Description
Book SynopsisThe highly praised biography of an archetypal great house and the family who lived there for over 250 years.The Big House' is the biography of a great country house and the lives of the Sykes family who lived there, with varying fates, for the next two hundred and fifty years. It is a fascinating social history set against the backdrop of a changing England, with a highly individual, pugnacious and self-determining cast, including: Old Tat' Sykes, said to be one of the great sights of Yorkshire (the author's great-great-great-grandfather), who wore 18th-century dress to the day of his death at ninety-one in 1861. His son was similarly eccentric, wearing eight coats that he discarded gradually throughout the day in order to keep his body temperature at a constant. He was forced to marry, aged forty-eight, eighteen-year-old Jessica Cavendish-Bentick a lively and highly intelligent woman who relieved the boredom of her marriage by acquiring a string of lovers, writing novels and throwing
Trade Review‘An unusually entertaining, instructive and engaging book… this book is a treat.’ Sunday Telegraph
‘A meticulously researched labour of love.’ Daily Mail
‘Romantic, accessible and absorbing…I cared passionately for every one of these people and wanted the book to continue indefinitely.’ Daily Telegraph
‘Witty, absorbing and touching…a splendid book.’ Sunday Times
