Thy Father's House - Hardcover

High, Monique Raphel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385295588 ISBN 13: 9780385295581

Publisher: Delacorte Pr, 1987

Synopsis

Presents the multi-generational saga of the de Rochefleurs, a European Jewish banking family harboring selfdestructive greed behind the walls of their magnificent chateau, La Folie

About this title

From Publishers Weekly

In the early decades of the 20th century, Chateau La Folie is the center of the universe to the de Rochefleurs, a rich banking family of European Jews. Angered when his father casually deeds the beloved mansion to his impoverished Aunt Yvonne, Alfred de Rochefleur spends years plotting to redress the loss. In his turn, Yvonne's weak and gorgeous son Charles determines to regain La Folie's graced portals by marrying Alfred's horsey daughter Anne, although his heart belongs to another cousin, the beautiful Amelia. When the winds of war begin to blow through Europe, the de Rochefleurs barely miss a beat in their intricate family dance of passion and greed, mistakenly believing that their titled position will save them from Hitler's predations. While Anne hides refugees, and her son Alexis smuggles arms to the Resistance, Charles works at cross-purposes to both, amassing a bitter legacy that will devastate them all. Many of the scenes depicting the Nazi regime's impact on daily life and ordinary citizens are quietly riveting, but the novel's focus on a few shallow and selfish characters diminishes its appeal. High also wrote The Keeper of the Walls.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

All his life Charles had been waiting for someone to die, not always aware of the reason for his anticipation. On his second birthday he waited for his father to join his party but heard the suicide shot that began his problems instead. As a young man he waited for a way to repossess the house outside Paris he felt he had been cheated of and which to him represented his family tradition. He waited for his mentor and employer to will him the company. And he waited for confirmation that the Nazis had killed his son, giving Charles total control of that company. An avid power seeker, he compromised his principles, hurting the two people he loved and being cold to those who loved him. This portrait of a powerful but greedy man works well, but the Jewish/Nazi background seems almost incidental. Still, recommended. Andrea Lee Shuey, Dallas P.L .
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Delacorte Pr
• Publication date: 1987
• ISBN 10: 0385295588
• ISBN 13: 9780385295581
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 361