The Secret Rooms: A True Story of a Haunted Castle, a Plotting Duchess, and a Family Secret
After the Ninth Duke of Rutland, one of the wealthiest men in Britain, died alone in a cramped room in the servants’ quarters of Belvoir Castle on April 21, 1940, his son and heir ordered the room, which contained the Rutland family archives, sealed. Sixty years later, Catherine Bailey became the...
show more
After the Ninth Duke of Rutland, one of the wealthiest men in Britain, died alone in a cramped room in the servants’ quarters of Belvoir Castle on April 21, 1940, his son and heir ordered the room, which contained the Rutland family archives, sealed. Sixty years later, Catherine Bailey became the first historian given access. What she discovered was a mystery: The Duke had painstakingly erased three periods of his life from all family recordsbut why? As Bailey uncovers the answers, she also provides an intimate portrait of the very top of British society in the turbulent days leading up to World War I.
show less
Format: paperback
ISBN:
9780143124733 (0143124730)
Publish date: 2013-12-31
Publisher: Penguin
Pages no: 512
Edition language: English
Alright, so this is odd - Goodreads and Booklikes and a few others list this book as "The Secret Rooms: A True Gothic Mystery" while Amazon and the library and other places list it as "The Secret Rooms: A True Story of a Haunted Castle, a Plotting Duchess, and a Family Secret." The story flips bet...
Perhaps it is because of all the hype, but I found this book to be less than desired. Bailey discovers that a former lord of the castle has destroyed some correspondances for certain years and sets out to find out why. She can write; it is a galloping read. Yet, I don't quite understand why Viol...
Catherine Bailey arrived at Belvoir Castle in the year of 2008 to research a book about that part of England during the First World War. Upon arriving at the castle she discovered that the Muniment Rooms or "The Secret Rooms" as the servants at the castle had called them was where John, the 9th Duke...
When Catherine Bailey goes to Belvoir Castle in Leicestershire, it was with the intention of writing a book about the impact of World War I, on the Duke of Rutland's estate. Let into rooms that had been closed, the 9th Duke having died in them, she finds a treasure trove of letters and other histor...
Interesting story that went on for far too long. Sadly the last third of the book gets bogged down in WW 1 details that the author uses to slip in the reason for the "secret rooms". While I understand the authors original intent was to write a book about WW 1, she should have picked the Duke or th...
Log in with Facebook 
