The Heir
The Heir, by Barbara Taylor Bradford. Fail on so many levels. 
How shall I start this? I had major issues with the protagonist.
1. The various characters--his mistress, his wife, his mother--say that he's a good father/man, and so on and so forth. Fine.
a) However, he blows up into massive tempers at his brother George, who is obviously crazed.
b) When your wife spreads a bad story that she genuinely believes is true and then you go home, get right into her face and scream at her, threatening to cut her off from "her whole world" by sending her away, that does not make you a good man. That makes you:
i. an idiot for not, oh, maybe considering that there's another side to the argument?
ii. a person who can't control his temper. Which he is, but that's not what the author's trying to do.
Note: Predictably, she finds out the real story and gets all teary and begs for forgiveness.
It's fine if you want to make disagreeable protagonists (Heathcliff, I'm looking at you). But if you consistently call them good and kind and in general a Marty Stu you may want them to actually, you know, act like a nice person.
2. Elizabeth, the protagonist's wife (his name's Edward, by the way) is is always saying the wrong thing.
a) Oh, that doesn't make her shallow, thank you very much. Saying the wrong thing makes you tactless or clueless, maybe (and it happens only once) but certainly not vindictive or shallow.
b) Edward, did you consider the reason why your wife is jealous is because you've got a mistress? One that everyone knows about?
c) Telling your wife that she's lucky that you aren't a womanizer is not going to solve the problem of carrying on an extramarital affair. So you've only got one mistress? That's called adultery. Especially if you are a Roman Catholic in the early 20th century.
3. Elizabeth became "more mellow" or whatever after her pregnancy (more of a perfect wife, doesn't say tactless things, and so on), and I RAGED. Keep women barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen? Thanks, but no.
4. I think this author has issues with characterization: one of the characters is all nice and kind and suddenly, BAM they were a tyrant in the business. No explanation offered and I can't be bothered to read further. What is said about characters does not match up with their actions, and the people in question aren't stupid, either.
5. I do not need to know exactly what they had for dinner. I do not need to have every inch of their clothes scrutinized. I do not need your history infodumps, thank you very much! I hate it when historical novels assume you're an idiot.
6. I was starting to nitpick everything after a bit, so this may be YMMV: If your book is set in the Edwardian era, and you have Elizabeths (two of them), Edwards, Richards, divorced mistress....hello?! For a while I wondered if the author had gotten the last name wrong or something--they are the Deravenels. (And the part later about Harry wanting to but unable to marry an Anne, who then names her daughter Elizabeth--very cutesy, but aargh! We get it.)
tl;dr
Fail in characterization, in justifying your protagonist. (Another gorgeous cover wasted.)
Thoughts? Someone tell me they enjoyed it, please...or that her other books are better?
How shall I start this? I had major issues with the protagonist.
1. The various characters--his mistress, his wife, his mother--say that he's a good father/man, and so on and so forth. Fine.
a) However, he blows up into massive tempers at his brother George, who is obviously crazed.
b) When your wife spreads a bad story that she genuinely believes is true and then you go home, get right into her face and scream at her, threatening to cut her off from "her whole world" by sending her away, that does not make you a good man. That makes you:
i. an idiot for not, oh, maybe considering that there's another side to the argument?
ii. a person who can't control his temper. Which he is, but that's not what the author's trying to do.
Note: Predictably, she finds out the real story and gets all teary and begs for forgiveness.
It's fine if you want to make disagreeable protagonists (Heathcliff, I'm looking at you). But if you consistently call them good and kind and in general a Marty Stu you may want them to actually, you know, act like a nice person.
2. Elizabeth, the protagonist's wife (his name's Edward, by the way) is is always saying the wrong thing.
a) Oh, that doesn't make her shallow, thank you very much. Saying the wrong thing makes you tactless or clueless, maybe (and it happens only once) but certainly not vindictive or shallow.
b) Edward, did you consider the reason why your wife is jealous is because you've got a mistress? One that everyone knows about?
c) Telling your wife that she's lucky that you aren't a womanizer is not going to solve the problem of carrying on an extramarital affair. So you've only got one mistress? That's called adultery. Especially if you are a Roman Catholic in the early 20th century.
3. Elizabeth became "more mellow" or whatever after her pregnancy (more of a perfect wife, doesn't say tactless things, and so on), and I RAGED. Keep women barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen? Thanks, but no.
4. I think this author has issues with characterization: one of the characters is all nice and kind and suddenly, BAM they were a tyrant in the business. No explanation offered and I can't be bothered to read further. What is said about characters does not match up with their actions, and the people in question aren't stupid, either.
5. I do not need to know exactly what they had for dinner. I do not need to have every inch of their clothes scrutinized. I do not need your history infodumps, thank you very much! I hate it when historical novels assume you're an idiot.
6. I was starting to nitpick everything after a bit, so this may be YMMV: If your book is set in the Edwardian era, and you have Elizabeths (two of them), Edwards, Richards, divorced mistress....hello?! For a while I wondered if the author had gotten the last name wrong or something--they are the Deravenels. (And the part later about Harry wanting to but unable to marry an Anne, who then names her daughter Elizabeth--very cutesy, but aargh! We get it.)
tl;dr
Fail in characterization, in justifying your protagonist. (Another gorgeous cover wasted.)
Thoughts? Someone tell me they enjoyed it, please...or that her other books are better?