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The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce Paul Torday 9780297851592 Books

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The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce Paul Torday 9780297851592 Books

Paul Torday writes such intriguing stories. I love them. Sadly I don't like the stories to finish. I could just read on and on but all good things must come to an end. Highly recommended this book. Now I'm off to buy another of his stories.


Tags : The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce [Paul Torday] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The new novel from the bestselling author of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,Paul Torday,The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce,Weidenfeld & Nicolson,0297851594,Modern fiction

The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce Paul Torday 9780297851592 Books Reviews

The Irresistible Inheritance of Wilberforce is the second novel by British author, Paul Torday. When Torday introduces his narrator, Wilberforce, it is 2006 and he is an enthusiastic wine drinker who owns an estate called Caerlyon Hall, the subterranean undercroft full of wine located under the Hall, and a flat in Half Moon Street, Mayfair. It soon becomes apparent, however, that Wilberforce is a virtually penniless alcoholic, a delusional widower who has alienated all his friends, squandered a fortune and is at death’s door. How Wilberforce has managed to progress to this state from being a teetotal computer nerd who owned a multi-million pound software company is gradually revealed, but in reverse, in four parts 2006, 2004, 2003 and 2002. Torday emphasises significant incidents (and his narrator’s perception of them) with repetition of certain phrases and the retelling (with subtle differences) of certain events in each of the four parts. While it may be a dark and tragic tale, Torday manages to inject plenty of humour, and readers may well find themselves laughing out loud, at least in 2006. Torday’s characters are well developed and often familiar the socially inept computer programmer; the hedonistic heir to the title; the well-meaning doctor; the asset-rich, cash-poor gentry; the diplomatically fawning bank manager. Eck Chetwode-Talbot’s name may ring a bell for readers of Salmon Fishing and both Eck and Ed Simmonds reappear in later Torday books, something that will appeal to fans. Although the outcome is evident from the beginning, it is a measure of Torday’s literary talent that the reader is still eager to discover the who, how and why of it. At the same time, the reader is left a mystery to speculate upon (is Wilberforce’s father among the characters?) Torday’s portrayal of an alcoholic’s behaviour and addictive personality (the denials, the rationalisations, the blame shifting, the physical and mental symptoms) is excellent and obviously well-researched. This is a brilliant offering by Torday and fans will be eager to read his next book, The Girl On The Landing.
Wilberforce enters a wine cellar looking to buy wine and meets the owner Francis Black and two friends sitting drinking. He is invited to join them in having a glass. Over the next few weeks he becomes very good friends with all of them and starts mixing in the social circles.

Francis Black owns 100,000 bottle of red wine and when he finds he is dying he offers Wilberforce all the wine for 1 pound on the condition he buys the building above the cellar "the undercroft" only for the amount of the mortgage owing. Francis has noone to leave it to and during their short friendship he has taught Wilberforce all about how to taste wine.

Wilberforce angonises over the purchase, as he would have to sell his successful business to be able to do it. But he then could do consulting from home.

The story is told backwards. From the stage where Wilberforce drinks 5 to 6 bottles of high quality wine a day, refuses to sell any of the wine off to pay some of his huge debts. His obsession to keep the wine and tasting (note the word tasting not drinking) becomes more important than his marriage and everything else. I listened to this on audio. Every now and then you can hear the gurgle of the wine being poured into a glass. The telling of it in sections working backwards in time was an interesting way of story telling and I felt it didn't detract the story at all.

I really enjoyed the story, it was a little sad at times but overall I highly recommend it. A story with a totally different angle. I will be reading more of his works.
Great read
As a wine connoisseur, I was very interested to read this well-researched account of how Wilberforce became obsessed with the subject until it dominated his life. I look forward to reading another of Paul Tordy's books, having enjoyed 'Salmon Fishing in the Yemen', the first of his books which I read.
Intriguing but not too exiting and leaves a couple of things unanswered
I enjoyed this portrait of a life gone wrong. I found the portrayal of the characters gripping at first and the book kept me interested, but the "backwards" style of story telling means there is few surprises towards the end of the book, but a sense of sadness for what could have been a more positive life.
A beautifully told story of Wilberforce's inheritance of an extensive wine cellar, and his growing obsession with the wine in it. A bittersweet tale of loneliness, self-delusion, addiction and friendship. Well worth a read.
Paul Torday writes such intriguing stories. I love them. Sadly I don't like the stories to finish. I could just read on and on but all good things must come to an end. Highly recommended this book. Now I'm off to buy another of his stories.