High Time

A Novel

By: Hannah Rothschild

Narrated by: Maya Saroya

A PEOPLE BEST NEW BOOK • An outlandish comedy of morals and manners about a highborn British family of outrageous characters, by the acclaimed author of The Improbability of Love and House of Trelawney • “A joy to read.”—Vogue

“High Time delves once again into the aristocratic antics of the Trelawney family… Another thrilling portrait of the perils of great privilege.” —Town & Country

Eight years have passed and in 2016 many things have changed for the eccentric Trelawney family.

In the months leading up to the Brexit referendum, Ayesha, the beautiful, young secret daughter of the late Enyon Trelawney, has married the much older thuggish banker Tomlinson Sleet with whom she has a young daughter, Stella. Ayesha is busy restoring the once broken-down Trelawney Castle in Cornwall, which Sleet has bought, to its former glory, as well as studying art at the Courtauld in London. The elderly Countess Clarissa—still ensconced on the property—the host of a camp television show, is about to head into a disastrous marriage. Lady Jane has separated from the hopeless Trelawney heir Kitto, who is crazier than ever, and found an enlightened woman to keep her company abroad. Sleet is becoming increasingly difficult, distracted by the seductive and ruthless bitcoin goddess Zamora, but Kitto’s sister Blaze and her husband, Joshua, will support Ayesha’s clever plan as she discovers shocking secrets, takes action, and brings the family together.

Biting and satirical, but also poignant and moving, High Time is a delicious story of madness, mayhem, and mischief run amok.

©2023 Hannah Rothschild (P)2023 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

“When Hannah Rothschild has a new novel out, we pay attention. Her latest, High Time, delves once again into the aristocratic antics of the Trelawney family. . . . With a sharp eye for detail and a wicked sense of humor, Rothschild paints another thrilling portrait of the perils of great privilege.”—Town & Country

“An enjoyably complicated narrative. . . . that will keep readers turning pages to find out what happens next.”—Kirkus Reviews

“[A] convulsively comic sequel to Rothschild’s House of Trelawney. . . . With scenes that are over-the-top hilarious and a sharply satiric view of late-stage capitalism, [High Time] plays like a savvy cross between Brideshead Revisited and Succession as written by the Monty Python troupe.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review

Waited for the pay off that never came.

The story started out strong. You could tell where it was heading but didn't mind the details along of the way. However, the author failed, in my opinion, to give the reader the emotional release that was building throughout the story. The villain needed a scene to end the story so that the reader was left with satisfaction. This did not happen. Sometimes it's nice to not have to use your imagination and for the writer to cleverly create the ultimate scene.