Robert Sackville-West

The history of Knole and its aristocratic owners the Sackville family as told by Robert Sackville-West the 7th Lord Sackville. Eminently readable, Robert Sackville-West’s recounting reveals the myths, legends, sorrows, and injustices endured by a family that has only once in some 400 years been able to pass on the inheritance of Knole through four direct male heirs. Knole’s owners have abundantly passed on their X chromosomes but have been spectacularly unsuccessful with their Y chromosomes, so much so it has been almost expected for inheritance to slip sideways from uncle to nephew. Knole was one of the very first great houses to pass into the keeping of the National Trust and Robert Sackville-West is very generous in his description of the relationship between the owners, the estate, and the Trust. "… (más)

This book wasn't quite what I had expected, much more about the history of the Sackvilles than about Knole itself and not enough photographs, drawings, maps or floorplans etc to give one an idea of the place. All we get is the author's words (well-written ones, but still) and some paintings of the former inhabitants.

Things improve in the last third of the book when the author's own memories of the house are brought to light as well as other eye-witness accounts (especially those of Vita Sackville-West and Virginia Woolf) but I really would've wished for more details (and illustrations) concerning the house, gardens, estate and every-day life rather then the political and economical wranglings of the Sackvilles. I understand the author's fascination with his family history but for an outsider Knole the house is far more interesting.… (más)