I found this book very convoluted almost to the point of being dysfunctional. There were parts that were really interesting but I did not find that the author had made following up the characters stories very fluid. I loved the start describing how and why the wall was built and the excellent descriptions of the land, the fountain construction and the surrounding garden. The way that the book began and ended with the 17th Century part was novel and I did like that. I felt that the modern day history of the other wall was too limited and the people both sides of that wall could have been more fully described. This has only warranted three stars as it was so convoluted and not easy to read and get into the characters of the people. I loved all the fantastic descriptions of the various scenery and felt that this was the authors forte. Not a book that I enjoyed at all.

An enjoyable read, if slightly drawn out. I liked the story of the garden and the house, the families being repeated down the years. Some of the characters were well-drawn, while others were perhaps slightly lacking focus.
I'd recommend as a holiday/relaxing read.

Sadly, I just couldn't get into this one. It seemed rather good, and written brilliantly, but it just didn't capture me. I feel this is a case of personal taste, rather than a reflection on the author, so I've still given it 3 stars.

My review as posted on Goodreads:

This is a novel which I know I will remember for a long time.

Until I read this book I'd never really thought about the real significance of walls.

There are aspects of the story which seemed surreal and slightly confusing. However I really enjoyed this book.

I loved the setting in a part of rural Oxfordshire which I know well.

The dual time frame works well within this story.

The subtle links between the significance of the Berlin Wall and the wall around the Wychwood Estate during the time of the Plague.

My thanks go to Netgalley and Fourth Estate for a copy in exchange for this review.

A great detailing of life on a country estate in several different times, although most of these eras occur in the 20th century and there is a continuation of characters.
This is how private estates were managed and the novel gives an insight into the lives of the estate workers as much as it does the owners'.

Feelings of claustrophobia are sometimes engendered with the building of the stone wall around the estate.. The description of the fall of the Berlin wall, where some of the characters are present enhances this.

Absolutely loved this book, a real page turner and I didn't want to come to the end.

Peculiar Ground was massively disappointing. The premise of the book was intriguing but its execution was below par.
When I am given a book for review I always try to at least finish it, no matter how bad I think it is, but this book was so difficult to read that I gave up at around 15%. I wanted to finish it at 3% but I carried on in the hope that the minute areas of promise would spark but it didn’t happen.
My main problem was that the writing was overly wordy, fifty words were used where a few would suffice. It meant that the few times when I began to think the book was ok something would happen to destroy it.
In the 17th Century at the great house at Wychwood a landscaper is hired to design ornamental lakes and an exquisite garden. His presence there stirs up old tensions and all is not as it seems.
Three centuries later in a young girl named Nell watches as the Berlin Wall is erected. When Nell is grown up refugees seek refuge at Wychwood after a conflict.
I felt like this book was a bit too fragmented to work. I really wanted to like it but I didn’t. Judging from the Goodreads reviews though I am in the minority.

Took forever to get interesting,too much factual information. Characters were not interesting and did not engage with me.

'Are we making a second Paradise here, or a prison?'

There are lots of good and politically pertinent ideas and images in this book: walls that divide, keeping people in or out, whether as a physical boundary or an ideological one. And one of the themes is the fissures that co-exist with walls, boundaries which prove to be permeable, sometimes through desperation.

For all the current relevance though (Trump's wall, the rhetoric of taking back control of UK borders) this didn't work over well for me as a piece of fiction. The over-used format of switching times and multiple narrators give this a fragmented feel that lacks unity and, frankly, not all the various stories and people crammed together here are of equal interest. There are attempts to pull things together (a statue of Flora in 1663, a character named Flora 400 years later) but I'm left with a feeling of something interesting that ends up looser and baggier than it could have been: a more incisive edit would have improved the book for me.

This is a stunning, ambitious, haunting and epic novel that outlines what it is to be human in two different historical eras separated by centuries when the world is in a state of flux and change. It is beautifully structured to give us insights into how change is viewed from numerous perspectives. We begin in the seventeenth century, 1663, in the country house and estate of Wychwood in Oxfordshire, being landscaped by Mr Norris into a veritable paradise. A wall has been built to enclose the entire estate and the people within it offering some protection from outside threats such as the plague. Charles II has been restored to the throne although some fail to grasp that it is not a return to the past they once knew before the Civil War. This is a community living in fear, with secrets, religious and class divisions, rumours of witches, ghosts and rebels.

Three centuries later, we again return to a much changed Wychwood from 1961 to 1989 which bears witness to the building and tearing down of the Berlin Wall. The people staying at Wychwood appear to be isolated from the effects of the world shattering events taking place outside. Eight year old Nell, seemingly invisible to others, observes and listens to conversations amongst the guests, even though she does not always understand, as she grows up through those years. There are spies, secrets, art historians, romantic entanglements, intrigue, and a Salman Rushdie fatwa culminating in a refugee seeking sanctuary at Wychwood. As the cold war thaws, a wall comes down, carrying with it the expectations and dreams of so many.

This a superb psychological study of humanity rooted in vastly different eras that looks at the physical, political, class, mental and emotional divisions that people build and the effects it has when great change takes place. This challenges existing perspectives even though little seems to affect those residing at Wychwood. It asks the question whether Wychwood's walls and the other barriers serve as a prison of peoples' own making or if they offer safety and protection. The connections between the different times are transparent irrespective of the time periods. The author deploys beautiful prose and descriptions. The novel is atmospheric and vibrant and the narrative reflects the language of each period. Wonderful book that I highly recommend. Thanks to HarperCollins 4th Estate for an ARC.

Interesting read. The story begins with the formation of a large country estate shortly after the restoration of the monarchy in the form of Charles 2nd. Wychwood is a large Manor House which is reinhaboted by its previous royalist owners, however the local people have been living a different life during this period. Rumours of witchcraft abound and accidents occur during the building and improvement. The story then moves onto the 1950s, and the house is owned by a different family. The story follows the political turmoil of the 50s and 60s, in Britain and abroad, and how it impacts on those at Wychwood. It was tricky to see how the two stories were going to come together, other than in location, and I'm not sure this was truly achieved. It was a little like reading 2 different stories in one book, both fascinating but with only minor connection.

I requested a copy of this book from the description as it sounded interesting and a bit different but I have to be honest and say I really didn't enjoy it and gave up halfway through. I found the story difficult to follow and for me it didn't flow very well either. I also found it very confusing with the many characters that feature that I lost track of who's story I was reading. Disappointing !

Reading 'Peculiar Ground' was like slicing into a beautifully decorated cake, which revealed a multi layered creation, with each layer having its own unique flavour.

The country house estate of Wychwood in Oxfordshire is the location at the heart of this story. Within its walls lies a world distinctly seperate from the rest of the world. The tale begins in 1663, and the landscape designer Mr Norris is called upon to perfect the acres of grounds with avenues of trees and ornamental ponds and fountains - Arcadia in the making. Peace reigns after decades of civil war, but there are those with secrets to hide, and whisperings of witchcraft and ghosts.

Fast forward three centuries and the current Wychwood plays host to house parties, and rock concerts, and witnesses historical changes such as the erection of the Berlin Wall, and eventually the demolition of the Wall. There is talk of spies amongst the guests and illicit love, and the arrival of a refugee caught up in a fatwa, all of which are observed by one of the younger guests Nell. The grownups never seem to notice Nell hiding under seats and tables, but nothing escapes her attention.

Wychwood is a world that protects and cossets its inhabitants, but is it also a form of imprisonment? where these pampered creatures are completely unable to connect with the reality of the world beyond the walls?

This is a lengthy and digressive narrative, with lots of interesting characters, and certainly requires complete attention, or it would be easy to lose track. However, it's beautifully written with intelligence and great insight, both emotionally and historically. An absorbing read.

Peculiar Ground is a novel of divisions and connections, of the Berlin Wall going up and down and the changing world after the Restoration, of the young giving way to the old and the estate of Wychwood standing throughout. In 1663, the grounds of Wychwood are landscaped by Mr Norris, who watches the family as he plans the hedges. These same grounds provide the backdrop for a party in 1961 where eight-year-old Nell overhears the adults talking but scarcely understands their world of Cold War spies and love affairs. In the ensuing decades, Wychwood continues to stand as a place where the same people gather and play out the intrigues of their lives as a new world dawns with the Berlin Wall coming down and the grounds of Wychwood used as a tourist attraction.

Hughes-Hallet creates a varied novel with a wide cast of characters across both the seventeenth- and twentieth-century portions, using different narrative styles and perspectives to get across their differences. The seventeenth-century parts are largely narrated by Mr Norris in an archaic - but not overwhelmingly so - style, making them feel quite different to the Cold War narrative that forms the bulk of the book. The parallels drawn between the two are clear and expected, but this trope serves to show how the ‘peculiar ground’ of Wychwood bears drama across the centuries.

The narrative is controlled tightly, with mystery and ambiguity, hinting towards later events or details that will not yet be fully revealed. This is one of its main strengths: a sense of being drawn into the world of Wychwood in 1961 and watching the characters then and in the two subsequent periods in which they are shown, reveling in their triumphs and problems, waiting for more secrets to be known. Stand out characters are often the ones who are outsiders brought into the scene, like the art dealer Antony whose secrets everybody seems to know.

Peculiar Ground is an epic kind of English country house novel, but one that works to reflect the world around it, from Andy Warhol in the early 70s to Salman Rushdie and religious tension in 1989. The seventeenth-century part adds interesting parallels and ideas about religious difference, witchcraft, and garden landscaping, though it is less compelling that the large middle of the novel focused on the years when the Berlin Wall was standing, which has a more intriguing set of characters and events. The novel may appeal to fans of Hollinghurst’s The Stranger’s Child or Stoppard’s Arcadia, but also to anyone who enjoys novels spanning across changing times, watching as characters react and a crucial location stands still.

(Note: this review will be posted on my blog Fiendfully Reading closer to the publication date.)