March 10

Belgravia

By Julian Fellowes

Sometimes it's a treat to read a book that's not trying to teach a lesson, but is just good, well-researched historical fiction.  

Julian Fellowes, the writer of "Downton Abbey", really knows the nuances of the English class system and he also writes knowingly of the foibles of human nature in this society romance that opens in Belgium on the eve of Waterloo but takes place mostly in Belgravia, an up-and-coming London neighborhood, in the mid-19th century. The story revolves around a young man whose father dies in the Battle of Waterloo and his mother dies in childbirth 9 months later.   We meet the people who make up his family - lots of drama and mis-steps throughout - but a satisfying ending.  Fellowes provides many historical details about life in the various social classes and various trades in England.