Goodfellowe MP

You may know author Michael Dobbs from the sophisticated BBC/PBS series based on his Francis Urquhart trilogy, "House of Cards," "To Play the King" and "The Final Cut." Urquhart was a fascinating villain. Thomas Goodfellowe, M.P., the protagonist of this series, is poor, honest, and sharp as a razor. "Goodfellowe, M.P.," is the first novel of a trilogy (I hope for more)that includes "The Buddha of Brewer Street" and "Whispers of Betrayal." Goodfellowe's political clout and income have declined precipitously since he resigned his ministerial post to spend more time with his family (really!) after his son's accidental death. But as the book opens, his wife has removed herself from the unbearable pain of reality and lives in a mental institute he can't afford, and his only remaining child, an adolescent daughter too inconventional and talented to fit in at her boarding school, feels he's deserted her. And he's about to be hit with a scandal, apparent but not real, that rocks his already shaky world. His strong women characters, especially his daughter and the woman he's falling in love with, defend their own rights and needs with a take-no-prisoners fierceness that measures how much the world's views of women have changed in my lengthy lifetime. I'll leave the story there, and let Dobbs tell you the rest, if it sounds like your cup of tea. I'm busy tracking down and reading everything he wrote.