OF ALL FAITHS & NONE

Tweeddale’s historical novel follows the real-life Drewe and Lutyens families of England from the famed Castle Drogo’s commission to the throes of World War I.

In the fall of 1910, renowned architect Edwin Lutyens receives a letter from Sir Julius Drewe commissioning him to design a castle for him on Dartmoor. Between his vocational travels to India, Lutyens works with his daughter Celia and apprentice engineer Peter Hall to design a castle that blends classical and modern styles. As the castle plans commence, however, both families are politically, emotionally, and financially embroiled in the movements of the time, with members offering myriad opinions, religious views, and political perspectives about the war and enlistment. The families work together through Castle Drogo’s stone-laying ceremony; before long, however, circumstances lead to Christian “Kit” Drewe, one of Julius’ three sons, moving to Vienna and becoming estranged from his father. Meanwhile, the Lutyens family becomes divided as the matriarch, Emily Lutyens, becomes devoted to Jiddu Krishnamurti and the theosophy movement, aiming to persuade her daughter Celia of theosophy’s merits, and eventually, the hawkish Order of the White Feather. Sir Julius gets involved with a scheme to transport war goods with his ships in the hope of continued wealth. Kit returns to England and faces pressure to enlist, while the eldest son, Adrian Drewe, balances his own desires with his father’s demands. Divided into 10 parts, attorney Tweeddale’s well-researched debut novel expertly balances complex personal and political dynamics before and during the Great War. The author effectively integrates artistry, ancient stories, legends, war journals, and letters that add historical accuracy and emotional honesty to the work. The setting descriptions mirror both the characters’ emotional states and the darkness of the times, which give the novel a sense of dimension. However, the abrupt ending feels anticlimactic and unsatisfying—even if it does emphasize the horrors of World War I—and that such devastation has the potential to repeat itself.

A well-researched, honest, and grim portrayal of the effects of the Great War.