A dancingly captivating, mischievous and heartbreaking debut about a dysfunctional family, in a crumbling Gothic mansion spanning the decades of the Twentieth Century.
‘We shall be forgotten.’ he said. ‘We shall be lost. They will scrub us away like a set of dirty fingerprints on a plastic kettle.’
The crumbling Gothic mansion of Thornwalk, long-term home of the Gilbert family, is being handed over to a chain of luxury ‘historic’ hotels. Millions will be spent in its restoration. But for every ‘improvement’, what will be lost? What value can there possibly be in a threadbare carpet, a tarnished spoon and a thousand empty jam jars?
Before the hotel people arrive, with their clipboards and their skips and their bottles of bleach, Maximus, loyal guardian of the Gilberts’ legacy, invites us on a final tour of the once-stately home, where each room holds a secret. From the bolt on the blue room door to the tiny dents in the bars at the nursery window … these are the keys that will unlock the lives of the five fatherless Gilbert children.
A frustrated romantic, a stubborn traditionalist, a dreamer, a diva and an explorer: The Infamous Gilberts will be cast adrift on the irresistible tides of the twentieth century, buoyed by love, buffeted by loss, and tangled together in an unputdownable story where the lines between eccentricity and madness, cruelty and love become hilariously, heartbreakingly blurred.
About the Author
Angela Tomaski was born in Oxford and raised in Somerset with her four brothers and sisters. She has had a variety of different jobs, including as a waitress, cleaner, English teacher and activity coordinator in a care home. She has a daughter and two grandsons, and now lives in rural Dorset.
Industry Reviews
Completely captivating: I absolutely loved it. A compelling, ingenious, mischievous blend of tragedy, comedy and intrigue
Nina Stibbe
Vivid, poignant, infuriating, hilarious and tragic: the most rewarding and beautiful novel I've read in ages
Barbara Trapido
Exquisite, unsettling and utterly unique
Jessica Stanley, author of Consider Yourself Kissed
Eccentric and deliciously addictive ... a gorgeous portrayal of a family caught in a privileged world that no longer exists
Rachel Joyce
Dazzlingly original and told with wit, heart and humanity, it's the kind of novel you cannot bear to put down until you know the fate of every character
Joanna Miller, author of The Eights
If Shirley Jackson moved The Addams Family to the English countryside, something like this dark, tongue-in-cheek epic might result… This distinctive debut introduces a wickedly weird new talent
Kirkus Review
A family saga like no other. Gloriously off-beat, darkly comedic and totally bewitching. A bravura performance
Sarah Winman, author of Still Life
Funny, and silly, and brilliantly crazy, and so poignant it made me cry. One of the best books - if not the best - I've read this year
Claire Fuller, author of Unsettled Ground
An absolute gem
Sunday Times Style
Tomaski has said that "with the publication of this book, 30 years of relentless, excruciating failure come to an end". Her debut takes the form of a house tour around Thornwalk, the gothic mansion home to the last of the eccentric Wynford Gilberts, and soon to be handed over to a luxury hotel chain. Our tour guide, Maximus, narrates the family’s turbulent history through the house’s many quirks
The Guardian: 10 debut novels to look out for in 2026
An absolute gem. Although home to the Gilberts for decades, the gothic mansion holds scant evidence of the family's lives, apart from a threadbare carpet, a tarnished spoon and dents in the bars across the nursery window. But it's through these imperfections – about to be ripped out, painted over and forgotten for ever – that we learn the truth about the five children who used to call the building home
The Sunday Times: Style – Meet Your Must-Reads For 2026
A darker I Capture the Castle meets Shirley Hazzard. The eccentric Gilberts are a once-grand family in decline, clinging to the past in their crumbling gothic edifice. An eccentric, exquisite, utterly unpredictable and wholly unexpected tragicomedy
Book(ish) – Good things, good intentions and good books for 2026
An off-beat family drama about a family being turfed out of the home they've lived in forever as it's taken over by a luxury hotel chain sounds right up my street
Good Housekeeping – Meet your new favourite writers! These are the debut novels we're most excited about in 2026 - and there's something for every taste
Can a tragedy be cozy? ... Tomaski puts a quirky spin on Gothic storytelling... with rare control and evident relish
New York Times
An ingenious family drama ... what a Jane Austen novel would look like if it had considerably more psychological ugliness
BookPage
Creepy, magical and utterly compelling, as if The Cazalets Chronicles and We Have Always Lived At The Castle met and had a problem child. It's impossible not to get sucked into this tragi-comic tour de force
Sarra Manning, author of You Don't Have to Say You Love Me
