It would have been Margaret Kennedy’s birthday today and she is the next author to be featured in Jane’s Birthday Book of Underappreciated Lady Authors. Having only read three Margaret Kennedy novels – The Constant Nymph, Lucy Carmichael and Troy Chimneys – I still have a lot of her books to choose from, but I decided on The Feast for this year’s Margaret Kennedy Day as I’ve seen several people name it as a favourite. Now that I’ve read it myself I can understand why!
The Feast was published in 1950 and is set three years earlier, in the summer of 1947. The novel follows a week in the lives of a group of guests who are staying at Pendizack Hotel on the coast of Cornwall. The week will end in tragedy when part of the cliff collapses on the hotel, killing everyone inside. This is not a spoiler because the book opens with a prologue in which we see the Reverend Bott attempting to write a sermon in memory of the dead. We also know that there will be some survivors – but the identities of those who will live and those who will die won’t be revealed until the end of the book.
The hotel is owned by the Siddals, although it’s Mrs Siddal who does all the work while her lazy husband does nothing at all and their three sons, now adults, make their own plans for the future. The housekeeper, Mrs Ellis, is a bitter, resentful woman who spends most of her time gossiping about other people, so the Siddals are relying more and more on the maid, Nancibel, a friendly, kind-hearted local girl.
The guests are a varied and not particularly pleasant group of people. They include Sir Henry Gifford, his selfish wife and their four children (three of whom are adopted); Mrs Cove, a cold and heartless woman who has very little affection for her three neglected daughters; the Paleys, a couple whose marriage has been strained since the loss of their child several years earlier; bad-tempered, overbearing Canon Wraxton and his long-suffering daughter Evangeline; Anna Lechene, an unscrupulous, irresponsible writer who is working on a new book about the Brontës, and her chauffeur, a handsome young man called Bruce who tells lies to make himself sound more interesting.
I was aware before I started the book that Margaret Kennedy had based the personalities of some of her characters on the Seven Deadly Sins and this added an extra layer of interest as I matched up different characters with different sins as I read. There are some obvious villains in the novel – Mrs Cove, Lady Gifford and Canon Wraxton are particularly nasty – but others have a mixture of good and bad qualities. I knew which characters I wanted to survive and which I didn’t, but life is not always fair and people don’t always get what they deserve, so there was still an element of suspense as the story moved towards its tragic conclusion.
I loved following the lives of the Siddals, their guests and their servants. Bearing in mind that the whole story takes place over the course of just seven days, there’s an impressive amount of character development with people making life-changing decisions, searching for happiness and taking control of their own futures. With over twenty characters all playing important roles in the novel, some authors would have struggled to make each man, woman and child different and memorable, but Margaret Kennedy succeeds and the result is a really enjoyable and absorbing read. It’s probably my favourite of her books so far – although I did love Troy Chimneys as well!
She Reads Novels 
This is the only Kennedy I’ve read so far, but I thought it was marvellous! 🙂
I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Kennedy so far, so I think you have a lot to look forward to!
I haven’t heard of this author but love the sound of the book. I might check this one out.
I only discovered her books a few years ago myself, but I’ve now read four and enjoyed them all. It’s a shame she’s not very well known these days.
So glad you enjoyed The Feast I absolutely loved it too. Such a great cast of characters.
I was impressed by how well drawn and memorable each character was, considering there were so many of them in the story. I’m glad you loved it too.
You have hit on all the reasons on why I loved The Feast! Jane too had introduced me to Margaret Kennedy and then I become a convert! I think she is very underappreciated and The Feast is a testimony to her brilliance and mastery of craft! Now I want to go back and re-read it again! Thank You for a great review!
Yes, The Feast is a great book! I’m sure I will want to read it again one day too. Jane has introduced me to a lot of new authors I now love. Margery Sharp is another. 🙂
I skimmed your review as I hope to read this one soon-ish, but you’ve just reminded me that I bought a copy of Troy Chimneys and haven’t got around to reading it yet.
I hope you enjoy whichever book you start with, whether it’s this one or Troy Chimneys. I loved both, so I don’t think you can go wrong!
I liked Troy Chimneys, too. I’ll have to look for this one.
This book and Troy Chimneys are very different, but I think I enjoyed this one even more.
Ooh, a book with characters based on the seven deadly sins! Sounds deadly.
The seven deadly sins theme is quite subtle, but once I knew it was there I found it really fascinating!
I knew I wouldn’t be able to participate in Margaret Kennedy’s birthday on Jane’s list – but how I wish I had managed it! This sounds perfect – especially with that Cornish connection. I have yet to read any of Kennedy’s books despite hearing nothing but good things about her. This one is likely to be where I’ll start!
I’ve managed to join in with most of the authors on Jane’s list so far, but will catch up with the ones I miss at a later date. I think The Feast would be the perfect place for you to start with Margaret Kennedy, especially with the Cornish setting.
I plan to catch up too, Helen, and I’m well on the way with my Monica Dickens book which is the next name on Jane’s list.