The Ravenscar Dynasty
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Product Description
Review
Praise for Barbara Taylor Bradford:
‘The storyteller of substance.’ The Times
'Queen of the genre.' Sunday Times
‘Few novelists are as consummate as Barbara Taylor Bradford at keeping the reader turning the page. She is one of the world’s best at spinning yarns.’ Guardian
Review
Praise for Barbara Taylor Bradford: 'The storyteller of substance.' The Times 'Queen of the genre.' Sunday Times 'Few novelists are as consummate as Barbara Taylor Bradford at keeping the reader turning the page. She is one of the world's best at spinning yarns.' Guardian
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
"The Ravenscar Dynasty" is the first book in a saga about two families, the Deravenels and the Grants, and the struggle for power of the house of Deravenel. The story takes place in Edwardian England and starts in 1904. Loosely based upon the life of King Edward IV, but with obvious flaws, I don't applaud this idea.
Most of what happens, is, however, not entirely unexpected. Convenient "co-incidencies", easily guessed by the reader, destroys any hope of possible page-turning quality. When, for thirty pages or so, none of the book's characters have a clue about what the reader already knows, it's easy to just skip those pages.
"The Ravenscar Dynasty" is still not a totally unenjoyable story. I suppose this is very much due to the setting. English upper class in the old days, with their grand homes and traditions. Lacking excitement but with the definite charm of lost grandeur. It did not keep me awake at night. Neither am I eagerly awaiting book II. Compared with the unforgettable "A Woman of Substance", it lacks a lot. Too much is predictable. The people are settled in their world, in spite of a bit of trouble in order to maintain it. There is nothing of the strength and magic of the story about a young woman from Leeds who single-handedly built an empire. Emma Harte crept into my heart and her story is one of those unforgettable moments in literature.
I'll follow the Deravenels' destiny further, but next time I'll wait till the paperback.
Most of what happens, is, however, not entirely unexpected. Convenient "co-incidencies", easily guessed by the reader, destroys any hope of possible page-turning quality. When, for thirty pages or so, none of the book's characters have a clue about what the reader already knows, it's easy to just skip those pages.
"The Ravenscar Dynasty" is still not a totally unenjoyable story. I suppose this is very much due to the setting. English upper class in the old days, with their grand homes and traditions. Lacking excitement but with the definite charm of lost grandeur. It did not keep me awake at night. Neither am I eagerly awaiting book II. Compared with the unforgettable "A Woman of Substance", it lacks a lot. Too much is predictable. The people are settled in their world, in spite of a bit of trouble in order to maintain it. There is nothing of the strength and magic of the story about a young woman from Leeds who single-handedly built an empire. Emma Harte crept into my heart and her story is one of those unforgettable moments in literature.
I'll follow the Deravenels' destiny further, but next time I'll wait till the paperback.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Ravenscar Dynasty is an outstanding new novel from one of my favorite authors, Barbara Taylor Bradford. Based loosely on the life of King Edward IV, this fictional story is moved forward to the 1900s. And instead of running a monarchy, Edward is attempting to run a family business empire.
Edward is a dashing young hero with boundless energy. His life is filled with young women, family conflict and business ambition. When he is not conquesting lovely widows, "Ned" is plotting revenge against a portion of his extended family who are responsible for the murder of his father and uncle.
There are few authors today who write good old fashioned family sagas. Thankfully, Barbara Taylor Bradford is still at it. The Ravenscar Dynasty is the promising new begining to what is being called a trilogy of books in this saga.
Edward is a dashing young hero with boundless energy. His life is filled with young women, family conflict and business ambition. When he is not conquesting lovely widows, "Ned" is plotting revenge against a portion of his extended family who are responsible for the murder of his father and uncle.
There are few authors today who write good old fashioned family sagas. Thankfully, Barbara Taylor Bradford is still at it. The Ravenscar Dynasty is the promising new begining to what is being called a trilogy of books in this saga.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The system will only let me give this book one star, but I'm actually giving it zero.
I usually love a big, fat family saga, but this is beyond terrible. It's an attempt to switch the story of the fight for the English throne during the Wars of the Roses to the Edwardian era and the upper classes struggling for control of a family business. This is a device that's worked before for other authors, but not ones with such a crude and lazy approach as this. Her take on history just refuses to translate because she's forgotten about the need for a credible plot and been too literal - would so many people get themselves murdered in 20th century England over a company takeover?
The story is unconvincing, repetitive, superficial and dull. It's also appallingly badly written, and the tone throughout is vulgar and snobbish. The dialogue is hilarious - try reading some of it out loud ("Will you partake of tea, mother?" ...) We're constantly told what everyone's thinking and what they look like (they're all beautiful and sumptuously dressed of course - you almost expect her to say how much their outfits cost, it's that sort of book) but they never come alive. The characters based on Edward IV, Warwick and Hastings do a lot of striding through Mayfair in Savile Row suits as the common folk look on in admiration, but it's hard to tell them apart - in fact, a lot of the characters in this book are interchangeable. And this is the work of a bestselling author?
Judging by the blurb and cover photo, Barbara Taylor Bradford has made her pile and is now living in style in New York, a real-life Woman of Substance (which I read and enjoyed years ago). I like to picture her draped over a chaise longue, sipping champagne while she dictates her outpourings to a minion, Barbara Cartland-style. Are we to believe that she actually read the history books listed as sources? She doesn't include Sharon Penman's infinitely superior The Sunne in Splendour, but she must have read it - every character is lifted straight from it. Unfortunately she turned them all into cardboard cut-outs while leaving the subtlety, the multi-layered plot and any claim to reality behind.
And it's the first of a trilogy! Words fail me. Why are rich and successful authors allowed to churn out stuff like this long after they've passed their sell-by date? There should be a law against it, then maybe I could get my money back.
I usually love a big, fat family saga, but this is beyond terrible. It's an attempt to switch the story of the fight for the English throne during the Wars of the Roses to the Edwardian era and the upper classes struggling for control of a family business. This is a device that's worked before for other authors, but not ones with such a crude and lazy approach as this. Her take on history just refuses to translate because she's forgotten about the need for a credible plot and been too literal - would so many people get themselves murdered in 20th century England over a company takeover?
The story is unconvincing, repetitive, superficial and dull. It's also appallingly badly written, and the tone throughout is vulgar and snobbish. The dialogue is hilarious - try reading some of it out loud ("Will you partake of tea, mother?" ...) We're constantly told what everyone's thinking and what they look like (they're all beautiful and sumptuously dressed of course - you almost expect her to say how much their outfits cost, it's that sort of book) but they never come alive. The characters based on Edward IV, Warwick and Hastings do a lot of striding through Mayfair in Savile Row suits as the common folk look on in admiration, but it's hard to tell them apart - in fact, a lot of the characters in this book are interchangeable. And this is the work of a bestselling author?
Judging by the blurb and cover photo, Barbara Taylor Bradford has made her pile and is now living in style in New York, a real-life Woman of Substance (which I read and enjoyed years ago). I like to picture her draped over a chaise longue, sipping champagne while she dictates her outpourings to a minion, Barbara Cartland-style. Are we to believe that she actually read the history books listed as sources? She doesn't include Sharon Penman's infinitely superior The Sunne in Splendour, but she must have read it - every character is lifted straight from it. Unfortunately she turned them all into cardboard cut-outs while leaving the subtlety, the multi-layered plot and any claim to reality behind.
And it's the first of a trilogy! Words fail me. Why are rich and successful authors allowed to churn out stuff like this long after they've passed their sell-by date? There should be a law against it, then maybe I could get my money back.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Not the best
Bradford Taylor has always been a favourite but having read my latest buy, discovered I had read it before and wasn't impressed then either. Read more
Published 21 days ago by Anita L
DEFINITELY one to avoid
Never having read a book by this author before, I expected a light-weight entertaining summer read. I certainly got the former but definitely not the latter. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Bookworm
sandycat
after reading a woman of substance I would have expected a similar story however I was extremey disappointed as I thought the book utterly awful. Read more
Published on 9 April 2010 by Mrs. Marilyn J. Wheatley
Ravenscar Dynasty
An excellent prequel to the other 2 stories in the series, charting the highs and lows of the Yorkshire Derevenels.
Published on 7 Mar 2010 by R. K. Birch
Ravenscar review
I bought this book from a carboot sale and found it to be a good read. So much so that I started scouring amazon for the sequels. Read more
Published on 28 April 2009 by F. Arnold
Touch of Yorkshire
I loved Ned, and I loved the plot. I suppose because I am from Yorkshire maybe it helped, but I haven't read Barbara Taylor Bradford books recently, but I am looking forward to... Read more
Published on 18 Aug 2008 by Ms S. M. Patchett
What a great read
I really enjoyed this book. I felt that it flowed wonderfully whilst holding your attention at the same time. Read more
Published on 17 Aug 2008 by Mrs. A. L. Maddocks
Oh, No, No. No. No, Barbara
Well, don't really know what to say except that it was obvious from the first few pages that this book is based on Edward 4th. Read more
Published on 25 July 2008 by Mrs. Judith Lugg
confusing
Essentially the tale of Edward and Richard of York brought into the 20 century. I read this one and will probaby read the next in the series but must say I prefer the real story of... Read more
Published on 20 April 2008 by Mrs. A. Wright
One to be avoided
When I started to read the book I hadn't realised the link to the Plantagenets. I soon did and the story written round real events but updated to the Edwardian period and with... Read more
Published on 20 Mar 2008 by D. Walker
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