The Disinherited: A Story of Family, Love and Betrayal

Description

In the small hours of the morning of 3 June 1914, a woman and her husband were found dead in a sparsely furnished apartment in Paris. It was only when the identity of the couple was revealed in the English press a fortnight later that the full story emerged. The man, Henry Sackville-West, had shot himself minutes after the death of his wife from cancer; but Henry's suicidal despair had been driven equally by the failure of his claim to be the legitimate son of Lord Sackville and heir to Knole. The Disinherited reveals the secrets and lies at the heart of an English dynasty, unravelling the parallel lives of Henri's four illegitimate siblings: in particular his older sister, Victoria, who on becoming Lady Sackville and mistress of Knole, by marriage, consigned her brothers and sisters to lives of poverty and disappointment.

After studying History at Oxford University, Robert Sackville-West worked in publishing, founding Toucan Books in 1985, which creates illustrated non-fiction books for an international market. He now combines that with chairing Knole Estates, the property and investment company which runs the Sackville family's interests at Knole. In 2008, he and his wife and three children moved in the house, which has been occupied by the Sackville family for 400 years. The incredible history of Knole and the Sackville family, Inheritance, was published in 2010.

Sackville-West has done his best with this tangled and unedifying tale. He writes elegantly and has been able to draw on Victoria's diaries and the copious documentation thrown up by her uncle Henry's court case * Sunday Times * Brilliantly exposes the shadowy side of the Victorian aristocracy and the horrors of life on the wrong side of the blanket . . . A marvellous book - a gripping story, superbly researched and related with grace and humour in elegant, enjoyable prose. * Literary Review * Poignant * Daily Telegraph * His extraordinary research uncovers a world of shadows lying within inches of his family's official history, and he enters into it with sympathy and understanding * Economist * Immaculately written ... A fascinating picture of a forgotten underside of English aristocratic and public life * Lucy Lethbridge, Observer * Entertaining * Evening Standard * Meticulous * Country Life * A romping read * Tatler *