Review

  • Warning: Spoilers
    This post WWI setting sees an English country gentleman still coming to terms with the trauma of seeing 20,000 soldiers killed in a matter of minutes on the front, after being ordered over the top, including his entire company, formed of the youth from his local area. His wife, back at the rural seat, in a country that had been bled almost dry by the war, had devoted her own efforts to keeping things going, maintaining the estate, the jobs of the employees, the local life (deprived of a generation of men) and a stiff upper lip through it all. Into this scene comes a lovely young American with a 'past', who was living life to the full. A Motor city gal, she'd just won the Monaco Grand Prix, but was disqualified due to her gender. But it did attract the attention of the handsome heir to the estate, they fell for one another and were quickly married. he then takes her home to meet the family and the fun really starts. This is actually a human drama, but it sparkles with so much wit that it has been labeled a rom-com - but that's only for those who see just one side of this complex story. Not only are there the cultural clashes, over seemly behaviour, food, pastimes and treatment across class distinctions, as well as a disaster involving the family pet chihuahua, but inevitably the American's wishes for her relationship clash with what are seen as the duties of her husband towards the community and the future of the estate (which is in financial straits - and she's not a rich American). The result is that the tide turns against our heroine, reinforced by misunderstandings over that 'secret past', but she has her allies also and in the end you know that somehow she's going to be alright, whereas the destiny of those who remain will probably depend on the wealthy neighbouring landowner. But it is the pleasure of the journey that is most interesting.