinated by the British Aristocracy. It tells the secret codes that they use to know who is a real aristocrat and who is just a social climber. It reminds me of some friends' parents from the Main Line. The way they can put you in your place and let you know you are "not really one of them" and you don't realize what a put down it was because they are all sooo polite.

If you are interested in the Royals and British Aristocracy, this is a must read. If you are looking for a juicy soap opera, this isn't really it at all. Like the British,it's all very low key. show less

Fabulously wealthy Damian Baxter, once a social climber, is dying without family or heir. He contacts the narrator, the best friend of his youth before they crossed swords, to task him with finding the mother of a child he believes he fathered in the sixties. Armed with the names of possible mothers, the narrator sets out to meet and interview them. The situation is tricky because they were all one-time friends, aristocrats and debutants hobnobbing at Britain's grand houses. Naturally, show more memories and frictions of the past are rekindled for the narrator, the potential mothers, as well as for Damian.

As a social historian Fellowes is unmatched. He is remarkably astute when examining changing generational attitudes and trends and his attention to detail is flawless.

This is neither a lament for times past, nor a criticism of the culture but a sociological study in the style of Downton Abbey, illustrating the cultural changes for the British upper classes (Fellowes calls them "toffs") in the second half of the 20th century. Very well done, beautifully written. show less