Readers' Group Reviews

Champagne and Shambles by Catherine Beale

Discussed 2 November 2011 by the Leominster Library Readers Group
 
 
The subtitle of this book is The Arkwrights and the Country House in Crisis.  The author's stated intention is 'to take the historical and make it personal'.  Her aim is not only to analyse the decline of the country estate which  started  in the 1850's, but to show what that meant  in human terms.  To illustrate her theme, she has chosen the Arkwright family of Hampton Court on the outskirts of Leominster.  Her main focus is on Johnny Arkwright, who lived from 1833 to 1905. and who inherited the estate in his early twenties.
 
Johnny is seen to be a model landlord, passionate about developing the estate, but he is brought low by a combination of factors which he is helpless to resist.  These include continuing bad weather, disease among livestock, ever increasing competition from imports, labour unrest, over- capitalisation, and in general the effects of industrialisation.  Little over one hundred years after the estate was purchased, it was no longer viable and   had to be sold.
 
This is a scholarly book.  Some readers found there was a little too much detail, but in general the group were captivated by the exploits of the Arkwright family and by Johnny's ebullient personality.  They enjoyed the details of his life and achievements.  Naturally the local interest added to the book's appeal.  Readers were left feeling that they had absorbed a good deal of history, both local and national, in a most entertaining way.