FAMILY MONEY

by Doris Shannon ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 8, 1984

Nasty fun and weighty pathos from WW I to the Crash, reminiscent of a few Bette Davis vehicles--as meek-mouse spinster Elizabeth Meredith, exploited ""poor relation"" of wealthy Manhattan fat cats, is transformed into a creature ""scheming, and secretive and ruthless."" At 36 Elizabeth is housekeeper to cousin William Meredith in their grandfather's mansion; she toils away in scarecrow clothes, with painful rotting teeth (William pays her a pittance), forced to live in a rented slum room--to which she commutes in the dangerous dark, the target of savage practical jokes by William's younger son Alan. (In their conferences, Elizabeth wistfully eyes the sherry William pours for himself--if only she could ease her toothache!) Relief then arrives, however, in the exquisite person of Judith, widower William's new young wife--who sees to it that Elizabeth goes to the dentist, buys better clothes, moves into the mansion. Even more important, Love seems in sight when Judith and Elizabeth meet journalist Lafe Norton at a tea-shop: he appears to be interested in the newly renovated Elizabeth! There are dates, the opera. . . but then Elizabeth finds Lafe and Judith, lovers previously acquainted, in a passionate embrace!! Poor, trusting Elizabeth has been skewered again. And though she dutifully tends a newly cruel Judith through two pregnancies (the second baby is Lafe's), Elizabeth is then given a month to clear out and start a dressmaking business. The worm now turns, of course: within the month it's Judith who is out--to an unlovely death. . . though Elizabeth has a few twinges (she was fond of Judith). She stays on as Danvers-like housekeeper, even after likable chorus girl Dania--wife of slimy Alan--becomes mistress of the house; there'll be three babies to tend, including baby Opie, the darling of Elizabeth's eye. Dania is killed in a car crash, however; William is a helpless invalid; Alan has nasty plans for the mansion--and for Opie. So Elizabeth goes back into action--with some masterful quiet planning and a one-on-one round with a simpatico crime lord. And eventually Elizabeth is mistress of the manor, guardian of four children, wealthy (via some singular sources), and soaring above former relations and friends who've been laid low by the crash. . . or come to sordid ends. Shannon surrounds Elizabeth, a shell of gentility, with such monumental provocations that it's no surprise when she turns to vengeance. But it's entertaining, if elementary, all the way.

Pub Date: Aug. 8, 1984

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1984

Categories: FICTION