The House That Berry Built

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The House That Berry Built
Thatberrybuilt.jpg
First edition cover
Author Dornford Yates
Cover artistJ. F. Campbell [1]
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
SeriesThe Berry books
GenreSemi-Autobiographical Comic novel
Publisher Ward Lock & Co
Publication date
1945 [2]
Media typePrint
Pages286 [2]
OCLC 504077289
Preceded by And Berry Came Too  
Followed by The Berry Scene  

The House That Berry Built is a 1945 humorous semi-autobiographical novel by the English author Dornford Yates (Cecil William Mercer), featuring his recurring 'Berry' characters. It is a lightly fictionalised recounting of the construction of the author's house Cockade in the commune of Eaux-Bonnes, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France.

Contents

Plot

Unable any longer to afford their aristocratic lifestyle in England, Berry and Co decide in 1937 to relinquish White Ladies, their ancestral home in Hampshire, to the state for the use of the Foreign Secretary. Nostalgic for a vanished world of social events and elegant idleness, Berry and his friends move to Pau in the South of France where they spend their days picnicking on the slopes of the Ossau Valley. Deciding to settle nearby, they acquire some land on the green mountainside halfway between the thermal spa of Lally and the village of Besse and build themselves a substantial property that they name Gracedieu.

Although the novel includes a minor sub-plot regarding the family's investigation of a murder, it consists principally of a detailed description of the building of Gracedieu. The cost of the work, the risks of the construction techniques employed, the whims of the mountain weather and the relations with the local contractor are all carefully detailed.

In an earlier book, Adèle and Co. (1931), Jill had been married to Piers, Duke of Padua, and had baby twins. Now, she explains in a matter-of-fact manner "It was awful, you know, when Piers and my babies were killed. They went down in a plane together." [3] With Boy's ex-wife Adèle having returned to her native America some years earlier, and deciding not to come back, [4] Boy and Jill are free to fall in love; and towards the end of the novel the couple marry.

The extended family move in to the completed house but, amid increasing signs of war, it soon becomes clear that they cannot remain.

A later book of memoirs, As Berry and I Were Saying , includes a semi-fictionalised account of Berry and Co's attempted return to Gracedieu after the war. It is noted there that after "eight soul-searing months" the family found it impossible to stay on in France.

Background

Cockade, the real-life equivalent of the novel's Gracedieu Cockade1.JPG
Cockade, the real-life equivalent of the novel's Gracedieu

Much of the novel is an accurate account of the building of Cockade, the writer's own residence that he completed in 1939, a little way out of Eaux-Bonnes, south of Pau. [5] It was a substantial six-bedroom property, called Cockade because of the way in which it projected from the hill as does a hackle from a hat. [6]

As in the novel, Mercer and his wife did not have long to appreciate their new house before they were forced out by the arrival of war. They fled precipitately in 1940 and with some difficulties drove through Franco's Spain to Portugal, [7] from where they sailed on to South Africa. [7]

After the war was over the couple briefly returned, but finding things greatly changed did not linger for long. [7] They eventually built themselves a replacement house, Sacradown, in Umtali, Southern Rhodesia, completed in 1948. [8]

Critical reception

According to AJ Smithers in his 1982 biography, The House That Berry Built represents the author at the peak of his form, with Berry never being in better voice. [9]

Related Research Articles

Dornford Yates Pen name of Cecil William Mercer (1885–1960)

Dornford Yates was the pseudonym of the English novelist Cecil William Mercer, whose novels and short stories, some humorous, some thrillers, were best-sellers during the Interwar Period.

Eaux-Bonnes Commune in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France

Eaux-Bonnes is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France.

<i>The Brother of Daphne</i> 1914 short story collection by Dornford Yates

The Brother of Daphne is a 1914 collection of comic short stories by the English author Dornford Yates, the first book published under the pen name he had been using for magazine pieces since 1910. This was also the first book to feature the group of characters that featured in many of his future works: Bertram ('Berry') Pleydell, his wife and cousin Daphne Pleydell, Daphne's brother Boy Pleydell, another cousin Jonathan ('Jonah') Mansel, and Jonah's younger sister Jill Mansel. The group of five - Berry, Daphne, Boy, Jonah and Jill - later came to be known collectively as 'Berry and Co'.

<i>The Courts of Idleness</i> 1920 short story collection by Dornford Yates

The Courts of Idleness is a 1920 collection of comic short stories by the English author Dornford Yates, his second book. Half of the tales feature his 'Berry' characters.

<i>Berry and Co.</i> 1921 short story collection by Dornford Yates

Berry and Co. is a 1921 collection of comic short stories by the English author Dornford Yates, his third book, featuring his recurring characters Bertram ('Berry') Pleydell, his wife and cousin Daphne Pleydell, Daphne's brother Boy Pleydell, another cousin Jonathan ('Jonah') Mansel, and Jonah's younger sister Jill Mansel. The group of five - Berry, Daphne, Boy, Jonah and Jill - are collectively 'Berry and Co.'

<i>Jonah and Co.</i> 1922 short story collection by Dornford Yates

Jonah and Co. is a 1922 collection of comic short stories by the English author Dornford Yates, featuring his recurring 'Berry' characters.

<i>Adèle and Co.</i> 1931 novel by Dornford Yates

Adèle and Co. is a 1931 comic novel by the English author Dornford Yates, featuring his recurring 'Berry' characters. This was Yates's first full-length Berry novel, following several earlier Berry short story collections. It was the first Berry book to be published in the UK by Hodder & Stoughton, and not to be serialised in The Windsor Magazine.

<i>And Berry Came Too</i> 1936 short story collection by Dornford Yates

And Berry Came Too is a 1936 collection of comic short stories by the English author Dornford Yates, featuring his recurring 'Berry' characters.

<i>The Berry Scene</i> 1947 short story collection by Dornford Yates

The Berry Scene is a 1947 collection of comic short stories by the English author Dornford Yates, featuring his recurring 'Berry' characters.

<i>As Berry and I Were Saying</i> 1952 fictionalised memoirs of Dornford Yates

As Berry and I Were Saying is the first volume of fictionalised memoirs of the English author Dornford Yates, published in 1952 and featuring his recurring 'Berry' characters - Berry, Daphne, Boy and Jill. A second volume, B-Berry and I Look Back, was published in 1958.

<i>B-Berry and I Look Back</i> 1958 fictionalised memoirs of Dornford Yates

B-Berry and I Look Back is the second volume of fictionalised memoirs of the English author Dornford Yates, published in 1958 and featuring his recurring 'Berry' characters - Berry, Daphne, Boy, Jill and Jonah. The first volume, As Berry and I Were Saying, had been published in 1952. It was his last book.

<i>Blind Corner</i> (novel) 1927 adventure novel by Dornford Yates

Blind Corner is a 1927 novel by the English author Dornford Yates. The book was the first in his Chandos thriller series and is narrated in the first person by Richard Chandos. In addition to Chandos and his servant Bell, the novel features a cast of characters who recur in many of the later books: George Hanbury and Jonathan Mansel; their respective servants Rowley and Carson; and Tester the Sealyham terrier. Mansel's character also appears as Jonah Mansel in the author's 'Berry' series of comic books and short stories, though he is not written for comic effect in this nor the later 'Chandos' books.

<i>Perishable Goods</i> 1928 novel by Dornford Yates

Perishable Goods is a 1928 novel by the English author Dornford Yates, the second in his Chandos thriller series and a sequel to Blind Corner. The story features the recurrent characters Richard Chandos (narrator), Jonathan Mansel and George Hanbury, with their respective servants Bell, Carson and Rowley.

<i>Blood Royal</i> 1929 adventure novel by Dornford Yates

Blood Royal is a 1929 novel by the English author Dornford Yates, the third in his Chandos thriller series. The story features the recurrent characters Richard Chandos (narrator) and George Hanbury, with their servants Bell and Rowley. Jonathan Mansel does not appear in this book.

<i>Fire Below</i> 1930 adventure novel by Dornford Yates

Fire Below is a 1930 adventure novel by the English author Dornford Yates, the fourth in his Chandos thriller series and a sequel to Blood Royal. The book was published in the US under the title By Royal Command.

<i>Red in the Morning</i> 1946 adventure novel by Dornford Yates

Red in the Morning is a 1946 adventure novel by the English author Dornford Yates, the seventh in his 'Chandos' thriller series. The events of the story immediately follow those of his 1939 novel Gale Warning in which Richard Chandos and Jonathan Mansel appear as characters. The book was published in the US under the title Were Death Denied.

<i>Cost Price</i> 1949 adventure novel by Dornford Yates

Cost Price is a 1949 adventure novel by the English author Dornford Yates, the eighth and last in his 'Chandos' thriller series. It serves as a sequel to his 1932 novel Safe Custody. The book was published in the US under the title The Laughing Bacchante.

<i>The Stolen March</i> 1926 fantasy novel by Dornford Yates

The Stolen March is a 1926 fantasy novel by the English author Dornford Yates, first serialised in The Windsor Magazine.

<i>This Publican</i> 1938 novel by Dornford Yates

This Publican is a 1938 novel by the English author Dornford Yates. It was first serialised as She Knew Not Mercy in Woman's Journal for November 1937 to March 1938, with illustrations by Forster.

References

  1. ↑ First edition description at Abebooks
  2. 1 2 "British Library Item details". primocat.bl.uk. Retrieved 15 July 2019.
  3. ↑ Yates, Dornford (1945). The House that Berry Built. London: Ward Lock & Co. p. 84.
  4. ↑ Yates, Dornford (1947). The Berry Scene. London: Ward Lock & Co. pp. 123, 279.
  5. ↑ Smithers 1982, pp. 176, 178.
  6. ↑ Smithers 1982, pp. 176–177.
  7. 1 2 3 Smithers 1982, pp. 182–187.
  8. ↑ Derry, Stephen (4 October 2008). "ODNB" . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34989 . Retrieved 25 April 2020.(Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  9. ↑ Smithers 1982, p. 179.

Bibliography

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