Long, long before "putting the characters of fandom X into a completely different era/setting" AU became such a popular trope in many a fandom, novelist Susan Howatch made a living out of it. She wrote multi generation family sagas that transported the Plantagents into the first half of the 20th century, and did the same thing for the early Julio-Claudians while she was at it. Not all of these novels are equally successful (either in terms of quality or sales), but I like a great many of them, and one I downright love. Surprisingly enough, it's not the one about my favourite Planatagenets. (My problem with that novel, Penmarric (about Henry II, Eleanor of Aquitaine and kids), is as an AU, I have severe problems with several of the equivalents because she flipped the social standing in a key relationship around and that just doesn't work (you can't make Eleanor a poor barely literate widow, Ms. Howatch! Still-a-measly-duke Henry married majorly up, not down, when he got the richest woman of Europe and just divorced queen of France for a wife), and on its own merits, it still isn't as layered as her other books.) No, it's the one about those fellows recently featured in The Hollow Crown. But one of the great things about The Wheel of Fortune is that it really does work on its own merits. Figuring out who is who in terms of British history is just for additional kicks.

The Wheel of Fortune has all the Susan Howatch trademarks: multiple narrators, witty dialogue, a murder mystery or two hidden in the narrative, and the clashing view points with their sympathy shifts as a big part of the story. Just when you're lulled into agreeing with one of the narrators and their estimation of everyone else, it's time for the next view point/narrator, and lo and behold, things and sympathies can look quite different indeed. Truth is multi-layered, and relationships aren't set in stone. She's also really good with capturing the respective eras, and with letting the characters be believably part of those eras, instead of indulging my pet peevein historical novels, i.e. give all the sympathetic characters completely progressive view points and hand out the period bias and prejudices only to the vile ones. It's never that easy. The main setting is Oxmoon, that (half) island on the silver sea, so to speak, the family heritage in Wales, gorgeously described.

( Details about the book with some spoilers follow )