The Newcomes

Narrated by Arthur Pendennis, The Newcomes (1853-5) concerns a self-made man, Sir Brian Newcome, whose marriage into the aristocratic Kew family brings titled respectability to his family's "new" money. Now the marriage of his daughter Ethel is of crucial importance to both families' quest for further advancement. A revelatory and hugely witty excursion among the hypocritical upperclass, The Newcomes memorializes the evolution of an age.