FARUNDELL is a story of magical awakening as a young man searches for meaning in the aftermath of the First World War, a young girl comes of age and an old man journeys through memory to death. There's an enigmatic book, an erotic obsession, magic both black and white, a ghost who's not a ghost, a murder that's not a murder, a treasure that's not a treasure. It's about love, loss and longing; language, imagination and the nature of reality.
In the golden summer of 1924 Paul Asher, still shattered by the trauma of the Western Front, comes to Farundell, an idyllic country house set deep in the Oxfordshire countryside. There, he falls under the spell of the rich and eccentric Damory family: the celebrated Amazon explorer Perceval, Lord Damory, now blind and dying, whose story echoes Paul's own strange dreams, brilliant thirteen-year-old Alice, on the cusp of adulthood and, like Paul, a seeker of knowledge and, most fatefully, the wild and beautiful Sylvie, with whom he falls passionately in love. Before summer's end, there will be tragedy, comedy, resolution and, for Paul, a revelation that will change his life forever.
A stunningly original debut novel, Farundell is literary fiction with a metaphysical twist. Although complete in itself, it is the first in a linked series of novels about these people, places and themes.
Farundell
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Review
'A richly ambitious debut novel . . . one cannot help but be swept away by Fredericks' bold intentions' (Financial Times )
'Descriptively, conceptually and emotionally captivating' (Easy Living )
'Beautifully written . . . I am sure it will appeal to many people' (Daily Mail )
'Farundell is a marvellously dark and intricate literary gothic novel. The style is elegant and engaging and the storyline compelling. This is an author to watch.' (Joanne Harris, bestselling author of Chocolat )
'Descriptively, conceptually and emotionally captivating' (Easy Living )
'Beautifully written . . . I am sure it will appeal to many people' (Daily Mail )
'Farundell is a marvellously dark and intricate literary gothic novel. The style is elegant and engaging and the storyline compelling. This is an author to watch.' (Joanne Harris, bestselling author of Chocolat )
About the Author
L. R. Fredericks lives in London. Farundell is her first novel and was shortlisted for the Authors' Club First Novel Award.
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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Vine™ Review
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I'm not absolutely sure if this is Fredericks' first novel, but if it is, I'm amazed! From the very first page, this novel is a cracking trip down a rabbit hole of an entirely different sort, and takes the reader on an intellectual and fantastical journey that is both subtle and mindbending at once. The story begins with the disenfranchised, one might say, disenchanted hero,Paul Asher, in the aftermath of the Great War, meeting someone at a party who can give him a job. He journeys from London to the wilds of Oxford(!) and the house known as Farundell, home of the eccentric and mysterious Damory family. There he sees the ancestral ghost, and becomes a seeker after knowledge, aided by the precocious neophyte Alice, the strange and compelling Sophie and eccentric Aunt Theo. Each character is a complete portrait in itself, and the plot unfolds like a Chinese puzzlebox, drawing the reader in with every turn of the page. Frederick's writing is at times poetic, at others, taut, and never less than brilliant! He exactly captures the postwar feel of 1924. I've read the book twice and it's still unputdownable - I've just pulled it off the shelf for a third read. A keeper - and there aren't many books I say that about!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is set shortly after WWI in a world where young men still struggle daily with their memories of that dreadful time and a whole generation has been cut down "like a harvest". Paul Asher is an American who joined up largely to escape his father and comes in contact with his friend Val when he pulls him from a crashed plane. After the war he is unwilling to return home and unsure what he can do. Through Val he meets Maggie Damory, who says her elderly and blind father needs someone to help him write his memoirs. Thus Paul arrives at Farundell, their country house in Oxfordshire.
From that point, the story becomes slow, winding and magical, quite unlike anything I have read before. Paul feels instantly at hom and becomes entwined with the life of the family - both living and dead. He is working for Lord Damory (Percy) but there are many other characters. These include Percy's kind and empathic sister Theo, Maggie's children, including the headstrong and beautiful Sylvie and the intelligent, precocious Alice, Percy's son Daniel who lives apart from the family after suffering shell shock and Francis Damory, an ancestor of the family that only some people can see.
Judging from previous reviews people either find this novel enchanting or boring. Personally I found it slow, unwinding, magical and enchanting. When Paul asks why he is experiencing things he never experienced before he is told, "doors are opening". This is a world where things in the periphery of vision move, where the moon body flies while the characters sleep in bed, where ghosts are seen and where Paul is both healed and harmed, finds peace and suffering, while he comes to terms with what happened to him. Farundell is the first in a linked series of novels about these characters and the next is Fate.
From that point, the story becomes slow, winding and magical, quite unlike anything I have read before. Paul feels instantly at hom and becomes entwined with the life of the family - both living and dead. He is working for Lord Damory (Percy) but there are many other characters. These include Percy's kind and empathic sister Theo, Maggie's children, including the headstrong and beautiful Sylvie and the intelligent, precocious Alice, Percy's son Daniel who lives apart from the family after suffering shell shock and Francis Damory, an ancestor of the family that only some people can see.
Judging from previous reviews people either find this novel enchanting or boring. Personally I found it slow, unwinding, magical and enchanting. When Paul asks why he is experiencing things he never experienced before he is told, "doors are opening". This is a world where things in the periphery of vision move, where the moon body flies while the characters sleep in bed, where ghosts are seen and where Paul is both healed and harmed, finds peace and suffering, while he comes to terms with what happened to him. Farundell is the first in a linked series of novels about these characters and the next is Fate.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
By Pen pal
VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
If you are somebody who is in to astral travelling, esoterics, ancient Egyptian thoughts on the gods and goddesses, ancient (and present for those that are left) tribal spirit guides etc. you are going to love this book. The author is obviously deeply interested in all these things and has written a book incorporating this philosophy of life into a rather unusual story. Paul is a casualty of war who winds up quite by chance (or is it?) in a beautiful country estate with a fairly eccentric family just after the First World War. It depicts life in those times rather beautifully, and you can almost imagine being there in a wonderful big house with grounds and gardens and lakes at your disposal. You immediately realise that quite a few members of this family, past and present, have the ability to see the world in a totally different way and from the point of view of many dimensions. Thus the story unfolds. It is a love story, a ghost story, a story of the spirit realm, life after death and remembering what most have forgotten. Beautifully descriptive.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Farundell
'Farundell' was not quite like anything I had expected it to be! A slightly bizarre mixture of post-war, English country house drama entwined with something magical and... Read more
Published 6 days ago by L. M. Cowan
2.0 out of 5 stars
Farudel
This fantasy has neither the fascination of modern tales which
aim to end up as a film with great special effects nor does it
scare like a spooky ghost story. Read more
aim to end up as a film with great special effects nor does it
scare like a spooky ghost story. Read more
Published 5 months ago by ROY
1.0 out of 5 stars
Really not very good
Truly this is a case of the Emperor wearing no clothes.
Farundell is set in the aftermath of World War 1 in a large country come in Oxfordshire called Farundell. Read more
Farundell is set in the aftermath of World War 1 in a large country come in Oxfordshire called Farundell. Read more
Published 15 months ago by MisterHobgoblin
1.0 out of 5 stars
not for me
This book I found to be inexplicably boring and did not catch my imagination at all. I tried very hard to care about the characters but gave up reading half way through.Farundell
Published 22 months ago by Eroutdoors
3.0 out of 5 stars
In an alternate reality this book is just right
Farundell is a strange mixture: it's a bold attempt at combining an English country house novel with the world of the metaphysical. Fredericks writes beautifully. Read more
Published on 5 May 2011 by SpecialOrder937
2.0 out of 5 stars
Tiresomely pseudo-intellectual
I really loathe giving bad reviews because actually writing a novel is in itself a huge achievement, however it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth to buy a book that I think will be... Read more
Published on 17 April 2011 by JaneyF
3.0 out of 5 stars
Like Brideshead with more sex and astral projection ...
I was immediately drawn to the cover of this book, and indeed the blurb promises much too...
"There's an enigmatic book, an erotic obsession, magic both black and white, a... Read more
"There's an enigmatic book, an erotic obsession, magic both black and white, a... Read more
Published on 27 Mar 2011 by Annabel Gaskell
2.0 out of 5 stars
Dull and full of unrealised ideas
A few years after suffering a great trauma in the First World War, Paul Asher secures a job at Farundell, the country estate of the Damory family. Read more
Published on 5 Dec 2010 by AR
5.0 out of 5 stars
A book to literally change your view of the world
It's not often one comes across writing this good. This assured. This tempestuous. This profound. This moving... It makes me, as a writer, want to write better... Read more
Published on 22 Nov 2010 by J. Matthews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Weirdly engaging - like Basil Ice Cream
Farundell ticked most of the points on my checklist of reasons to stop reading after a few pages. A historical bohemian setting with eccentric characters, mystical goings on and a... Read more
Published on 15 Nov 2010 by S. Thomas
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