High Time: High stakes and high jinx in the world of art and finance

Product Information

I love writing for the 87-year-old Dowager Duchess Clarissa and her brother-in-law Tony, a flamboyant interior designer. They’re wildly un-woke and blurt out the first thing, normally something quite rude, that comes to mind. Her father’s legitimate heirs resent Ayesha, but as she discovers Sleet’s shady dealings she enlists them to help her bring Sleet down. It is high time that Sleet pays for his mistreatment of others. Her investigations takes us deep into the way money is manipulated and misused. Scritto con grande ironia (ed è un gran bene quando si parla di rapporti disfunzionali, altrimenti sai che pesantezza!) i personaggi di Trelawney sono spassosi e pungenti. Curl up and lose yourself in this hugely entertaining satire of a deeply dysfunctional family of aristocrats desperate to save their crumbling Cornwall home.' iNews Jilly Cooper fans (and who isn't?) will love the unashamedly upmarket settings and posh characters. A romcom to beat the winter blues: funny, sharply- observed and boho-chic glamorous.' Wendy Holden, Daily Mail

Hannah Rothschild contains multitudes. In addition to formerly serving as chairwoman of London’s National Gallery, she’s also an active philanthropist, documentary filmmaker, writer, and Commander of the British Empire. Her first book, 2012’s The Baroness—later adapted by Rothschild into a television film called The Jazz Baroness—explored the life of her fascinating great-aunt Pannonica, who left behind a title and family to move to New York and become a lover, patroness, and muse to the jazz musician Thelonious Monk. Since then, Rothschild has focused her gimlet-eyed observations on sending up the British aristocracy: Whether in her lacerating and award-winning satire of the art world, 2015’s The Improbability of Love, or her more recent comedy of manners House of Trelawney (2020) , Rothschild’s gift for portraiture and willingness to turn anything (and anyone) into a joke make her a joy to read. But it isn’t all laughs: The books take place nearly a decade apart, capturing both the 2008 economic crash and the Brexit referendum through the eyes of a single family. In both, Rothschild deftly navigates the private moments, intimate discussions, and tragedy that befall the Trelawneys. The art expert chat is always a triumph. What more can I say? It's my Book of the Year already.¹ BARBARA TRAPIDO Hannah Rothschild is the author of House of Trelawney; The Baroness: The Search for Nica, the Rebellious Rothschild; and The Improbability of Love which was shortlisted for the Bailley's prize for womens' fiction and won the PG Wodehouse, Everyman, Bollinger prize for best comic novel in 2016.

Advance Praise

The perfectly named, utterly repulsive character Thomlinson Sleet dominates these books, affecting if not outright destroying the lives of the Trelawneys in various ways. He is spiteful, boorish, thin-skinned, and worth billions. What was the inspiration behind such a villain, and who would you want to play him in a movie?

Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor/NetGalley. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary. Snappy and sexy - Hannah Rothschild has written a racy rural satire on the decline of the English aristocracy which captures the spirit of our times. Witty and irreverent - but never without the human touch.' Lionel Barber, Editor Financial Times

The Baroness traces Nica's extraordinary, thrilling journey – from England's stately homes to the battlefields of Africa, passing under the shadow of the Holocaust, and finally to the creative ferment of the New York jazz scene. Hannah Rothschild's search to solve the mystery of her rebellious great aunt draws on their long friendship and years of meticulous research and interviews. It is part musical odyssey, part dazzling love story. Hannah Rothschild Steps Down As Chair of Trustees at London's National Gallery", Art Forum, 20 June 2019. Hannah Mary Rothschild, a descendant of the banking dynasty, published her first nonfiction “The Baroness,” a story about a great-aunt who deserted her family to become a patron of jazz. By contrast, the author’s debut novel, The Improbability of Love is a cheery, bumpy satire of the corruption and consumption in the London art world. This is a beautiful fiction ideal for readers who find Downton Abbey, (the historical period drama TV series) too bleakly realistic. A Rothschild by birth and a Baroness by marriage, beautiful, spirited Pannonica – known as Nica – seemed to have it all: children, a handsome husband and a trust fund. But in the early 1950s she heard a piece by the jazz legend Thelonious Monk. The music overtook her like a magic spell, and she abandoned her marriage to go and find him. A PEOPLE BEST NEW BOOK • An outlandish comedy of morals and manners about a highborn British family of outrageous characters, by the acclaimed author of The Improbability of Love and House of Trelawney •“A joy to read.”— Vogue