Something Dangerous

I chose 5 stars because I loved every minute of reading this book. I have also read No Angel and liked it as well.

The second book in the trilogy about the Lytton family is yet another wonderful achievement by Penny Vincenzi, as we follow the family through the frivolous thirties and WWII.The war proves an enormous test for the younger generation Lyttons and shows them as individuals made of quite sterner stuff than the slightly spoilt, privileged youngsters we are first introduced to.As all over England the women take over when the men go to war, so also do Lady Celia and her sister in law LM take charge at Lyttons. Just as they did, in fact, twenty years earlier during WWI.The book takes us from London to Paris and New York. Destinies are met, lives changed and the young generation leave their carefree youth behind them forever.There is one thing that bothered me a bit about this book, the relationship - or rather the lack of it - between Lady Celia and her ex-lover, the handsome author Sebastian. I think that after the way their love affair was presented in "No Angel", as "the love of a lifetime", their almost pragmatic friendship throughout the book did not quite ring through. Sebastian's marriage to Pandora, a woman he loves desperately and grieves for the rest of his life when she dies in childbirth, further emphasizes the disaccordance I felt with that whole situation.I have still to read "Into Temptation". Perhaps some enlightment is offered there!"Something Dangerous" was not quite as suberb as "No Angel", but still marvellous reading which kept me awake late into the night.

This is the second book in the Spoils of Time trilogy. The time period for this part of the Lytton family saga is from the late 1920's through the post WWII period. While set primarily in London, New York also features prominently in the story as does the Beckenham estate. While the prior book focused on Cecelia, this one involves the next generation, her children and Barty. While I initially found the twins to be vapid and spoiled, they do come into their own in this one and have some redeeming features. As in the previous novel, events in history feature prominently, with the rise of Hitler and the eventual war. As in the Great War, the women step in to run the company as the men go off to fight. Tragedy strikes in differing ways and love and betrayal also feature in the lives of the Lyttons and those around them. Fortunes change and we see different sides of some of the characters as they age.

The world of Penny Vincenzi's novel "Something Dangerous" is entirely populated by rich and beautiful and happy aristocrats who feel compelled to use either "frightfully" or "terribly" as every other word in their speech, or who think it a monstrous scandal if one does not marry his or her cousin. As such, the world itself is bland and banal, and the people in them frustrating and exhausting to be with. Whoever tends to wish to disrupt the natural order of things -- such as Abbie, a social climber and an aspiring headmistress, who starts an affair with one of the anointed's husband -- are allowed to have their fun and games before they're forgotten and made invisible.Vincenzi is a great stylist, the construction of her sentences noble and refined, and it's apparent that both Jane Austen and George Eliot were heavy influences on her. Unfortunately, there's very little substance in what she writes, and thus little truth and beauty.

This book was the second of a trilogy of the Lytton family in London and the US. The 3 books ("No Angel", "Something Dangerous" and "Into Temptation") span the time from World War I and approximately 1959. It's hard to review this one book out of the 3 because they are so closely linked. In each you get a little of the background of the Lytton family and their sometimes questionable rise to power, their lies, deceptions, affairs and even murder. I truly hated to come to the end of the third book and am so looking forward to more of her novels. As a fan of Ken Follet and his American sagas, I fast became a fan of Penny Vincenzi.

Author has an amazing talent of transporting her readers. I can't get enough and will read every book she's written.

I just loved this book! I'd give it a 10 if it were possible. As a sequel, I never thought it could live up to "No Angel", but I liked it even better. The description of the exodus from Paris when the rumors that the dreaded NAZIs were coming, and what it was like during that hour and a half when the German troops moved in...Wow. I can't believe the author wasn't there! And do the chickens ever come home to roost for Celia and Sebastien. I can't wait to read "Into Temptation"! I can see this as a mini-series or a really big movie like "The Winds of War."

Another great one from Penny Vincenzi! I read NO ANGEL and was hooked. SOMETHING DANGEROUS was also an"i can't put it down" novel which continued with the story of the Lyttons. I found all of the characters to beindividually interesting and unique. Lady Beckenham and Lady Celia are my two favorites because they havewhat it takes to endure a not always easy life. Both are strong women who exude an attitude of non defeat.I found the twins entertaining even as adults and their offspring charming.I'm off to read the third in the trilogy, INTO TEMPTATION.

As I said in my review of No Angel I read the spoils of time trilogy over 20 years ago and was sad when I had finished all three it was such a brilliant saga. I’ve bought the 3 books again just finished Something Dangerous so will now start the final book Into TemptationI’ve enjoyed them just as much the second time round and I know I will feel as sad again when I have finished reading all three. I would highly recommend.

Continuing the family saga of the Lytton family and their publishing empire of the same name. Following their individual lives through their many trials and tribulations (well what can you expect from a Vinzeni book?), two world wars, the depression there-after and the births and deaths of a few which over shadows them all, no-one comes away unscathed.At the start of the book, Ms Vincenzi says that she had all three books in mind for a long time and to put this tale together with all the varying characters in their different roles is simply amazing. Lady Celia Lytton, the matriarch of the story has many secrets up her sleeve which are very intriguing, I wont spoil the book and tell you what they are. Suffice to say, I did guess a couple but there were some that I didn't see coming.I enjoyed getting in to the characters, learning their strengths and weaknesses, getting angry with them when they were down right selfish and nasty, mourning with them when they lost some-one close, crying with them when all seemed lost and felt sorry most of all for Barty, who despite all her hard work was still not considered a 'Lytton' in the full sense of the word and forced to take second place once again. However good things are on the horizon for her and we see her character develop into a major role in the publishing world at last.A delightful tale if you can manage it at nearly 800 pages but well worth the effort.Well done Penny, you certainly kept me entertained and I am pleased to be able to recommend it to other readers.Thank you

I love Penny Vincenzi’s books ,they catch me from the first few pages then I am hooked and get into the bad habitof reading well into the early morning as the story is so good and the characters excellent ,how does shecreate them .l would love them to be films .

I can't write anything bad about Penny Vincenzi's books. She has a style that I find interesting, amusing and brilliantly written with characters that you can almost touch and relate to within the first few pages. This book is no exception - a brilliantly conducted plot-line with numerous characters that never over-lap in your mind or become confusing because each one is brilliantly defined to become unique. I'm not going to give you the plot-line or spoil the story ............ just trust me, you'll love it !

I think there is something along the lines of 62 'absurds' in chapter one! That did get on my nerves a tad, an absolutely over used word!!! As for Lady Celia....I adored her character in No Angel but in Something Dangerous she is just a grumpy old obnoxious snob. What a shame. Anyway, I am half way through, it's not bad, not nearly as good as the first but still, glad I'm reading it. Will definitely want to read the final trilogy, let's hope Lady Celia gets a sense of humour in that one.