Hannah Rothschild is a writer, filmmaker, philanthropist and company director. Her biography of Pannonica Rothschild, The Baroness, was published in 2012. Her first novel, The Improbability of Love, won the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse prize for best comic novel and was shortlisted for the Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction. She writes original and adapted screenplays and also for major newspapers and magazines in the US and UK. Her documentary features have been broadcast on major networks and shown at film festivals. A non-executive director of various financial institutions and the former chair of London's National Gallery, she lives in London with her three children.

Shortlisted for the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize For Comic Fiction

'If you're in need of a Succession replacement then this tale of a crumbling English dynasty clinging on to the past while coping with the fallout of the 2008 crash is for you. Pure pleasure' - Stylist

'Delights from start to finish' Mail on Sunday

'Witty and stylish' Sunday Times

'Jilly Cooper territory with a whiff of Joanna Trollope ... a lavish saga' The Times

'Slyly comic' Red

The seat of the Trelawney family for over 800 years, Trelawney Castle was once the jewel of the Cornish coast. Each successive Earl spent with abandon, turning the house and grounds into a sprawling, extravagant palimpsest of wings, turrets and follies.

But recent generations have been better at spending than making money. Now living in isolated penury, unable to communicate with each other or the rest of the world, the family are running out of options. Three unexpected events will hasten their demise: the sudden appearance of a new relation, an illegitimate, headstrong, beautiful girl; an unscrupulous American hedge fund manager determined to exact revenge; and the crash of 2008.

A love story and social satire set in the parallel and seemingly unconnected worlds of the British aristocracy and high finance, House of Trelawney is also the story of lost and found friendships between three women. One of them will die; another will discover her vocation; and the third will find love.

Reviews

“If you're in need of a Succession replacement then this tale of a crumbling English dynasty clinging on to the past while coping with the fallout of the 2008 crash is for you. Rothschild is a mischievous narrator and this story is pure pleasure from the word go” –  Stylist

“Fun of this kind is irresistible” –  Guardian

“Jilly Cooper fans (and who isn't?) will love the unashamedly upmarket settings and posh characters. A romcom to beat the winter blues: funny, sharply-observed and boho-chic glamorous” –  Daily Mail

“Waspish yet generous-hearted, it delights from start to finish” –  Mail on Sunday

“Rothschild … is a witty, stylish storyteller and her overall message definitely feels timely” –  Sunday Times

“This is Jilly Cooper territory, with a whiff of Joanna Trollope; a lavish saga about privileged people behaving badly … Rothschild is a writer of high intelligence, however, and she shakes these dear old tropes up into something more akin to John Lanchester's blistering contemporary satire Capital … Rothschild teases out the green shoots with skill and humour … If we take House of Trelawney as a light-hearted state-of-the-nation novel, it says a lot about the dangers of dwelling on past entitlement and the importance of unsentimental realism” –  The Times

“Curl up and lose yourself in this hugely entertaining satire of a deeply dysfunctional family of aristocrats desperate to save their crumbling Cornwall home” –  i paper

“This slyly comic novel is a great dissection of class and privilege” –  Red

“A satisfying read, with plenty of good one-liners and a sly twist” –  Sunday Telegraph

“The madcap nature of the story; the clichés, and clever way they are rendered, make this a thoroughly enjoyable read – or, to use the correct terminology, a jolly good show. Yet the larger issues this satire plays on are equally fascinating” –  Irish Times