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What does it mean to inherit a great estate in the twenty-first century?
In this conversation, novelist Anna Hope and biographer Catherine Bailey explore the tensions surrounding land, wealth and responsibility — themes that echo across both fiction and history.
Anna Hope’s novel Albion reimagines the English country-house novel for our time. The story follows the Brooke family as they gather after the death of their patriarch at their ancestral estate, confronting competing visions for its future — from ecological rewilding to elite luxury development. Critics have described the book as a powerful reworking of the country-house tradition, exploring inheritance, climate anxiety and the lingering moral questions surrounding land and privilege.
Historian and biographer Catherine Bailey brings the conversation into the realm of real dynasties. Her bestselling work Black Diamonds recounts the extraordinary saga of the Fitzwilliam family and Wentworth Woodhouse — one of the grandest houses in Britain — whose inheritance sparked bitter family conflict and financial catastrophe. Through archival research and dramatic storytelling, Bailey reveals how immense wealth, political power and family rivalry collided within the walls of a single estate, exposing the fragile foundations beneath aristocratic privilege.
The discussion will be moderated by Debrett’s historian Eleanor Doughty, author of Heirs and Graces and an expert on the modern British aristocracy. Drawing on her work documenting Britain’s titled families and their changing place in contemporary society, Doughty guides a conversation about what inheritance means today — and whether the great estates of Britain represent a burden, a legacy, or an opportunity for reinvention.
