The Uninvited Guests: A Novel

By Sadie Jones

“The opening pages read like an episode of Downton Abbey…But Jones has something more uncanny in mind, and when the party is interrupted by survivors of a nearby train wreck, the comedy of manners turns downright surreal…Jones’s effervescent writing keeps the course steady-even as her characters shed their civilized veneers.” — Ellen Shapiro, People magazine (four star review)

A grand old manor house deep in the English countryside will open its doors to reveal the story of an unexpectedly dramatic day in the life of one eccentric, rather dysfunctional, and entirely unforgettable family. Set in the early years of the twentieth century, award-winning author Sadie Jones’s The Uninvited Guests is, in the words of Jacqueline Winspear, the New York Times bestselling author of the Maisie Dobbs mysteries A Lesson in Secrets and Elegy for Eddie, “a sinister tragi-comedy of errors, in which the dark underbelly of human nature is revealed in true Shakespearean fashion.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: May 1, 2012
• ISBN: 9780062116536

Sadie Jones

Sadie Jones is the author of five novels, including The Outcast, winner of the Costa First Novel Award in Great Britain and a finalist for the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Los Angeles TimesBook Prize/Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction; the enchanting, hard-hitting novel set on the island of Cyprus during the British occupation, Small Wars; her most successful, bestselling novel The Uninvited Guests, beloved of Ann Patchett and Jackie Winspear, among other; the romantic novel set in London's glamorous theatre world, Fallout; and most recently, the highly acclaimed, bestselling novel, The Snakes. Sadie Jones lives in London.  

Reviews for The Uninvited Guests

[helenliz_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This started out really well and at about 2/3rds distance just completely went off the rails and ended in, for me, a disappointing mess. Set in a well to do house, pre-WW1, that's clearly fallen on bad times, it takes place on Emerald's 20th birthday. Her step father is off on business, trying to save them from losing the house while she has guests over for a dinner party. So there's a fair amount of to-do, what with the guests arriving and one of the housemaids being off ill. There's also a fair amount of family angst going in, with Emerald's brother Clovis being a typical bothersome brother and their younger sister Imogen (Smudge) who seems to be poorly. Clovis is sent to the station to collect patience & her brother Ernest from the station, only they end up being gone a long time, returning with the nes that there's been a train accident on the branchline and that the railway need to send the passengers up to the house to shelter. Emerald manages to be the level headed mature one, while her mother seems to shrink from the passengers and is quite cruel and rather snobbish. Then a further guests appears and the front door and promptly invites himself to dinner, claiming acquaintance with Charlotte (the mother). He is clearly a bounder and a cad, but is older and so manages to overwhelm by sheer force of personality the other males at the dinner party. things get increasingly out of hand, with the number of stranded passengers seeming to increase and become more and more demanding and unruly. All the while, Smudge embarks on her great undertaking (which is just brilliantly funny and I really won't give that away). And it's somewhere here that it goes wrong for me. Emerald & the younger members of the party come good and rally round to aid the passengers, while Charlotte goes all self centered and shuts herself away. Then the caddish passenger who's infiltrated the party introduces a game that turns really quite nasty, resulting in revelations about Charlotte's youth that do not reflect well on her. And then the bombshell hits (spoiler time) and the guests is revealed as a ghost who's died in the train accident, only his proximity and strong passions for Charlotte cause him to materialise and drags the other dead souls with him. And so it limps on to the end becoming ever more far fetched, and the ending is completely unsatisfactorily resolved. So Its 4 stars for the first 2/3rds but the final section drops that score to a merely Ok 2 because I was so disappointed in it. If it had been sustained it would have been a stonking good book.

[ixachel · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I wanted to read The Uninvited Guests from the moment I heard about the book. Imagine my joy, then, when I won an advance reader copy on Goodreads!Sadie Jones' The Uninvited Guests introduces us to the eccentric, dysfunctional Torrington-Swift family. There is the self-centered Charlotte Torrington-Swift, her doting second husband Edward Swift, and the three children of her previous marriage: Clovis, Emerald, and Imogen (aka Smudge). They live at Stern, a stately manor in the English countryside, but financial issues could mean them losing it. Edward is off to secure funds to save the home while those left behind celebrate Emeralds twentieth birthday. Then, disaster. A train accident sends some restless uninvited guests their way, including one Charles Traversham-Beechers. He claims to know of Charlotte's past, and he may just be wicked enough to reveal it.Of all the characters, the most likeable may be Emerald, the capable yet resigned-to-her-fate birthday girl, followed closely by her odd and neglected sister Smudge. Clovis is quite the snob, and Charlotte an absent and vain mother. We also meet the Swift-Torrington housekeepers Myrtle and Florence, and the guests invited to Emeralds soiree: John Buchanan, Ernest and Patience Sutton, and, of course, Charles Traversham-Beechers. They range from the bland to the vicious, though some change their tune by the books end.The story itself is very entertaining and well written. Told in third-persons, the narration is funny, witty, and just a bit quirky. I found myself laughing on quite a few occassions. Many that books that claim to be humorous satire rarely hit their mark for me, but this book had its true laugh-out-loud moments. Though a satire, a comedy of manners, the bigger message of the novel is not lost. We see the worst brought out in these society folk, both in how they treat each other and how they treat those they believe are beneath them. But we also see them grow and learn. Some, as I've mentioned, mature greatly through the novel and are changed for the better by the experience.This book is clever, funny, and thoroughly entertaining. I recommend it to anyone who enjoys satirical novels, and anyone who wants a good look at human nature at its best and worst. Or just anyone looking for a wildly adventurous and truly bizarre tale.

[nosajeel · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The writing is light, delightful, witty, and perceptive from the first page of this comedy of manners. Which is a good thing because it carries it through much of the first third of the book which drags somewhat as the high expectations build but never reach fruition. But then the mock turtle soup breaks, spills all over the floor, and inaugurates a new and even more enthralling phase of the book.

The Unwanted Guests is set in England in 1912 and is an upstair-downstairs comedy, although the downstairs is somewhat reduced by the financial state of the family. It takes place in a 24-hour period that is meant to be a birthday party, and potential betrothal, for the daughter but goes badly awry when the third class passengers, plus one ostensible first class passenger, from a nearby train wreck show up for shelter. The increasingly noisy, ungrateful and apparently ever multiplying guests eat their way through everything as they spread around the house.

Against this backdrop, it is a Shakespeare-esque story in which the normal rules are suspended for a night, roles are reversed, unlikely romances form, discoveries are made, but all is restored by the daylight.

Overall, The Unwanted Guests is well-executed, unique, and mostly an enjoyable read--and it is even more enjoyable in retrospect.

[anissaannalise-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I read this because I was in need of a Downton Abby-esque fix until the program returns later this year. This did the job & also had an unexpected dash of Twilight Zone making me enjoy it just a little more.

Emerald Torrington is to celebrate her twentieth birthday with a couple close friends & her family but one interruption after another distract. Clovis, her brother, is almost wholly unhelpful & unbearable. Smudge (Imogen), her little sister, is hatching an epic plan & Charlotte, her mother, is infuriatingly deliberately vague & vacant. Charlotte has her own little disaster as it turns out. Her social standing is on the brink & the family being a bit cash poor is straining that even more. Her second husband, Edward, has left to go seek a loan to make things right to Charlotte's mind, so he's absent for much of this story. Toss in Emerald's friends, Patience & Ernest Sutton & longtime family friend, John & the party is rounded out.

The push-pull between manners & duty begin when the nearby train derails & the survivors of the event show up at the house. There were moments when I wanted to throttle Charlotte & Clovis for their complete lack of tact. For all the pomp & circumstance of manners & civility, they were often rudest of all. Emerald & Patience were much better but far from perfect in the empathy department. It was understandable given who they were but it was just trying to have the passengers corralled into a room (at first without even tea) & Mrs. Trieves & Florence trying to attend to them & still keep on with all of the preparations for Emerald's birthday dinner. I mean, press on & all but they were acting like nothing should slow down or take a back seat in importance because the plan had already been set. Not the most agile group here. It was all the more entertaining to have as the backdrop to all the other dramas, dearest Smudge (I kind of adored this little girl) embarking on her big (& ultimately disastrous but hilarious) plan with Lady, the pony.

One more uninvited guest shows up & this is where the story takes quite an interesting turn. Charlie. Like Emerald & Smudge, he put me off from the beginning. I was half worried he was some crazed murderer or grifter who was going to take advantage of the family since Edward was away & no butlers or footmen were in the house. I needn't have worried though, it turned out he was something else entirely. And sadly for Charlotte the renewed acquaintance was not to be a happy one. His addition to the story was really one of the things I liked best & probably my favorite part of the book was when he goads everyone into a game of Hinds & Hounds. It was vicious & really made everyone look terrible (with the exception of Ernest). I never completely forgave Emerald, her participation & this made a future development a hard pill to swallow. Charlotte and Clovis became completely irredeemable for me. I loved those as developments in character.

In the end, the storm clears, the passengers have mysteriously gone, a new day begins & there's love in the air (contrived as hell & completely unexplainable given events). I had a bit of trouble with Edward returning with the bequest that saves the house because it just felt tacked on & didn't really have an explanation that made sense. These instances made the ending feel abrupt & like they were struck off a checklist, not in the least authentic. Still, in the end, I did enjoy reading this & at some point during the dinner it became "unputdownable". It was entertaining & I would read another by Sadie Jones.

[kraaivrouw · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm not entirely sure what I expected from The Univited Guests - something Noel Cowardish (even though set in 1912), I suspect - quick, clever, punchy. As I began to read I was reminded of Love in a Cold Climate by Nancy Mitford (again the wrong time period).There is much to enjoy in this book - the writing is lush and descriptive. I always think of the Edwardian period as the kaleidoscopic moment befor the gray of World War I and this book truly captures that feeling. Unlikeable though everyone in the book may be, they are still well-characterized if a bit satirized and that makes for some good fun. This is a light breezy novel that turns into something more wicked before going back to its lush English countryside self. It's an interesting transition and tale.

[herschelian · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I was deeply disappointed in this book, as I had enjoyed Sadie Jones' previous fiction very much. The Edwardian setting of the story was well drawn, but the plot was peculiar to say the least. It was as though the author hadn't decided what type of book she was writing. There were places where the action became farcical, and with the best will in the world I could not suspend my disbelief. The description of the attempts to coax the pony down the stairs went on and on, and on and on... I kept hoping it would improve and something would pull the tale together but it never did. Lets hope this book is just an aberation in a long writing career, and that Ms Jones' next book will get back to reality and fine writing.

[lycomayflower · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I did a lot of veering from opinion to opinion with The Uninvited Guests. It starts out rather pleasant and Edwardian-y, then becomes a bit odd and discomfiting, and finally ends up somewhere mostly satisfying and affirming. I can't say much for fear of giving things away which I suspect are better left discovered on one's own, but I will say I had suspicions about a third of the way through which I thought were surely nonsense but which turned out to be quite correct. Not what I was expecting, exactly, but a worthwhile read all the same, and well done. The enjoyment I had in reading the novel doesn't quite call for a reread, but I think I really ought read it over again some day to understanding more fully just what it is Jones is doing here. If I have any real complaint about the book, it is that I'm not sure the seeming largeness of some of the goings on are entirely supported by the smallness of the narrative's circumstances. But therein lies my desire to reread. It niggles the back of my mind that I may have missed something very clever.

[lakesidemusing · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'll admit to being initially drawn to The Uninvited Guests by the cover. Shallow, I know, but there you have it. When positive reviews began appearing around the blogosphere, I added my name to the library hold list and reached the top in just a few weeks. At home, I was delighted to discover the novel has gorgeous endpapers, too. This is a very visually appealing book!

The Edwardian Era setting helped satisfy my Downton Abbey withdrawal syndrome, and I immediately enjoyed the author's use of language - so smart and witty. Several laugh-out-loud moments had my family raising eyebrows and glancing in my direction. The novel was a quick read and I finished the final half in a single afternoon, an unusual occurrence for me.

My verdict? Enjoyable overall, yet it fell short of my expectations. The story seemed a little flat and the macabre plot elements just seemed weird. I was expecting more to be made of Smudge's drawings, especially since they adorn the endpapers. The characters, in general, weren't especially likable and I never really cared about any of them.

I found myself thinking about the book for several days after finishing. My appreciation may have increased slightly, yet I still can't muster more than a 'good' rating.

[teresa1953_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel is very different. Possibly quite mad, but intriguing nontheless.Set in pre-war England, the story begins on a spring evening at Sterne...a manor house which is a little shabby round the edges, but grand and well loved by the Torrington-Swift family who reside there. Friends and family are gathering for Emerald Torringtons's twentieth birthday party. Charlotte Swift, Emerald's mother, is feeling anxious by her husband's departure to London and subsequent absence from the celebrations. He is, however, on an important mission to secure money from the bank to safeguard Sterne for the family whose finances have been strained in recent years.Unbeknown to the assembling guests, there has been a dreadful rail disaster a few miles away from Sterne. As news reaches the partygoers, shock and sympathy give way to preparations which carry on unabated. It therefore comes as a surprise when a small group of people is seen "emerging from the gloom of the drive onto the gravel" and it becomes clear that they are "from the accident." Not exactly welcomed with open arms, the travellers believe that they are to remain at the house until further notice. Phone calls to the Rail Company are mysteriously disconnected and the dozen or so folk behave in a most peculiar manner. Worse still...they appear to be increasing in number and are becoming more and more raucous. The appearance of a further passenger who acts as a kind of spokesman for the group, but behaves in a most ungentlemanly manner, causes Charlotte, in particular, much grief.As a portrait of the early twentieth century upper classes, this novel is immaculate. There are glimpses of "Downton Abbey" and also of the film "The Others." There are amusing moments that made me laugh out loud, but also great sadness and empathy. The oddities and bizarre behaviour of both the partygoers and the "uninvited guests" is so well illustrated, they actually seem fairly "normal" when the reader is absorbed in the story.I loved it, but I can see that it may not be to everyone's taste. It is certainly a huge departure from Sadie Jones's first two novels, but, for me, that illustrates her talent and diversity. One thing is certain......it would make a great movie!This book was made available to me, prior to publication, for an honest review.

[silversreviews · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What else could happen on Emerald's birthday....her step-father leaves for one day to try to save their home, a friend isn't coming for her birthday, a suitor who isn't anyone she likes gives her a gift, a train accident that causes twenty or more "uninvited guests" to stay at their home, grumpy servants, and then Smudge's decision to carry out a ridiculous undertaking.The Torrington family definitely had a situation on their hands mostly caused by the folks who have been in the morning room all day from the accident site and had only been given tea. Would they be staying there for more than that evening or would the railway station drop by and take them to their original destinations? No communication from the railway station was bad enough, but if the Torringtons thought the uninvited guests were a bad situation, wait until they find out what Smudge has done...their uninvited guests may not be considered a bad situation.This book was filled with the propriety of an English household along with things that were not. The descriptive writing style of Ms. Jones is phenomenal....you feel as though you are right on the scene and can see all the details of the surroundings and furnishings. The characters are devilish, fun, and of course proper....well proper for the most part. You will feel each character's mood whether it be fear, pleasure, anger, or irritation. Most of the characters were filled with irritation at the things going on except Smudge who was in a world of her own. Smudge is loveable and comical, but I felt sorry for the poor neglected girl. I can see why she did the things she did. Clovis was lazy, Charlotte was helpless and whiny and had a secret that became revealed to the horror of her family, Emerald was the responsible one, and the servants worked but complained. Charlotte couldn't handle anything out of the ordinary and would hide in her room....Charlotte was the mother of Clovis, Emerald, and Smudge. The children were more able to handle things than she could.The book took a few pages to get going, but don't put it down....it is humorous and a bit odd. I enjoyed the book because of its being a bit absurd and because the proper English household wasn't a usual proper household. You will love the characters as I mentioned above. There is one chapter that is frightening because of the behaviors of one of the uninvited guests who was allowed to associate with the family, but overall it was an amusing look into an English household. 4/5 This book was given to me free of charge by the publisher and TLC Tours without compensation in return for an honest review.

[librarymary09 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This started out with a lot of promise, but ended up disappointing me.

[auntie0nanuuq · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

&#9733 &#9733 1/2

Whoa! You want a weird, ugly, & dark ghost story w/ a happy romantic ending? Well, then, This Is The Book For You!

Let's see: it is Emerald's birthday, she is having a dinner party for old friends, family (mother, brother & baby sister), & neighbors. Step-father is off to town trying to secure a loan, so that they might stay in their family home, rather than move to a smaller one which he can afford on his own.

So after he leaves, there is a train wreck and the people from the train (The Uninvited Guests) arrive unannounced to find shelter until all is cleared up. Unfortunately another more evil man from Mother's past shows up and plays ugly games and causes havoc....

The part I liked (which gave this the 1/2 &#9733) was the baby sister: she brings the pets up to her room and holds them against her wall, and draws the outlines of their bodies on her wall w/ charcoal...... But in the midst of the ensuing chaos, she brings her Pony up to her room in order to do the same!

Otherwise this was too creepy for me and a part of it offended my sensibilities.

[wbwilburn5 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great story, a ghost story. Very fast paced with wonderful characters.

[kakadoo202 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

this book left me puzzled. the people were so unreal. only during one on one conversation you had a sense of reality. and what about the passangers? would anyone treat them like this? or where they even real? they vanished without a trace, same as Charlie. where they ghosts? and the sex scene towards the end was so strange to be thrown in.

[riverwillow · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I've never read anything by Sadie Jones before, so reading a book by an author new to me is always exciting. It was an interesting premise, an Edwardian family living in an isolated manor house who, following an accident, agree to provide sanctuary for a group of strangers. But somehow it didn't quite work. The real ghosts at the feast were the ghostly echoes of the great ghost stories which flitted across the pages, but never quite settled or formed into anything substantial making this a unsatisfying read.

[bookangel_a · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The other reviewers are right when they say that this is an unusual novel. It's hard to describe without spoilers, but I will try.The novel takes place over 24 hours in the life of the Torrington family. It is Emerald Torrington's birthday - a beautiful lady of marriageable age, and the main character of the novel. There's also her sarcastic brother Clovis, her self centered snobbish mother Charlotte, and their precocious little sister Smudge. They are preparing a lavish dinner party to celebrate Emerald's birthday, and their dinner guests start to arrive. But then there is a train accident nearby, and they are told to make room in their home for some survivors. The survivors are poor and of a lower class than the Torringtons and their guests, which causes conflict. After the invited and uninvited guests arrive, everything falls apart in this peaceful country house. The reader is allowed to see the true characters of all in the house by their reactions to the problems that they face. And some of the people in the house are hiding secrets which are exposed. It gets rather creepy and spooky toward the end, but there is also some humor here too.I would recommend that you try this unusual novel and see for yourself!(I received this book through Amazon's Vine Program.)

[alisony-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This, Jones' third novel, has a period setting centred around a remote English country house where the owners and some guests have gathered to celebrate a member of the family's birthday. Tension underpins the celebrations as the family are on the brink of losing the family home, and the day descends into further disarray and dark confusion when a large group of strangers arrive at the house following a railway crash on a nearby branch line.This was a bit of a frustrating Sadie Jones' book. The first three-quarters were true to her usual form - there was a sense of foreboding and mystery which kept me hooked, and whilst her writing may not be high literature it is eminently readable. Easy comfort reading I would call it. However, the last quarter of the book, when all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place, verged on the ridiculous. I was sure she was leading the mystery to a satisfyingly ominous conclusion, but the turn it took was so far-fetched it was like sticking a pin in the balloon of tension. All the build up was spoilt by the silliness of the climax, and to ruin it further she squeezed in some improbable romances at the 11th hour which just felt like very amateur story telling. This is not Mills & Boon - it wasn't necessary.Harsh as this review sounds, however, I did enjoy most of the book, and it was just the kind of easy read I needed to get me back into the reading groove.3.5 stars - a slip of form for Sadie Jones. There was a great start and middle but an expectedly poor ending.

[gingermama-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Two-and-a-half stars

[wyvernfriend · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This tried to hard to be many books, it tried to be a comedy of manners, but left out most of the comedy; it tried to be a gothic novel, but failed to raise the tension to make it truly that. It feels like a vaguely magical realistic period piece with unlikeable characters and I just didn't care enough about what happened.The Torrington family are struggling, great dilapidated pile of a house, daughter turning 20 and now a train crash has landed them with several survivors. Only the survivors aren't of their class, and they're not sure how to deal with them. But what's going on isn't obvious and it will change the people involved.I didn't care, wish I had stopped reading after the 30 pages or so that I found tedious because it didn't change, no matter how much I wanted it to.

[bachaney · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Sadie Jones' The Univited Guests is set at an English country house in the early 20th century where both the house and the family who lives in it, have seen better days. The family is trying to simultaneously save their house and celebrate the 20th birthday of their oldest daugher, Emerald. Just before Emerald's birthday guests start arriving, a set of unexpected guests--survivors of a train crash--arrive at the house. What follows is a comedy of errors with the guests and the house.I really, really, wanted to like this book. I liked the premise and I liked other books by the author. Unfortunately, this book was really a drag for me. I just couldn't get into it. Between the unlikeable characters and the incredibly slow pacing, there just wasn't anything to draw me in. It felt like the author was trying to hard to be clever, and as a result the book just sunk like a rock. None of the features--smart writing, interesting perspectives--that drew me to Jones' earlier books were present here.

[getrus · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

It is the day of Emerald Torrington’s twentieth birthday and things do not go exactly as planned. She and her brother Clovis await the arrival of Patience and her mother, neither of which are entirely wanted at the affair. Their step-father is off to Manchester to try and save Sterne, the house they live in.Everything is surprisingly alright until Patience and her mother are to be met at the train and they are asked to allow passengers from a different train which has gone off of it’s tracks.So, between trying to remain some bit of decorum to their lifestyle and house upwards of fifty displaced persons, not to mention a mother who absents herself whenever she can, a maid who happens to be sick and various other inconveniences. (One of which Smudge, Emerald’s younger sister, who goes on a Great Undertaking.) Emerald (with help from some others) manages it all.This book was an absolute delight to read from beginning to end. I honestly could not put it down and myself gasping at the surprises and shaking with laughter at each new thing. It is full of English humor and wit. I cannot describe how sad I was to finish it is so short a period of time. It was marvelous and I plan on picking up some the author’s other work soon. With much anticipation of her new books in the future.

[devenish_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A truly remarkable and completely unique book. Veers from comedy through to horror and back to farce in a effortless manner. I have always admired an author who can produce something which no one else has thought of,and Sadie Jones has certainly done it with 'The Uninvited Guests'.The inhabitants of the grand,but shabby house of Sterne,prepare for Emerald Torrington's twentieth birthday party. News comes that the survivors of a nearby train crash are about to arrive at the house for shelter and sustenance. Sterne is about to be turned upside down with the arrival of the Uninvited Guests.Brilliant !

[mermaidatheart · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book was pretty weird. You start off thinking you're reading one kind of story, and then it slowly drifts off the road into another kind of book entirely. I also didn't find it watertight in terms of writing, but overall, an entertaining (and fast) read.

[jasonlf · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The writing is light, delightful, witty, and perceptive from the first page of this comedy of manners. Which is a good thing because it carries it through much of the first third of the book which drags somewhat as the high expectations build but never reach fruition. But then the mock turtle soup breaks, spills all over the floor, and inaugurates a new and even more enthralling phase of the book.The Unwanted Guests is set in England in 1912 and is an upstair-downstairs comedy, although the downstairs is somewhat reduced by the financial state of the family. It takes place in a 24-hour period that is meant to be a birthday party, and potential betrothal, for the daughter but goes badly awry when the third class passengers, plus one ostensible first class passenger, from a nearby train wreck show up for shelter. The increasingly noisy, ungrateful and apparently ever multiplying guests eat their way through everything as they spread around the house.Against this backdrop, it is a Shakespeare-esque story in which the normal rules are suspended for a night, roles are reversed, unlikely romances form, discoveries are made, but all is restored by the daylight.Overall, The Unwanted Guests is well-executed, unique, and mostly an enjoyable read--and it is even more enjoyable in retrospect.

[kasthu_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Set in (according to Amazon.com’s product description) 1912, The Uninvited Guests takes place over the course of one day at an old English estate. It’s Emerald Torrington’s birthday, and her stepfather (who she and her younger brother inexplicably hate) has gone off to seek funding for the failing estate. Meanwhile, a train accident happens “on a branch line,” and a group of survivors show up at the house to be held for the interim.I really did want to like this book, but I didn’t I love historical fiction, especially fiction set in the Edwardian period, but I felt as though the author didn’t give her reader a good sense of time. Aside from the odd mention of cars or clothes, this book could be set in any time—1912, 1962, or even 2012. In fact, there was a distinctly modern feel to the characters.There are a number of plot points that I didn’t quite care for. First of all, it’s never really explained why Emerald and her brother Clovis hate their stepfather, so I got a bad taste in my mouth about them right from the first. I think we’re supposed to see the whole family as endearingly eccentric, but both Emerald and Clovis come across as incredibly spoiled brats and not particularly likable. There are some creative plot twists in this book, but they didn’t make much sense overall. So although I wanted to like this book, it’s not one that I’d really recommend.

[melissarochelle_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Not bad, not great. I can understand why some may recommend it to fans of Downton Abbey and usually I'd really be into a British family story...but this one just wasn't what I wanted to read at the moment.

[2chances · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

It's Emerald Torrington's twentieth birthday, but things are not going well. Her stepfather is headed to London to make a last ditch attempt at saving their beloved home, Sterne; her handsome brother Clovis is sulking and refusing to cooperate with birthday arrangements; their neglected little sister Imogen ("Smudge") is ill, but not so ill that she cannot plot a Great Undertaking. Into this domestic welter comes the news that a train has derailed nearby, and the surviving passengers must seek shelter at Sterne. Arrive they do, as the Torringtons struggle to reconcile proper birthday dinner party arrangements with the increasingly peculiar needs of their uninvited guests. Sadie Jones has an antic way with her narration, and as the story descends into darker and creepier depths, the narration becomes paradoxically funnier. Strangely, this does not detract from the genuinely eerie moments, but rather makes the entire story tenser - as the story gets creepier, the desire to laugh becomes more shocking (yet just as irresistible) to the reader. At least, to me. Gothic, but sparkling, if that makes any sense. It makes sense when Sadie Jones does it.

[chatterbox_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

"It's all been so unusual," says Charlotte Torrington, already bemused and overwhelmed by the time the invited guests arrive to celebrate her elder daughter's 20th birthday at Sterne, the family mansion that they can no longer afford to maintain. Her second husband has gone off to Manchester to try and save the day; Charlotte is left to play hostess to her son, Clovis; Emerald, her daughter; Patience, a young family friend, and Ernest, Patience's brother, as well as bluff young local farmer, John Buchanan. But the evening has scarcely even begun, and it's going to get even more unusual, when the uninvited guests show up. Because before the carefully-planned (and, the reader feels, carefully scripted) events can get underway, comes news that a train has derailed nearby, and Sterne has been designated to shelter the passengers until "the Railway" can come to claim them.From the outset, it's clear that these passengers are unusual. They appear out of the woods; when the cart sent to locate them, returns, it is empty, not having spotted anyone. The passengers, with one exception -- a first class passenger in a red silk waistcoat -- are an amorphous mass whom Charlotte and her family try desperately to contain. "Are those shabby creatures safely shut away in the morning room?" Charlotte enquires. But neither they nor a host of nasty secrets can be contained for long; before long, storms are raging outdoors and indoors, as the inexplicably multiplying number of "uninvited guests" spill out of the morning room and become more and more demanding. The mysterious first class passenger turns out to be a figure from Charlotte's past, and seems bent on wreaking mayhem in her carefully ordered Edwardian life as well as Emerald's birthday party.At first, I admit I battled to read this; the first 50 or so pages felt like some kind of forced route march, and I wondered that what felt like some kind of 21st century version of a century-old Edwardian country house novel had won the kind of plaudits I read among the blurbs. Gradually, I became captivated as events became more and more bizarre. I stopped trying to making sense of what was happening and simply immersed myself in the story, awed by Sadie Jones's ability to morph what first appeared to be a straightforward and even banal tale and twist it into something beyond recognition. The tone was perfect throughout; it's as if Jones had beamed herself back in time and embraced the language and attitudes of an Edwardian novelist, even as the tale she was spinning became increasingly strange.I'm still not sure I like the book -- that seems the wrong word to use. Certainly, at times, it creeped me out at the beginning, when it began to metamorphose from something purporting to be akin to "Downton Abbey" (for want of a better comparison) to a novel that I simply can't compare to anything else I have ever read. There are all kinds of tensions and dysfunctional relationships within the family, as well as between them and their invited guests, who have preconceptions about each other, view each other through different prisms, thinking primarily of what they should want, what they deserve, etc. By the time the dust settles (literally) and the next day dawns, they have all been through a stormy night, literally and rhetorically.This is perhaps the most difficult book I've ever had to review. It is without question a very well-written, clever and witty (not funny, but witty) novel (is it a fable of some kind??), but will it appeal to anyone else?? It's hard to even hazard a guess. This is one that is very much going to be an individual choice; some will hate/loathe it, others will wrinkle their noses; some will be baffled by it and some will be captivated. As I said, like? Not sure. Left in awe at Jones's ambition and imagination? Abso-bloody-lutely. Oh, and I'm glad I read it.

[tsutton_29 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I'm not sure how to describe this novel, except to say it deserved to be read in one sitting.Emerald Torrington is set to celebrate her 20th birthday with her family and a few close friends at a dinner at her family home, Sterne, in April 1912. The night is thrown into disarray when, as her guests arrive, so does news of a train derailment, sending dozens of passengers to Sterne for the evening to await rescue by the railway. The assembled group tries it's best to carry on with the party, but the arrival of an unexpected guest sends the night into an unexpected direction.At first, the novel reminded me very much of the Flavia de Luce novels by Alan Bradley. The tone was playful, and the families were similar in some ways - emotionally distant but loving parents, a family living in genteel poverty, a precocious child, etc. However, that quickly changed as the plot began to turn toward more adult themes.This is a great read that I would definitely recommend.

[brokenteepee · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a book quite unlike any other I have ever read. I can honestly say I only truly liked one character in it and yet the book was a total hoot. Usually when I don't care for the characters I can't stand the book but that was definitely not the case in Ms. Jones satire of Edwardian mores. This will be a very hard review to write without giving the whole of the plot away but I will try.We start by meeting the Torrington/Swifts on the day of Emerald's birthday. Her mother, Charlotte has remarried - to Edward Swift, a one armed barrister. Emerald and Clovis, her brother felt that the marriage happened too quickly after the death of their father. The father who bought their beloved home, Sterne, and then lost all the family money. Edward was leaving to try and save the home. The last member of the family was little Imogen, called Smudge who plans a Great Undertaking on the day of Emerald's birthday.The writing style is very spare, very British. So is the humor. An understanding of Edwardian class distinctions is necessary to true appreciation of the story. So is an appreciation for a British sense of humor. The Torrington/Swifts are veddy, veddy British in their thoughts and quite Edwardian how they treat the lessor amongst them. It makes for some horrifying moments but also for some quite funny moments.All I can say is that if you want a truly unique reading experience this is the book to read. I'll be keeping it to read again because I know this is one of those books that will improve upon a second read.