PRO CONNECT
Gwyn Parry is Welsh, German, American, and something else or other. He lives, somewhat less grandly than Chesterfield and Carrie, in the Finger Lakes wine country. With The Chesterfield Hours named to a Kirkus Reviews' Best of 2012 list, he's now begun work on a Chesterfield & Carrie amateur-sleuth-team murder mystery, set around their estate above Canandaigua Lake.
He also has been working for some time on a grittier, multi-volume Upstate tale, centered on a bloody sex rivalry involving various Celtic-blooded characters, male and female, Catholic and Protestant. With due respect given to Mr. Kennedy's work on Old Albany, and Mr. Russo's on the river valley towns, GP's belief is that THE WRONG 'UN will prove the essential literary depiction of Upstate New York.
GP's major influences run from Mark Twain to P.G. Wodehouse to Ford Madox Ford.
“...sparkling... Literate, funny, and romantic... The only unsatisfying feature of Parry's debut is that it ends.”
– Kirkus Reviews
This lighthearted, sparkling novel presents the adventures, romantic and otherwise, of a man, his dog, his mother’s ghost and other assorted characters.
Schoolteacher Chesterfield is a man satisfied with life: His parents and his dog are “in super fettle,” his sixth-graders are doing well and he’s happily married. Or so he thinks, until the “one rummy morning” his wife, Deborah, (having grown impatient of Chesterfield’s low pay and despairing of his ever inheriting the perhaps-mythical family fortune) leaves him for newly rich Benedict Hoepplewhite, “mortgage broker, wife-stealer and cur.” This sets in motion a series of events, including an aborted revenge attempt, tenure struggles at Chesterfield’s school, wrongdoings at a fitness club, a new romance with a pretty kindergarten teacher and not a little heroism. Then there’s his mother’s death and reappearance as a ghost, her arrival signaled by the tinkling of ice cubes in her ever-present drink. In these adventures, Chesterfield is joined by “the smashingest girl ever, name of Carrie Hahn, and the stellar dog Daisy, who sniffs out villains a mile away, and the lioness-hearted ‘gym-chick’ Jeanine, who carried the day when I fell wounded, and who made a man of my gormless pal Larry.” Chesterfield—whose American father was “the fightingest blood and guts Marine of his day”—talks like someone out of P.G. Wodehouse. It’s because, he says, his father was always out of the country, while his British mother “spoke the language and ethic that I breathed in: ‘There never was a time like good King Edward’s, dear. For fun, for peace, and for talk. It was Shakespeare and Elizabeth with proper drains and no bear-baiting.’ ” Even in Britain, Chesterfield’s what-ho slang would probably be out of date, but no matter; it’s fun. Chesterfield’s gentlemanly ethic includes not initiating his divorce (“only a swine” would do that) and declining to entrap Hoepplewhite, finally wishing him no harm: “I sensed approval by the good old Anglican deity who made dogs and trout streams, has humour, and stands like a Gentleman mostly out of the way.” Literate, funny and romantic, with amusing comments on American culture, this novel has its heart in the right place.
The only unsatisfying feature of Parry’s debut is that it ends.
Pub Date: Aug. 11, 2015
ISBN: 9780692517543
Page count: 260pp
Publisher: Once Upon Avon Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2012
Day job
none
Favorite author
Ford Madox Ford
Favorite book
PARADE'S END
Favorite line from a book
"No words from an admired lady, not even 'Come hither,' are more compelling to the gentleman than 'Go do your duty.' Perhaps 'Come hither and do your duty.'"
Favorite word
bilge
Hometown
Avon, NY
Passion in life
The air, trees, waters, hills, creatures, people, wines, and cuisine of the Finger Lakes. And my girl Margarite.
Unexpected skill or talent
Operating Roku
THE CHESTERFIELD HOURS: Named to Kirkus Reviews' Best Books, 2012
THE CHESTERFIELD HOURS: Named to Kirkus Reviews' Best Books
THE CHESTERFIELD HOURS: Kirkus Star
THE CHESTERFIELD HOURS: Named to Kirkus Reviews' Best Books
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Hey there, book lover.
We’re glad you found a book that interests you!
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Don’t fret. We’ll find you.