ShortBookandScribes #BookReview – The Infamous Gilberts by Angela Tomaski

Posted on 27th February 2026 By Nicola

The Infamous Gilberts by Angela Tomaski will be published in hardcover on 5th March (the eBook is already available). My thanks to the publishers for the proof copy and the little jar of Fruits of Thornwalk strawberry jam, a relic of one of Hugo Gilbert’s doomed money-making schemes.

‘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 so-called 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.

Some years ago, Angela Tomaski visited a house that had just been bought by the National Trust. She saw slippers and soap belonging to the late owner in his bedroom and by her next visit they had gone, those items so personal to him erased forever. This was the seed of a story that led her to write The Infamous Gilberts.

The Gilberts are siblings Lydia, Hugo, Annabel, Jeremy and Rosalind and their story covers much of the 20^th century. In short chapters, vignettes almost, we see the trajectory of their lives at Thornwalk, their gothic family mansion, not through their own reminiscences but through those of Maximus who walks us through life at Thornwalk in the manner of a tour guide (although he’s actually a friend of the family) before it passes into the hands of the hotel chain who have bought it.

It becomes clear there is an element of madness running through the Gilbert siblings, a self-destructive nature that is inescapable. I got to the end and thought they literally had no redeeming features but when I thought about it more I realised that Annabel and Jeremy were at least a little more likeable. The other three didn’t have much going for them but they certainly made interesting reading.

The writing style of The Infamous Gilberts won’t appeal to everyone. It did take a little getting into, the narration being rather matter of fact yet conversational, but I got to a point where I found it difficult to put down. The story itself, of a family’s downfall and extinction, is fascinating and I agree with the author, it’s the small things that feel so incredibly intimate, those stains and scratches, the wedding ring, the blotter by the telephone, all memories of a family and a way of life now lost. I enjoyed this unusual and poignant book.

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.