THE BALLAD OF CASTLE REEF

by Honor Tracy ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1979

One of Tracy's weakest fable-satires--as predictable and arch as The Man From Next Door (1977) was surprising and irresistible. When old-fashioned Major Barraclough of Castle Reef dies suddenly, largely from apoplexy over his son Francis' un-Barraclough-like behavior, Francis and brand-new Southern-belle bride Marigold leave Paris to attend the funeral and take over the Irish family manse. A shock awaits, however: the Major has decided to posthumously teach Francis a lesson--by leaving the manse to butler Maguire (who enviously has dreamed of just such an elevation). This situation, of course, leads to a clutch of familiar, class-related ironies: the snobbish reaction of the local proletariat (""Everyone knew, whatever radical views he might spout, that the Quality were the best employers""); Maguire's bizarre reactions to instant wealth and his pathetic attempt to play gentry (at the Hunt, for example); and his eventual realization that he'd rather keep to his place. Plus, meanwhile: the Irish Patriot Front kidnapping of a local lord, which, despite P. G. Wodehouse plot turns, seems grimly out of place. Nor is the rest of the comedy first-rate, ranging from limp jokes about beautiful Marigold's bad cooking to off-target humor (especially for U.S. readers) based on her Southern-ness. (She runs on about the superstitious ""darkies"" back home and says, ""Do you imagine all Southerners are Democrats, just because of that grinning old Peanut Butter. . . ."") Some pleasingly dotty local characters turn up now and again, and the Tracy prose is never untidy--but this time she has adopted a corny old rich-man/poor-man tale and has done precious little to spruce it up.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1979

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Random House

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1979

Categories: FICTION