Belgravia is a 2016 novel by Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey. (Which does not bode well for its quality or historical accuracy.) Next year it will be adapted into a miniseries.
The main plot takes place in 1840s London. But it's shaped by events that happened years earlier, in Belgium shortly before the Battle of Waterloo. The story revolves around a scandal involving two very different families, and the different ways they try to deal with it or cover it up.
I started this book not expecting much. Everyone knows how Downton Abbey turned into a train-wreck, and honestly that "From the author of Downton Abbey" logo on the cover made me reluctant to read it. When I finished the first chapter I thought, "Well, it's not too bad so far. Might as well continue." I continued to read. I finished the book. And when I finished it I was left with a new conviction: Julian Fellowes is unable to write anything consistently good.
Belgravia, much like Downton, starts out a fairly decent period drama. It's not the greatest, but it's not absolute trash. I enjoyed the first two or three chapters. Then, like Downton, the quality deteriorates. Rapidly. Before long the plot became a shambling mess, the characters lost any realism they had, and I only read on to see how it ended. I skipped whole scenes to get to the resolution.
Surprisingly the book manages an unforeseen and actually interesting twist near the end: the discovery that the scandal didn't actually exist. Not in the way everyone thought it did, anyway. That was the only thing I didn't see coming. Everything else was predictable. A predictable plot isn't always a bad thing, but it's certainly not going to keep a reader interested for long.
The resolution of the villains' subplots is the part I hated most. John tried to murder Charles, and he gets off scot-free. All right, so he's in financial difficulties, but that's hardly any retribution for all his vileness. Susan outright gets rewarded for her sins. Oliver is an absolute idiot who stirs up trouble out of petty jealousy... and he gets rewarded too. Argh!
I can safely say I will never reread this book. And it's extremely unlikely I'll bother to watch the miniseries. There are far better period drama to read and watch.
Is it available online?: Not as far as I know.
Rating: 2/10.
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