cover image Thy Father's House

Thy Father's House

Monique Raphel High. Delacorte Press, $0 (361pp) ISBN 978-0-385-29558-1

In the early decades of the 20th century, Chateau La Folie is the center of the universe to the de Rochefleurs, a rich banking family of European Jews. Angered when his father casually deeds the beloved mansion to his impoverished Aunt Yvonne, Alfred de Rochefleur spends years plotting to redress the loss. In his turn, Yvonne's weak and gorgeous son Charles determines to regain La Folie's graced portals by marrying Alfred's horsey daughter Anne, although his heart belongs to another cousin, the beautiful Amelia. When the winds of war begin to blow through Europe, the de Rochefleurs barely miss a beat in their intricate family dance of passion and greed, mistakenly believing that their titled position will save them from Hitler's predations. While Anne hides refugees, and her son Alexis smuggles arms to the Resistance, Charles works at cross-purposes to both, amassing a bitter legacy that will devastate them all. Many of the scenes depicting the Nazi regime's impact on daily life and ordinary citizens are quietly riveting, but the novel's focus on a few shallow and selfish characters diminishes its appeal. High also wrote The Keeper of the Walls. (August)