Eden & Honor

The seventh novel in the popular Eden series ( This Other Eden , Eden Rising , etc.) takes the residents of Eden Castle from the waning of the Victorian Age to the outbreak of World War I. In that span, babies are born, grow up, and die; war destroys several lives; and the family splinters. Even staunch fans are likely to be annoyed by John Murrey Eden, an aging, blustering bully with a finger in every pie. He drives his daughter away when her views on women's rights displease him, and fairly thrusts two nieces into marriage by his passionate opposition to the men they love. John also beats the drum for honor in battle despite the sobering example of his half-mad nephew Geoffrey, who returned from the Boer War crippled in body and mind. Harris errs in developing so many promising storylines only to abandon them, dropping characters for hundreds of pages as the book sweeps on toward its melodramatic finale. (Feb.)