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Overview
From one of the sharpest observers of the modern scene comes this witty, intelligent, and irresistible novel in the tradition of Gosford Park and Snobs.
Anthony Anscombe has everything he could ever want: an exquisite family estate, enviable social standing, and a desirable inheritance. But Anthony still has an aching desire for one thing: the perfect match. Running headlong into marriage is Anthony’s forte . . . and his greatest weakness. As he surveys his beautiful house in the English countryside, Anthony has the distinct feeling that he’s under siege. He may be surrounded by his sprawling estate, but lurking in the village are more than one or two reminders of his complicated past, including three ex-wives, a mistress, and a legion of children and stepchildren, all dependent on him and all determined to do whatever it takes to get what they want.
A Much Married Man is a wickedly funny social satire with characters that will stay with readers long after the final page. Like a modern-day Edith Wharton or Anthony Trollope, Nicholas Coleridge delivers a sensational glimpse inside the salacious world of the upper classes.
Synopsis
From one of the sharpest observers of the modern scene comes this witty, intelligent, and irresistible novel in the tradition of Gosford Park and Snobs.
Anthony Anscombe has everything he could ever want: an exquisite family estate, enviable social standing, and a desirable inheritance. But Anthony still has an aching desire for one thing: the perfect match. Running headlong into marriage is Anthony’s forte . . . and his greatest weakness. As he surveys his beautiful house in the English countryside, Anthony has the distinct feeling that he’s under siege. He may be surrounded by his sprawling estate, but lurking in the village are more than one or two reminders of his complicated past, including three ex-wives, a mistress, and a legion of children and stepchildren, all dependent on him and all determined to do whatever it takes to get what they want.
A Much Married Man is a wickedly funny social satire with characters that will stay with readers long after the final page. Like a modern-day Edith Wharton or Anthony Trollope, Nicholas Coleridge delivers a sensational glimpse inside the salacious world of the upper classes.
Publishers Weekly
Britain's moneyed upper crust comes in for a slapstick razzing in this class-skewering 10th book (after novels Godchildrenand Streetsmart) by Condé Nast U.K. managing director Coleridge. The titular much-married man is Anthony Anscombe, the thoroughly decent but naïvely innocent scion of a private English merchant bank family, who also happens to be a country squire responsible for the well-being of a picturesque village and 2,000 acres of "magical" land to which his family has held title for 370 years. The eccentric locals love Anthony, and Anthony loves haplessly: over four decades, he marries three unsuitable women, sires five children and shepherds five stepchildren through turbulent upbringings. Aside from his bank duties, which provide ample fodder for Coleridge's wry satire, Anthony is called upon to undertake a load of unpleasant chores, such as confronting his philandering father-in-law at the latter's "floating lovenest" and defending his rapist stepson, Morad. Throughout, Anthony remains the epitome of a gentleman, unfailingly patient with the demanding women in his life (the first a diva waif, the second a priggish homebody and the third a monstrous money-grubber). This well-informed comedy of stiff-upper-lip manners reads, charmingly, as if sprung from a writerly union between Iris Murdoch at the high end and Harold Robbins at the low. (June)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationEditorials
From the Publisher
"A keen observer of class, manners and sexual frisson, Coleridge is a master of the social romp.” — Graydon Carter, Editor-in-Chief, Vanity Fair“[Coleridge] layers his prose with flawless detail, wit and affection for his ever-expanding cast of characters.” —-USA Today“Coleridge skillfully handles a small army of sharply drawn characters. . . . he has a real talent for humor, delivered in a deadpan fashion.” —-Boston Globe“Nicholas Coleridge makes a witty and acerbic guide to this arcane, and largely secret, world. Unlike many silver fork writers, Coleridge is a well-informed insider and, as such, his humor is only too painfully accurate.” –Julian Fellowes, author of Snobs; Academy Award-winning writer of Gosford Park"A Much Married Man is funny, touching and flawless in its detail. Nicholas Coleridge is the best sociologist of British upper class life since Anthony Powell."—Tina Brown "I burned the midnight oil to read A Much Married Man…I loved the book, Nicholas has perfect pitch on class and a miraculous eye on changing society over the past forty years…the whole book is by turns gloriously bitchy, extremely funny and ultimately touching." —Jilly Cooper, author of Class and Player "This is a big, pacy, ambitious and thoroughly entertaining book. Coleridge is brilliant on the detail… he inspires the most gloriously waspish turns of phrase.’ —Daily Mail (London) “Coleridge's wickedly funny novel is guaranteed to amuse. ... a must for the beach this summer.” –Glamour UK “This extravagantly enjoyable novel wins credit on so many levels I hardly know where to begin… A Much Married Man is irresistible.” –Sunday Telegraph “Anyone battled by the conundrum of what to read this summer need look no further than A Much Married Man.” –The Spectator “[A] long and luscious novel… touching and funny.” –The ObserverPublishers Weekly
Britain's moneyed upper crust comes in for a slapstick razzing in this class-skewering 10th book (after novels Godchildrenand Streetsmart) by Condé Nast U.K. managing director Coleridge. The titular much-married man is Anthony Anscombe, the thoroughly decent but naïvely innocent scion of a private English merchant bank family, who also happens to be a country squire responsible for the well-being of a picturesque village and 2,000 acres of "magical" land to which his family has held title for 370 years. The eccentric locals love Anthony, and Anthony loves haplessly: over four decades, he marries three unsuitable women, sires five children and shepherds five stepchildren through turbulent upbringings. Aside from his bank duties, which provide ample fodder for Coleridge's wry satire, Anthony is called upon to undertake a load of unpleasant chores, such as confronting his philandering father-in-law at the latter's "floating lovenest" and defending his rapist stepson, Morad. Throughout, Anthony remains the epitome of a gentleman, unfailingly patient with the demanding women in his life (the first a diva waif, the second a priggish homebody and the third a monstrous money-grubber). This well-informed comedy of stiff-upper-lip manners reads, charmingly, as if sprung from a writerly union between Iris Murdoch at the high end and Harold Robbins at the low. (June)
Copyright 2007 Reed Business InformationLibrary Journal
Coleridge's background as former editor of Harpers & Queen(now Harper's Bazaar), founding chair of Fashion Rocks (the rock and fashion extravaganza for The Princes' Trust), and managing director of Condé Nast U.K. serves him well in this aptly titled and leisurely paced novel of upper-class British society. Anthony Anscombe, scion of a London banking family and heir to Winchford Priory and the village it dominates, might seem a cad to those who know him only through the gossip columns. Instead, he is a kind, unassuming man, "genetically predisposed to be forever polite," who slowly gets sucked into a maelstrom created by his several wives, their offspring, and other hangers-on. Married in his teens (the year is 1965) to flighty Amanda just days after chasing her down in France, he begins his first "death-defying rollercoaster ride" and fathers (or so he thinks for most of his life) his first child. Other wives, a mistress, and numerous children follow, leading to a kaleidoscope of engaging complications. Finely detailed, psychologically astute, and boasting a beautifully rendered cast of characters, this magnificent novel offers an intriguing insider's view of the lives of the gentry. Highly recommended for all public libraries.
—Ron Terpening