Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Set in 18th century Derbyshire in northern England, The Temple of Optimism is a cross between a Jane Austen novel and Tom Stoppard's Arcadia: a wonderful comedy of country life, with a pair of star-crossed lovers who are united in the final pages, against extraordinary odds. There is a spectacular villain: Sir Anthony Apreece, who sets out to swindle a young landowner, Edward Horne, who has recently inherited a country estate bordering his. There is fox-hunting, dramatic death, financial speculation, gossip, village intrigue, country house life, and unlikely love. It is like reading Jane Austen through a 20th Century filter - affectionate, ironic, tender; but what is most remarkable is the writing, which is sophisticated and joyously alive. This is a novel which will succeed by word-of-mouth, and we can capitalize on the superb reviews it is bound to receive in the UK.