The Will by Rebecca Reid BLOG TOUR #TheWill @RebeccaCNReid @PenguinUKBooks @izzieghaffari @RandomTTours #BookReview

 

The Mordaunts aren't like most families . . .

For one, their family home is Roxborough Hall - a magnificent, centuries-old mansion in the Norfolk countryside. For another, the house isn't passed down from parent to child - but rather to the family member deemed most worthy.

Cecily Mordaunt is dead. On the evening of her funeral, her family will gather for dinner and each will be given a letter, revealing who is the next custodian of Roxborough Hall.

The house is a burden, a millstone, a full-time job . . . but they all want it. And some are willing do anything to get it.

One family. Eight letters. Who will get what they deserve?

The Will by Rebecca Reid was published on 10 November 2022 in paperback by Penguin. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour 

I almost ate this book! I settled down to begin reading and before I knew it, I was half way through. It pulls the reader in and doesn't let go. Filled with characters who make up the most dysfunctional of families, and revolving around a grand country house, this is fast moving and utterly engaging. 

The house in question is Roxborough Hall, nestled deep in the Norfolk countryside and has been in the Mordaunt family for generations. The inheritance of the house is unusual. It doesn't automatically pass to the eldest child when the current owner dies. Instead, the next owner is chosen, by the current one, and it could be anyone in the family. 

Cecily, matriarch of the Mordaunt family has died and her family have gathered for the 'entail'. This is a lavish dinner where individual letters are given out, informing the recipient if they are the next owner, or not.

Like all families, the Mordaunts are a mixed bunch. There are Cecily's three children and their assorted offspring, and added to this, we have Violet. Originally Cecily's maid, she became her constant companion, there when she died and runs the house like clockwork. Violet knows everything about this family, she knows more about them than they know about themselves. 

Oh, it's a twisty, action-packed thrill of a read. The author flashes back to Cecily's early years, and events that have changed the family dynamics over the years and the reader begins to know more about the Mordaunts too. 

Watching the characters develop, as each one of them tries to assure themselves that they don't really want Roxborough, and will be happy for the person who does get it, and then 'listening in' on their private thoughts and conversations and realising that there are so many old scores to settle. There are also long-hidden secrets that are going to have a huge impact on family members, tearing them apart and shocking them to the core. 

This is a great read. I loved the eclectic mix of characters and the wonderfully grand house. It certainly kept me on my toes. Highly recommended. 

Rebecca Reid is the author of the novels Perfect Liars, Truth Hurts and Two Wrongs, and the
nonfiction book The Power of Rude.

She is a freelance journalist and columnist for the Telegraph's women's section and a regular contributor to Telegraph culture.

She is the former digital editor of Grazia magazine and has previously written for Stylist, the Independent, the Guardian, The Times, Marie Claire, the New Statesman and Glamour Magazine. 

She regularly contributes to Good Morning Britain, Sky News and various BBC radio programmes. She holds an MA in Creative Writing from Royal Holloway.

Twitter @RebeccaCNReid