Great historical fiction.

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.
Something in us loves the big family sagas. They capture the imagination and whet a reader’s (or a viewer’s) appetite. Perhaps because of the juiciness of soap opera but with a layer of class that we can disguise the real reason by the veneer of “art appreciation”. No, no, I’m not watching soap; I’m watching Dame Maggie Smith. It’s culture. It’s on PBS. They have accents. No, no, this is not a romance book. Do you see one of those semi naked couples standing in the wind on the cover? It’s literature.
It helps, and usually it’s a given, that the family in question is rich or becomes rich (or battles to stay rich) over the course of the story. There can be another family in opposition or alongside the center family, but money matters. Who wants to read about three generations of outhouse makers?
The title family of this book, the Rocheforts are not cheese makers. They are capitalists, except when they’re not. The family starts by producing demine and like all families in these types of stories there is a deep, dark secret that involves illicit going ons. Of course, there is a mirror family, who has less money but more character (and quite frankly, is more interesting because the girls in that family actually do something besides look pretty). The novel chronicles how the families become connected, disconnected, and interact.
It isn’t the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s.
It’s a strange book because it is largely telling and not showing; additionally, any reader who pays attention knows the deep dark secret before the action gets going and keeps waiting for the knuckleheads in the book to figure it out (because honestly, it feels like it is surrounded by neon lights so why can’t the characters see it). Yet, for all that, there is something compelling about the book. Perhaps it is seeing how the lives of the minor characters, such as Louise who eventually becomes more than the sinned against wife, end up. Perhaps it is because of the emphasis on history, which at times comes across far livelier than the family. Whatever it is, this unknown factor keeps the reader going to the end, past a ten year old who doesn’t act like a ten year old and two brothers are closer in cruelty than they think, or even some words and phrases that seem out place for the time period (this could be a translation issue). In many ways, it seems like the book is trying to be a French or Industrial version of Downton Abbey; it would make a nice mini-series.
In short, while not the best family saga out there, it is a pleasant enough way to spend a few hours.

This was a great story of family and legacy. I enjoyed the setting in France, along with details of the Rochefort business--manufacturing denim and silk. The end seemed rushed, though. I wish the events from the last few chapters had started to unfold earlier in the book.