The House at Old Vine Author:Norah Lofts A historical novel in the grand tradition, a richly colorful pageant of life in sixteenth-century England. Set in a time of great religious, political, and economic ferment, it tells of the descendants of Martin Reed, a serf whol rose from bondage to become a man of property, and of their changing fortunes in violently changing times. — Reed's d... more »escendants inherited his ambition and tenacity, and the House at Old Vine serves as a background for their struggles to maintain hard-won position. Some of their motives are noble, others ignoble, but the guiding principle is always to hold onto the house at all costs. The house suffers many rises and falls of condition as the tenents treat it iwith respect or distrespect-yet the house remains, and what it stands for as well.« less