From 1870 to 1939, the Taverner family faces one misfortune after another. Their estate near Bath, England, draws family members together but also magnifies their animosities. Taverner men die in military conflicts from the Crimea to South Africa to Spain. Those who survive rarely find professional or personal joy. The women range from bubbleheaded socialites to political journalists. Madness, impotence, adultery, and other soap-opera components fill the pages. Readers will likely echo the sentiments of one of the characters who speaks halfway through the book, ``I do not think . . . that there is any disaster left to happen.'' How wrong she is. BOMC featured alternate. Kathy Piehl, Mankato State Univ. Lib., Minn. Copyright 1987 Cahners Business Information.
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