Review: Bellevere House by Sarah Scheele

Bellevere House

by Sarah Scheele

Faye Powell has been living with her aunt, uncle, and cousins for years. During the country’s economic difficulties, and given the large number of siblings in the Powell home, growing up at Bellevere was a much better option for Faye. Though the family has maintained their wealth throughout the Great Depression, they still face their challenges. Grover and his brother Ed, who though their father is Faye’s uncle, are no relation to her; Faye’s aunt being their stepmother. Faye’s cousins Myrtle and BeBe have turned rather wild as time has gone by. And when the wild brother and sister, Horace and Helene Carter enter their lives, things begin to spin out of control. Between her suspicions that Ed is falling for Helene and the secret BeBe has only told her, Faye begins to feel as though she can’t keep her head above water. Will the family ever settle down to find out what’s most important in their lives?

Like Mansfield Park, I found Bellevere House to sway somewhat toward the quirky side. With such a large cast of characters and so many things going on, there is a lot to keep up with. Though at times the plot almost started to feel scattered, the author managed to reign things back in and not totally lose the reader. Like Fanny Price, I felt sorry for Faye Powell. Her cousins believed themselves so superior to her, yet she was the most sensible in the family and stayed out of trouble far better than her wealthy cousins. She kind of seemed to fade into the background; her family feeling like a sort of circus. Her cousins were annoying and her aunt and uncle didn’t seem very attentive; their family was falling about, but they couldn’t much be bothered to notice, until the end of the book. I liked the author’s style of writing; there were several lines that really jumped out at me, and that’s something that sticks with me after a book is done.

All in all, Bellevere House was a good book that fans of Mansfield Park will want to check out. How neat to see Fanny Price brought into the American 20^th century as Faye Powell.

I give this book 4 out of 5 stars.

I received a review copy of Bellevere House, though the opinions in this review are my own.