A Legacy

As I was becoming comfortably immersed in high-society, pre-WWI Europe in Bedford's 1956 novel, just republished by NYRB Classics, I began to sense an ominous undercurrent: time seemed to be speeding up. The story of the mingling of the Merzes and the Feldens starts with the patriarchs of those two families: both are near the pinnacles of their separate realms (the Jewish haute-bourgeoise and the Catholic aristocracy) but their most important luxury is to be able to live out their lifespans while time still moves at a human pace. For their children, technology, politics, and manners are transforming, and in a milieu where a sign of a true gentleman is that he never reads the newspapers, that can be dangerous. A Legacy is an amusing, enlightening Grand Tour that quietly reminds you of the tragedies, both small and large, of a world where history outpaces humanity.