Penmarric

I fell in love with ‘Penmarric’ years ago, when I was still at school, from the very first sentence.

“I was ten years old when I first saw Penmarric and twenty years old when I first saw Janna Roslyn, but my reaction to both was identical.”

I had to read on, and I was gripped from start to finish. I read every other book by Susan Howatch I could find. I liked some more than others, but all have something to recommend them. But my favourites were the three big books that reset stories from mediaeval history in the more recent past. ‘Penmarric,’ ‘Cashelmara,’ and’ The Wheel of Fortune.’

And most of all I loved ‘Penmarric’.

Mark Castellack’s mother, Maud, had one ambition – one obsession – that she fought for with show more every weapon at her disposal. To regain Penmarric, the family eastate that her father had left to a distant cousin rather that his only surviving child. Because she was a girl. Maud won in the end. Mark inherited Penmarric. But her victory came at a price.

The story is told in six volumes, by five different narrators: Mark Castellack, his wife, one of his illegitimate sons, and two of his legitimate sons who would, in their turn, be master of Penmarric. Sixty years pass – from the later years of Queen Victoria’s reign to the end of World War II full of every kind of family drama you could imagine.

In the wrong hands it would be a mess, but Susan Howatch made it work.

The foundations are strong: the story that has been set is that of Henry II; his wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine; and his sons, among them, Richard the Lionheart and King John. History records that their relationships were troubled, that when the king tried to divide his kingdom his wife and sons opposed him, that she was sent into exile, and that they continued to intrigue, against each other and against their father.

It’s a wonderful plot, and the resetting is brilliant. Each chapter is headed with pertinent quotations from serious historical works, and the story picks up the outline and many details without ever seeming tied or compromised. But it doesn’t matter at all if you don’t know the history, because ‘Penmarric’ more that stands up in its own right, as a wonderful, dark, historical family saga.

The characters were wonderful; real, three-dimensional human beings. I understood their motivations, their ambitions, their hopes, their dreams, their fears, and I appreciated that life and experience changed them over the years. Though not always for the better. They were infuriating, in many cases they were dislikeable, but they were fascinating.

I’m trying not to give away too many details and not to pay favourites but I must: Janna’s journey from farmer’s widow, through a troubled marriage, to a classic matriarch was wonderful; I really took to Phillip, who was a difficult child but grew into a man of strong principles, determined to follow his own path; and I was charmed by Jan-Yves, who was a spoiled brat of a child, but worked things out and grew up eventually.

And then there’s the setting. Cornwall, and my particular part of Cornwall. I’m pleased to report that Susan Howatch gets it right, and she brought the world that I live in, in the days of my grandparents and great grandparents, to life so vividly; the people, the places, the traditional Cornish industries, everything was caught perfectly, and pulled into the heart of the story.

Everything came together beautifully: story, characters and setting. And the style worked beautifully. Five voices told the story, simply and directly; those voices were distinctive, and they all rang true.

‘Penmarric’ is a hefty book – more than 700 pages – but I read it quickly, because I was caught up from start to finish, and I always wanted to know what would happen next, just how events would play out. And I would have been quite happy for it to go on much longer, and the ending did seem a little abrupt. Though at least I could check what should have happened next against real history…

It’s not perfect – there are dips in the story, the tone is quite heavy a lot of the time, and important lessons are never learned – but I love it regardless. show less

Penmarric begins as Mark Castallack and his mother Maud, cheated out of their inheritance by a scheming relative, wage a years long court battle to regain possession of the lands of Penmar and the great house that sits upon it, Penmarric. After twelve years and almost losing hope, fate takes a turn as the wastrel son of the current owner dies and a very young Mark is named heir to all of it. Mark marries Janna, who is ten years older, and has a bit of a surprise in store for him from a past relationship – but then Mark has one or two surprises for Janna as well. Building their family dynasty as the new owners of Penmarric, Janna and Mark slowly drift apart until an accidental meeting forever changes their lives, although a new one show more also begins as a result of that violent night.

Told in five "books", each one in the first person POV of Mark, Janna, and three of Mark's sons, the family's story takes the reader from Cornwall of the late 19C into the 20C through WWII as the next generation of Castallacks battle for ownership of the Penmar estate and the power that comes with it. The middle of the book was bit slow at times, although I _loved_ the last two books telling Phillip's and Jan's stories and the always volatile relationship between the two brothers and their constant battle to be named heir.

If you like those big fat family sagas set in the past with feuding back-biting siblings I'd definitely give this one a whirl - although this one has quite a twist that you don't normally see in a book - the Castallack family and their story parallels that of Henry II, Eleanor, Richard I (the Lionheart) and the always delightfully evil King John. Ultimately, that is half the fun of this book for those reasonably familiar with Henry and his devil's brood - can you pick out which of Mark's sons are young Hal, Geoffrey, Richard and John? Henry's fate after the ultimate betrayal by his sons? Spot Rosamund Clifford, the illegitimate sons Geoffrey and William Longspee? And best of all is how the author resolves the mystery that still haunts us to this day - the ultimate fate of young Arthur, John's rival claimant to the throne of England.

All in all a pretty darn good read, and I plan on trying a few more from this author. Apparently she continues her “Plantagenet” saga with two more books, Cashelmara and Wheel of Fortune dealing with the three Edwards. I understand John of Gaunt is in the latter and I very much hope she throws Katherine Swynford in there as well. I’m sorely torn between four and five stars so I’ll call it 4.5 rounded up to 5. show less

Penmarric is a novel that is mostly based upon the Plantagenets—specifically, Henry II, Eleanor, and their children. This novel takes the Penmar/Castellack/Parrish families from 1890 up through the end of WWII. Penmarric is the family estate (loosely correlating to the English throne); and the story is told from the POV of five of them: Mark Castellack (i.e., Henry), his wife Janna (Eleanor), Adrian (Henry’s illegitimate son Geoffrey), Philip (Richard) and Jan Ives (John).

The story follows that of the Plantagenets closely. If you’re familiar with the story of Henry and his family, you might think you know what will happen here—but Susan Howatch adds quite a new dimension to the story of the Castellacks and their family home. I show more love multi-generational stories of families and old houses, and this one was no exception. I loved watching these characters grow and mature over the course of more than fifty years. Each of the narrators is unique, and tells their side of the story from a different vantage point. They are all very realistic and make mistakes, but that makes them all the more relatable. Janna/Eleanor disappears after she’s said her piece, but what can you reasonably expect when Eleanor spent a good portion of her life imprisoned?

I was a little disappointed in this book in one way, however; the conflict between Mark and his sons wasn’t quite as pronounced as Henry’s was with his. Still, there’s an incredible amount of tension, and I enjoyed watching things play out. I never really knew what was going to happen. I loved the authors descriptions of Cornwall, too—this is the kind of book that makes a reader want to visit the place described in it! While not “great” historical fiction, this is the kind of engrossing novel that I read in great big chunks at a time. I can’t wait to read some of the other books by Susan Howatch that I’ve got on the TBR list—this book is my first by her and definitely not the last! Definitely recommended if you enjoy big, sprawling family sagas. show less

I'm very tempted to give Penmarric 4 stars instead of three, but something is just holding me back. I really like how Susan Howatch writes, but I couldn't get into this book as much as I got into Wheel of Fortune. I think the thing I really didn't like about the book was how she seemed to take all of the unsubstantiated gossip about the Plantagenets, and used that to make her story. But I may be a little biased though because I felt like every character she made to be just a jerk represented the people I loved (mostly Mark/Henry I) and every character I can't stand she made to be the victims(Philip/Richard and Janna/Eleanor).

Lovely book. Great characters, not all of them likeable, and all are flawed in some way. The story follows the family through two world wars and likens each character to an historical figure. Wonderful story.

A long saga which starts with Mark, obsessed with Janna, and his marriage and infidelities. Then their children's lives are followed, all marred in some way. Very well-written, and hopeful in conclusion.

Three stars because it is very well written. It was also a tedious read. I found it difficult to really care that much about ANY of the characters. It was sad throughout, and I kept waiting for the story to change tone. For me it did not.