Told in diary format, this is the story of a family of impoverished royalty (one of their ancestors declared an island a kingdom) making do as the last few residents of Montmaray.The first half of the book is entirely set-up, readable enough, but all too easy to put down. Then the Germans referred to in the blurb arrive and suddenly everything happens at a high pace, the developments enough to make me want to go on to read the next book, whereas the first half was making me wonder if I'd finish this.
