Something Dangerous

Book Details

Library

Author

Penny Vincenzi

Category

Fiction/Drama

Editor

Reference #

Contributor

Location

Translator

Status

Publisher

Orion

Owner

Country

Australia

Personal

Language

Read it

Yes

Year Published

2001

Date Read

26/04/2006

ISBN

0752832018

Personal Rating

 9/10

LCCN

Purchase

Edition

Purchase Date

27/03/2006

Printing

Acquired from 

TradeMe

Binding

Book Club Edition

Price

$4.50

Pages

710

Value

$0.00

Overview

The dazzling Lytton twins, Adele and Venetia, grow up with the world at their elegant feet: rich, petted, admired, perfectly dressed, wonderfully stylish and absolutely identical, they have a self-confidence that is close to arrogance. Despite being born into the great intellectual dynasty of the Lytton publishing empire, at eighteen they have managed to grow up virtually uneducated, relying only on their own charm and wit to take them through their gilded lives.

It is 1928: the dizzy twenties are passing into the glamourous thirties, and the misery and horror of the First World War are far behind. But, as the twins move into adult life, against their glittering social background the spectre of Nazi Germany, wearing its terrifyingly seductive face of success and prosperity, is growing. Gradually the twins' lives darken in unimaginable ways: Venetia finds herself humiliated and rejected in what promised to be a brilliant marriage; Adele is trapped in war-torn Paris with two tiny children. Then and only then do they find their own worth and what they are truly capable of.

There are other dangers and confrontations: for Barty Miller, rescued from the London slums in babyhood by Celia Lytton - clever, ambitious and a complete contrast to the twins - temptation of the most dreadful kind; and for Laurence Lytton from the New York branch of the family, with an obsessive pursuit of the only person he ever loved.

Comment

This was a huge book, with a huge cast of characters and a huge number of plots and subplots. I was quite surprised at the sheer number of characters, and the fact that I able to more or less keep track of them without the cast-list at the front of the book.

The blurb tells you that the book is about twins Adele and Venetia, and their struggles during the war, but they are only two parts of the story. Their brothers, cousin, parent and even the family friend Sebastian and adopted cause Barty all have their own stories: rather than a book about the twins, it's a book about the entire Lytton dynasty.

Each story is interesting and interwoven with every other story, although the plot behind the climax to Kits particular story was predictable - the connection was made very early on and then left to simmer in the background until the last dozen pages.

One thing that started to annoy me was the transition between each scene - there were several of speech before the speakers were identified, which meant I was skipping ahead to find out how it was relevent to which storyline.

That small irritation aside, I enjoyed the formal English conversations and the nuances of speech and action. Each character is fairly likable, with the exception of Laurence Elliott, and everyone has their own faults and secrets. Lord and Lady Beckenham, Celia's parents, were my favourites, especially when Lord Beckenham was so excited at the prospect of being invaded.

This book took a long time to get through, but it was definitely worth it.