{"product_id":"9781448203598","title":"A Family and a Fortune","description":"Edwin Muir wrote of Ivy Compton-Burnett in the Observer: 'Her literary abilities have been abundantly acknowledged by the majority of her literary contemporaries. Her intense individuality has removed her from the possibility of rivalry. .. . She takes as her theme the tyrannies and internecine battles of English family life in leisured well-conducted country houses. To Miss Compton-Burnett the family conflict is intimate, unrelenting, very often indecisive and fought out mainly in conversation. . . . The passions which bring distress to her country houses have recently devastated continents.'\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTo present an image of this totally unique writer, we have to imagine a Jane Austen writing, in the present day, Greek prose tragedies (in which the wicked generally triumph) on late Victorian themes. First published in 1939, \u003ci\u003eA Family of a Fortune\u003c\/i\u003e conveys, largely through dialogue (which may be subtle, humorous, envenomed, or tragic), the effects of death and inheritance on the house of Gaveston - in particular on the relations between Edgar and his selfless younger brother, Dudley. This, apart from the embittered character of Matilda Seaton, is her kindliest novel.","brand":"Bloomsbury USA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47155433406704,"sku":"9781448203598","price":5.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781448203598_p0.jpg?v=1763827112","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781448203598","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}