The Inheritance: Part Three, Chapters 16-24 of 34 (Swell Valley, #1)

by Tilly Bagshawe

[Leah]

Tilly Bagshawe has quickly become one of my favourite authors since I read her novel Fame. It was fantastic and really put Tilly on my to-read map. So I was ridiculously happy to receive a proof copy of her new novel The Inheritance. Tilly has set two novellas in Fittlescombe, One Christmas Morning and One Summer’s Afternoon (I’ve read the former, but not the latter) which I actually only realised after I had read it and went and read the synopses for both. I don’t know if this means this is the start of a new series set around the village – I doubt it, as Tilly’s novels always encapsulate plenty of characters so I don’t know where they’d find more characters to stick in Fittlescombe that we haven’t already met, but we’ll see! As per usual, Tilly has hit the mark once again with her new novel, and I was massively impressed.

The Inheritance is a massive novel – all of Tilly Bagshawe’s novels are – and this one comes in at just over 500 pages and while you might expect a novel of that size to lag somewhere around the middle, Bagshawe is one of those writers that just keeps momentum going through out. There’s a frightening list of characters in the beginning of the novel, which I ignored – if I had read them, it would have put me off the book trying to remember so many different people and where they all came from and who they all knew etc etc etc. There’s also a handy map so you can see where everyone lives in Swell Valley, if you’re so inclined. The novel starts with a bang literally, as Tati Flint-Hamilton bursts onto the scene naked and brandishing a frying pan, and acting a teensy bit like a fishwife. It was a very amusing Prologue, and at that point I wasn’t entirely sure about Tatiana. It’s only once you get to know her that you see that perhaps she’s been given a bad rap – all we know going into the novel is that she’s been disinherited by her father, Rory Flint-Hamilton, who has left Furlings, the Flint-Hamilton’s ancestral home, to a bunch of Aussies. Obviously Tati isn’t happy about that, and decides to do everything in her remit to get her rightful inheritance back.

Bagshawe is easily one of my favourite writers – her third person narratives are always so well done, and she makes you really feel for the characters (be it good or bad) and Tati’s battle with Brett Cranley was spectacular. I was firmly Team Tati, and wanted to see her defeat Brett Cranley HARD. I never warmed to Brett, never saw his appeal, never understood why women were so drawn to him, he just seemed really quite awful – to his son, Jason, to his wife, Angela, it was only his daughter Logan who seemed to get any kindness from him. He was the total villian of the piece and I duly hated him with a passion. A burning passion. And NOT the type of hate that can be mistaken for passion, fyi. I adored Tati, she’s perhaps my favourite of Bagshawe’s characters. I liked how the focus of trying to get back her inheritance forced her to grow up, whether she liked it or not, and I liked even more that as the novel wore on she just grew and grew and grew into this mature young woman turned entrepreneur. It’s as if Tilly took a leaf out of her sister’s playbook, turning Tati into her own woman with her own fortune and it was very nicely played, with the help of Brett Cranley’s son, Jason.

I absolutely flew through The Inheritance. It was such a breeze to be back in the world of high opulence and tons of money and people scheming behind other people’s backs. It’s very satisfying to read about. I don’t know why. It was also interesting to see the fringe characters – some more prominent than others, some I enjoyed more than others, but I liked that the action never strayed too far from where it was meant to be – on Tatiana, on her fight for Furlongs. It’ll be super interesting to see if Bagshawe stays in Swell Valley for her next novel – I wouldn’t mind catching up on Tati and co. but I’m unsure where she would take it – after all, it’s not as if Tati can get more revenge, this isn’t the TV show Revenge after all. I did wish there was a bit more of an ending – I felt it was a bit rushed. If you read 500 pages, what’s an extra 10 or so just to give us that satisfying happy-ever-after Epilogue? I would have really appreciated it because Tilly does generally give us quite decent wrapped up endings, I would have just personally liked a few more pages. This was another stellar read, though, and I can see why it’s being touted as the read of the summer, as I loved it and can’t wait for Tilly’s next offering.