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    Edward Trencom's Nose: A Novel of History, Dark Intrigue, and Cheese
    Unavailable
    Edward Trencom's Nose: A Novel of History, Dark Intrigue, and Cheese
    Unavailable
    Edward Trencom's Nose: A Novel of History, Dark Intrigue, and Cheese
    Ebook366 pages5 hours

    Edward Trencom's Nose: A Novel of History, Dark Intrigue, and Cheese

    By Giles Milton

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Situated on London's Foster Lane, there is a quintessentially Georgian, redbrick house with a green door bearing the sign trencoms, 1662. It's the home of the Trencom family's cheese store, a generational establishment begun by Humphrey Trencom that now, 303 years later, is run by Edward Trencom. Quaint though it may seem, it bears witness to a strange occurrence of "accidents" that seem to befall every generation of the curd-loving family.…
    Edward Trencom has bumbled through life, relying on his trusty nose to turn the family cheese shop into the most celebrated fromagerie in England. This was no ordinary nose, but one long, aquiline, and furnishing the trademark circular bump over the bridge---the very same nose bestowed on all the Trencom men. It was extraordinary, able to discern the composition, maturity, and quality of cheese---and the Trencom noses had sniffed, whiffed, and judged the very best cheeses of the world.
    But on an ordinary day, Edward's world is turned upside down when he stumbles across a crate of family papers. To his horror, he discovers that nine previous generations of his family have come to sticky ends because of their noses. When he investigates---despite his grandfather's caveat never to look into the origin of his nose---Edward finds himself caught up in a Byzantine riddle to which there is no obvious answer. And like his ill-fated ancestors, he is hunted down by rival forces whose identity and purpose remain a total mystery.
    Trapped between the mad, the bad, and a cheese to die for, Edward Trencom's nose must make a choice---and for the last nine generations it has made the catastrophically wrong decision.
    Giles Milton's deliciously comic debut novel is a mouthwatering blend of Tom Sharpe and P. G. Wodehouse. From the noble Roquefort to the piquant Èpoisses, every page is permeated by the pungent odor of cheese.

    Praise for Giles Milton

    "He has a rare ability---a talent for sifting fine pearls from faraway sands and for transmuting the merely arcane into little literary gems."
    ---Simon Winchester, The Boston Globe

    "Milton spins a fascinating tale. . . . Exuberantly eccentric characters stride the pages."---Time magazine on Nathaniel's Nutmeg

    "In an exceptionally pungent, amusing, and accessible historical account, Giles Milton brings readers right into the midst of these colonists and their daunting American adventure."--- Janet Maslin, The New York Times, on Big Chief Elizabeth

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateApr 17, 2007
    ISBN9781429985161
    Unavailable
    Edward Trencom's Nose: A Novel of History, Dark Intrigue, and Cheese
    Author

    Giles Milton

    Giles Milton is the million-copy, internationally bestselling author of a dozen works of narrative history. His books have been translated into twenty-five languages. One of Milton’s previous books, Nathaniel’s Nutmeg, is currently being developed into a major screen project. Milton is the writer and narrator of the acclaimed narrative podcast series Cover Up: Ministry of Secrets, produced by Sony. He lives in London and Burgundy.

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    Reviews for Edward Trencom's Nose

    3.5/5

    50 ratings7 reviews

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    • 1/5
      A book subtitled "A novel of history, dark intrigue, and cheese" should have been my ideal reading material, but wow, was it not. Edward Trencom has a gifted nose. His family has run a London cheese shop for centuries, and like his predecessors, he can identify every detail about a cheese--and many other things--with a whiff. Those descriptions are awesome. Less awesome is that every generation of cheesemonger in his family, as far as it can be traced, has been assassinated (why the entire family line hasn't simply been wiped out is one of the many frustrating mysteries of the book). As he realizes he's being followed by strange Greek men and his reliable nose becomes less reliable, Edward digs into his family history to find out why the pattern continues.For one, very little was actually about real cheeses, and it ignored actual cheese history and availability in London, especially in the 1960s when commodity cheeses ruled and artisan cheeses were actively dying (YES, as a history and cheese geek, I will criticize this first). Even more, this is a 300-page book wherein there is almost no plot progression for 275 pages. Edward is told time and again that he'll be told the truth soon. Meanwhile, sporadic chapters detail the gruesome deaths of previous generations, and there are gratuitous descriptions of awkward sex, many of them reading like fat jokes. When things finally are revealed at the end, it doesn't feel like much of a surprise because the hints were all there early on, but Edward needed to bumble along for prolonged pages first. Many elements are left unexplained. The book seemed to go for British dry humor with magical realism, but from a strong start, it lost me as the plot itself lost its way. If it wasn't for the cheese angle, I would've stopped reading early on. I was left with the impression that this concept would've made for a great short story.
    • 5/5
      I thought it was actually a different clever little book... something a bit out of the norm but intriguing indeed! I did not get bogged down in the cheese names but rather just followed the story & have been pleasantly pleased with the entire experience :-)

      i actually bought the book partly because i felt sorry for it being on the clearance rack and each week when I went to my bookstore & saw all the copies were still there, so I read the inside cover & decided to give it a go... I am really glad that i did so...
    • 4/5
      I picked this book up because of its title, read about the author's other books, and decided to give it a try. It kept my interest, but I don't need to keep it. SPOILER: I liked the ending and did not expect it: Edward Trencom's wife saves the day! The story is about an ordinary man with an extraordinary sense of smell who tries to discover the secret of his ancestors, who all seem to die in behalf of a mystery (they are the rightful rulers of Greece). Edward becomes more daring and interesting as the story progresses. Just as he is about to repeat the actions of his forefathers, his wife shows up and entices him back to his life as a master seller of cheese and thus probably saves his life.(Trying to follow one's destiny leads to death, frequently unpleasant, for Edward's predecessors; living in the present---enjoying one's life---is better than worrying about the past and the future. I'm reminded of Kazanzatkis saying that women are about the here and now and the real world, while men are the ones who dream of lofty ideals. I was impressed because I had thought that the stereotypical woman was "flighty" and that men were more down-to-earth.)
    • 4/5
      This is a strange one and no mistake. Edward Trencom is the owner of a top cheese shop in London. He has a fine nose which is capable of smelling out to a remarkable degree a wide selection of rare cheeses. His life is settled and satisfying until strange things begin to happen to him. He discovers a crate of family papers in the cellars beneath his shop,which change his life forever and sends him on a dangerous quest to find his roots. Apart from a rather unsatisfactory ending,this is quite a fun read.
    • 4/5
      Despite being not as funny as promised in the blurb, and having quite an obvious ending I really enjoyed this book. The cheese descriptions in paticular are very good, and made me quite hungry at times. I would reccomend it to someone who wants to read a book with some substance, but that wont tax your brain too much.
    • 1/5
      What if your birthright were a hereditary knowledge of cheese and a rather remarkable nose? You would likely, as Edward Trencom and all the Trencom's before him, become a cheesemonger. This little mystery centers Trencom, his nose, his family history, and a whole lot of cheese. I can't really go into detail, because after 77 pages, not much had happened, and I gave up. I picked this up as a lark, but found that I don't have the patience to suffer through an awful lot of pretentious cheese references just to find the plot. The author, who I had not heard of, but seems to be known for his nonfiction, certainly does have a serious knowlege of cheesy comestibles, but has failed to make this book (or the first 77 pages) more than just a funny little joke for those in the know. I doubt there are enough cheese experts in the world to build a strong readership.
    • 3/5
      Edward Trencom’s Nose, debut novel from the popular history writer Giles Milton, is funny, witty in a neo-Wodeshousian sort of way and full of delightfully engaging characters. The Trencom family have been the acknowledged masters of cheese for 10 generations, running their London cheese shop since before the Great Fire of London and passing it done from father to son for over 300 years. Each eldest son also inherits a remarkable nose, a large aquiline nose with a prominent bridge and an extraordinary talent for smelling cheese, which Milton exploits too capacity. Weight-watching cheese-lovers should avoid this book or the numerous evocative, aromatic scenes describing the finest cheeses from around the world will have you diving to the fridge for more than one too many wee morsels. This is a novel fashioned with style and elegance. An elaborate plot structure is interwoven with an account of Greco-Turkish conflict and delicately balanced with a narrow group of amusing, if somewhat one-dimensional, characters. The plot develops as Edward, the current owner of Trencom’s Cheese Shop and possessor of the finest nose in generations, discovers a package of family papers in the cellar. His discoveries, together with the machinations of friends and foes, start him off an a path of adventure – adventure that is in 1960s middle class sub-urban style – which eventually both exposes and ties him to the fate of his forebearers. And here we come to the weakness of the novel: the way in which Edward’s adventures play out is utterly, utterly ludicrous and the farcical denouement is deeply unrevelatory – a brave and not wholly unsuccessful attempt, one suspects, to match the well conceived plot to the mindset of its average players. Yet the overall result is unsatisfying. Make no mistake, this is a good and fun book to read, with lots of laughs and lots of cheese throughout, but the ending just doesn’t quite live up to expectation. Read the book for the pleasure of the journey, but don’t expect to enjoy the party when you reach your destination.