'...there's a ferocious energy here that will keep you reading through to the bitter end. Goddard has reinvigorated the country house novel and in Petula Montague he has created a great new monster of English fiction.' The GuardianMeet Petula Montague, social climber par excellence. A lucky second marriage to a billionaire has made her grande dame of The Heights, a mansion atop a leafy hill in an English backwater. With the determination of a prima ballerina, Petula sets out to widen her social circle so that it includes lords of industry, famous actors from London, and the country's most famous poet. In her wake are the frayed lives of three unloved children. The oldest daughter, Evita, flees the scene only to succumb to addiction and madness; the middle son, Jasper, moves from the Heights to a cottage on the property, living like a dog awaiting scraps from its master; and the youngest daughter, Regan, the favorite, merges with her mother and pays the costs of an unlived life. At once deeply satirical and moodily realistic, Nature and Necessity is a profound meditation on the irresistible lure of wealth and security. Told with a pre-modern sensibility, the narrative treats its characters like the players in a Victorian domestic epic. Goddard deftly draws scenes that are psychologically acute, even heartbreaking, yet never fail to raise a smile or a knowing shake of the head. As the plot reaches its crescendo, Goddard lets us laugh at the folly of Petula while never letting us forget that her story is our own.