Book
Cardboard Castle
First published 1938
An English household that appears secure is revealed to rest upon fragile finances, inherited assumptions and relationships maintained for appearance’s sake. When pressure is applied through love, money and an emerging mystery, the family’s ‘castle’ proves to be made of cardboard: impressive from a distance but unable to protect its occupants from consequences.
Wren turns from colonial campaigning to domestic siege. The characters defend positions of class and reputation as fiercely as soldiers defend a fort, yet their real choices concern honesty, dependence and affection. The novel’s humour and suspense come from watching elaborate social defences collapse when ordinary facts can no longer be excluded.
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