Reviews: The Glorious Guinness Girls: A story of the scandals and secrets of the famous society girls (2)

This was certainly an easy and entertaining read but I feel that a true biography of the Guinness Girls would be even more fascinating, all the more because it would be true. Did not know until the end of the book which characters were invented and which were not. Probably should have read the blurb in a bit more detail before requesting this from Netgalley but thank you for the preview.

The Glorious Guinness Girls of the title are Aileen, Maureen and Oonagh Guinness - the Granddaughters of the first Earl of Iveagh. And this heart-breaking saga tells of their lives over a twelve year period through the eyes of their fictional cousin, Felicity (Fliss) Burke. The story commences in 1918, when Fliss is sent to live with her rich and famous relatives after her father dies during WWI. The story is narrated by Fliss initially telling of her introduction to the Guinness family and their lives together, along with the ‘present day’, (1978) when she revisits their former home to retrieve a number of their documents are discovered in the attic.
Once she arrives at the North House/Glenmarron (one of several homes owned by the Guinness family in Dublin), Fliss begins to miss her mother and in particular her brother Hughie. She will be educated with the daughters and raised with them but will remain a step apart. Fliss soon realises that in order to survive, she will need to forgot her old self and forge a new identity.
The character of Fliss performs several functions in the storyline - not only the narrator but also she helps the reader to negotiates the alien world of the upper classes in the 1920's and 30's of Dublin and London. Indeed, looking back now, it seems shocking that the 3 daughters remained so unaware of the feelings of dissention and civil war brewing on their doorstep. Only Fliss appeared to have any semblance of the world outside and this is largely due to her relationship with her brother Hughie and concern for his welfare. Of course, these attitudes were typical of the time when young girls were expected to keep collections of flowers, learn to sing and certainly not to question politics.
Now, in 2021, I cannot but feel a great sense of relief that women have progressed so far – undoubtedly we have a long road yet to travel – but certainly in comparison to 10921, the rights of women have improved hugely.
One favourite aspect of the book was the appearance of historical figures such as which helped to bring an element of reality to the story. I did often feel that while enjoyable, the factual aspects were somewhat lost as Fliss was the narrator and also a fictional character.A heart