Ned Only

I approached this novel with a certain amount of bias, having greatly enjoyed The Queen of the Pharisees' Children. I was not disappointed. This is a story which involves the reader from the first and my sympathies were always completely with Ned Only, the central character. The arduous life of servants in a seventeenth-century house is clearly painted, yet there is no sense of a faceless mass of wretchedly toiling individuals - each is firmly a character in his/her own right. Ned's involvement in the developing and illicit relationship between Miss Felicity, niece of Sir Joshua, and Mr Ransom, tutor to his son, gives him undreamed-of opportunities to fulfil his potential and, in some measure, become master of his own life. One of those rate books which will appeal to both sexes -- a challenging and rewarding experience for a third-year reader.