Cashelmara

Summary (from the publisher): Cashelmara - at once beautiful and frightening - is the great house that dominates the Irish estates of the de Salis family, obsessing them from generation to generation, dominating their lives and fortunes, irresistibly drawing them away from the quiet and settled world of mid-Victorian English aristocracy into the violence, passion and danger or Ireland.

For Edward, a stern and vigorous widower, Cashelmara is merely a perplexing responsibility, the most troublesome and least profitable portion of his lands, a quiet backwater to which he can bring the young American woman who has become the wife of his old age, and where he can shelve the insoluble problem of his restless, charming and turbulent son Patrick's future. Ruling Cashelmara as he does his family, with an iron grip and a sense of justice, Edward imposes order on a tenantry that is at once impoverished and embittered, hostile yet respectful to the great Lord de Salis....

For Patrick, Cashelmara is the symbol of his freedom, of childhood days away from Edward's stern paternal hand. Weak where his father was strong, generous and self-indulgent to an uncontrollable degree, given to passionate friendships and unshakable though misplaced loyalties, Patrick, too, brings a young American wife to Cashelmara. But it is a very different house from his father's, for she allowed his friends - first the ambitious and amiable Roderick Stranahan, then the sinister and unscrupulous Hugh MacGowan - to dominate his life and manage his lands; he has plunged himself hopelessly into debt until Cashelmara, once merely one of the many de Salis possessions, is his one remaining asset and his only home.

Review: Cashelmara is a great family saga set in Ireland beginning in 1859 and following the lives and turmoil of the de Salis family. The novel is composed of five parts, each from a different family member's perspective and covers three generations and over 30 years of family history. As indicated by the choice of title, the family's Irish estate, Cashelmara, is the central point of the novel, however, portions of the book also take place in England and America. 

The novel opens with Edward, a widower who marries an American girl, Marguerite. Edward is succeeded by his wayward son, Patrick, who also marries an American girl, Sarah, but who is given to questionable relationships with male "friends." The final generation detailed is that of Ned, Patrick's son.

I was not surprised to learn that Cashelmara was a best seller around the time it was published in 1974. Family sagas were popular during that time period (i.e. The Thorn Birds, and on television, Dallas and Dynasty). However, unlike some best sellers, this one is still appealing several decades later and I highly enjoyed the exploits of the de Salis family. I particularly liked the shifting perspective that allowed insight into multiple characters. This function also allowed the story to continue beyond the life of one individual family member.

However, I was surprised to realize that Cashelmara is a recreation of the life of Edward I, II, and III of England from fourteenth century England. All of the characters in the novel corresponded with a historical equivalent. For example, Derry Stranahan is based on Piers Gaveston, lover of Edward II, Maxwell Drummond represents Queen Isabella's lover Roger Mortimer, etc. I don't think I would ever have guessed or thought to make this connection were it not for the short historical quotes referencing the historical figures at the beginning of each of the five parts of the novel. However, not noticing or making this connection would not in any way diminish the enjoyment of the novel or the family's saga. I do question why Howatch choose to mirror fourteenth century British history during the 1800s and in Ireland. It was an interesting writing choice, and did provide her with a ready made plot, and it functioned much better than other similar attempts I've come across, such as A Thousand Acres, which attempts to recreate King Lear. 

Stars: 4