Here, have it all AND the kitchen sink! And you as the reader say thank you very much. It's like a giddy headlong rush into this Edwardian world where we get every kind of scandal and twist we could possibly imagine or want. In a little over three hundred pages Summerset Abbey uses almost every plot point from seven seasons of Upstairs, Downstairs and never lets up. Illegitimate offspring, tragic child death, Cinderella story, long lost relatives, improper liaisons, suffrage, evil lady's maids, sweet kitchen maids, deep dark family secrets, money problems, looming war, newfangled gadgets from cars to airplanes, omniscient butlers, Bohemian brothers, beautiful ladies against societal norms, the list goes on and on. It's not just one trope played up and overused, it's all of them. Every trope you could ever possibly imagine in an "upstairs/downstairs" world is used. It doesn't have delusions of grandeur, it knows what a knock-off it is and plays it up. That actually makes it kind of refreshing. Some books are more subtle about this cash grab, Summerset Abbey isn't. Summerset Abbey is an odd little book in that it was obviously written to cash in on the Downton Abbey craze. Rowena and Victoria's lives could be ruined by the person they love most in the world and who they've inadvertently wronged. Because Prudence is the living breathing proof of a long buried secret that could destroy the Buxton family. What's more there are forces at work trying to oust Prudence from the family seat. Banished to living a half life among the servants she doesn't fit in either upstairs or down. Rowena's behavior drives a wedge between the girls and Prudence, more so than Victoria, feels that her life has been irreparably changed. She'd rather hide her head in the sand than face what her life has become, an endless parade of changing clothes to please her aunt's sense of propriety. Something Rowena failed to mention to Victoria and Prudence. Banished to the countryside so their uncle can secretly sell their London house, Prudence was only allowed to accompany the sisters by posing as their lady's maid. But now their lives are in the hands of their Uncle and things are going to be different proper. The two girls were raised in a rather unorthodox manner growing up with their nanny's daughter, Prudence, as their closest friend and confidant. Rowena and Victoria Buxton are reeling from the death of their beloved father.
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