Book Review: The Uninvited Guests

I first heard of this book in a review on Swistle's blog.  I entered a blogging giveaway hoping to snag a copy of it, but alas, I didn't win.  Then, fate smiled on me and I found the book on the new requisitions shelf at our library.  How I love the library!

This was a moderately enjoyable read.  Set in the Edwardian era, the Torrington family is preparing to celebrate Emerald Torrington's twentieth birthday with a dinner party that evening.  Unfortunately, a near-by train derails and a motley band of disheveled rail passengers show up seeking temporary shelter.  When a more refined (first-class) passenger turns up as well, Emerald's brother decides to invite him to the dinner party.  Amidst the chaos of birthday dinner plans gone awry, this new interloper brings a whole new level of discomfort to the band of party revelers.  Add in an additional twist of the youngest daughter's decision to bring a pony into the house, to pose for a portrait, and you have a regular comedy of errors.

The story itself was fun and faithful to the era.  There were only a few aspects which left me confused.  Towards the end of the book, the author suddenly includes a wild, sexual romp between a member of the serving staff and a member of the dinner party.  This seemed incongruous.  Not only was it unnecessary to the story line, it didn't seem to fit with the characters themselves.  The man is interested in Emerald and the housekeeper is Emerald's mother's age.  He is already mortified by his continued presence in the house.  I believe he just wanted to get out, not to romp and carry on with a member of the serving class.  My opinion only.  Indeed, a total of three couples pair up right at the end of the book.  Hmm.

Plus, there were a few minor details that didn't seem to add up for me.  One was that the youngest daughter left her locked room via the roof, yet they enter the room with no difficulty later in the story.  Also, she re-enters the house through her mother's bedroom window, into a rather unbelievable conflict.  Furthermore, if the interloper left through the window, it didn't seem to add up to me that he would make another appearance under the mud on the stairs.  These are just questions that loomed in my mind as I read.  In addition, all the loose ends were tied up a bit too neatly.

If you are interested in British fiction set in the Edwardian era, you might enjoy this romp of a tale.  Despite my questions about details in the novel, I did somewhat enjoy this read.  The cover of the book was also a perfect touch to match the story, giving the feel of an Edwardian tale.