The Family Mansion

(Paperback)

---

Publishing Details

Classifications

Physical Properties

Description

Like many second sons, Hartley decides to migrate to Jamaica at the age of 23. This at first seems sensible: in the early 1800s Jamaica was the richest and most opulent of all the crown colonies, and the greatest producer of sugar in the world. But for all its wealth, Jamaica was an inhospitable place for an immigrant. The complex saga of Hartley's life is revealed in vivid scenes that depict the fluctuations of 19th-century English and Jamaican societies. The Family Mansion transports readers to exotic lands and explores the brutality of England's slavery-based colonization.

Reviews

In God Carlos and The Family Mansion, Anthony Winkler, the master storyteller, has provided us with texts of both narrative quality and historical substance that should find place in the annals of Caribbean literature.
--SX Salon

Winkler never glosses over Jamaican deprivation, prejudice, and violence, yet the love of language--and the language of love--somehow conquers all. It's almost as if P.G. Wodehouse had strolled into the world of Bob Marley . . . Winkler's fiction magics the island into a place of rough-edged enchantment.
--The Independent (UK)

Winkler may be the best novelist you've never heard of. He continues the brilliant, irreverent recasting of Europe's colonization of Jamaica...Winkler tells a story seeped in satire, sex and humor. Another textbook example of fine fiction writing.
--Atlanta Magazine

Witty, humorous, and full of interesting predicaments, this is a wonderful human interest story.
--Historical Novel Review

A complicated character study and darkly comedic look at early 19th-century plantation life.
--Historical Novel Society

Mr. Winkler has written an amusing, at times satirical novel, while touching on important historical aspects, such as human rights, slavery, and colonization...I would recommend this book, especially to those who enjoy historical fiction.
--Turn the Page Reviews

Set in the 19th century, the Jamaican-born author's lyrical and engaging novel transports readers to his native country's sugar cane plantations in the tumultuous years before the abolition of slavery.
--Arts ATL (Included in "Beach reads: a half-dozen best bets for summer from Atlanta authors")

The Family Mansion is an intensely charming book that is truly laugh-out-loud funny from cover to cover. It is both smart and witty, full of sophisticated surprises, great insights and very unique historical perspectives. It delves heavily into philosophy and really entertains. This is not the type of novel with which you will easily get bored. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys wonderful writing, great humor, or human interest stories.
--Book Reporter

The Family Mansion is a little bit story, a little bit rollicking history lesson and a little bit philosophical treatise...well written with a tastefully applied zing of humor in just the right places.
--Sacramento Book Review

It's a special kind of happiness, when the first bits of a novel deliver a thrill, and The Family Mansion by Anthony C. Winkler does just that.
--The Denver Post

Winkler proves his salt, daring to weave slices of British and Jamaican history, and slavery's savagery on to a blaring tale that already stood on its own. He picks his spots. His timing is meticulous, narrating a history of woe with an effortless joie de vivre.
--The Gleaner (Jamaica)

Highly recommended, especially if you want to read some historical fiction that doesn't feature corset-bound women swooning and jumped-up wankers twatting around on horses and smoking cigars. A refreshing read.
--BookCunt

Every country (if she's lucky) gets the Mark Twain she deserves, and Winkler is ours, bristling with savage Jamaican wit and heart-stopping compassion.
--Marlon James, author of The Book of Night Women

With Hartley's point of view as its primary focus, the narrative transports readers to exotic lands, simultaneously exploring the brutality of England's slavery-based colonization.
--Celticlady's Reviews

In God Carlos and The Family Mansion, Anthony Winkler, the master storyteller, has provided us with texts of both narrative quality and historical substance that should find place in the annals of Caribbean literature.
--SX Salon

Winkler never glosses over Jamaican deprivation, prejudice, and violence, yet the love of language--and the language of love--somehow conquers all. It's almost as if P.G. Wodehouse had strolled into the world of Bob Marley . . . Winkler's fiction magics the island into a place of rough-edged enchantment.
--The Independent (UK)

Winkler may be the best novelist you've never heard of. He continues the brilliant, irreverent recasting of Europe's colonization of Jamaica...Winkler tells a story seeped in satire, sex and humor. Another textbook example of fine fiction writing.
--Atlanta Magazine

Witty, humorous, and full of interesting predicaments, this is a wonderful human interest story.
--Historical Novel Review

A complicated character study and darkly comedic look at early 19th-century plantation life.
--Historical Novel Society

Mr. Winkler has written an amusing, at times satirical novel, while touching on important historical aspects, such as human rights, slavery, and colonization...I would recommend this book, especially to those who enjoy historical fiction.
--Turn the Page Reviews

Set in the 19th century, the Jamaican-born author's lyrical and engaging novel transports readers to his native country's sugar cane plantations in the tumultuous years before the abolition of slavery.
--Arts ATL (Included in "Beach reads: a half-dozen best bets for summer from Atlanta authors")

The Family Mansion is an intensely charming book that is truly laugh-out-loud funny from cover to cover. It is both smart and witty, full of sophisticated surprises, great insights and very unique historical perspectives. It delves heavily into philosophy and really entertains. This is not the type of novel with which you will easily get bored. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys wonderful writing, great humor, or human interest stories.
--Book Reporter

The Family Mansion is a little bit story, a little bit rollicking history lesson and a little bit philosophical treatise...well written with a tastefully applied zing of humor in just the right places.
--Sacramento Book Review

It's a special kind of happiness, when the first bits of a novel deliver a thrill, and The Family Mansion by Anthony C. Winkler does just that.
--The Denver Post

Winkler proves his salt, daring to weave slices of British and Jamaican history, and slavery's savagery on to a blaring tale that already stood on its own. He picks his spots. His timing is meticulous, narrating a history of woe with an effortless joie de vivre.
--The Gleaner (Jamaica)

Highly recommended, especially if you want to read some historical fiction that doesn't feature corset-bound women swooning and jumped-up wankers twatting around on horses and smoking cigars. A refreshing read.
--BookCunt

Every country (if she's lucky) gets the Mark Twain she deserves, and Winkler is ours, bristling with savage Jamaican wit and heart-stopping compassion.
--Marlon James, author of The Book of Night Women

With Hartley's point of view as its primary focus, the narrative transports readers to exotic lands, simultaneously exploring the brutality of England's slavery-based colonization.
--Celticlady's Reviews

Author Bio

Anthony C. Winkler was born in Kingston, Jamaica in 1942 and is widely recognized as one of the island's finest and most hilarious exports. His first novel, The Painted Canoe, was published in 1984 to critical acclaim. This was followed by The Lunatic (1987; Akashic Books, 2007), which was turned into a feature film, then The Great Yacht Race (1992), Going Home to Teach (1995), The Duppy (1997), Dog War (2007), and God Carlos (2012). He lives with his wife in Atlanta, Georgia.