Snobs is Julian Fellowes's debut novel first published in the UK in 2004. It centres on modern British aristocracy and the courtship and marriage of Charles, Earl Broughton, and Miss Edith Lavery. It is written from the perspective of an unnamed male character who bears more than a passing resemblance to Fellowes himself. Plot summary Edith Lavery is a middleclass single woman who feels she has reached a time in her life when the only chance of riches, fame and success is to marry a rich man. Her parents, especially her mother, have spent most of Edith's life trying to make her respectable to the upper classes and are both extremely glad when she announces her courtship and engagement to the bumbling and kind-hearted Charles Broughton, only son and heir of the Marquess of Uckfield. The engagement is not looked upon favourably by Charles's mother, the Marchioness of Uckfield ("Googie" to her friends), or by many in Charles's "set". His friends and relatives frequently mock Edith and attempt to "catch her out" as an alien to the aristocracy. Her greatest enemy of all is Eric Chase, husband of Charles's sister Lady Caroline Chase, who comes from a similar background to Edith herself. After the couple marry, they honeymoon in Majorca, but cracks have already begun to form in the marriage. Charles bores Edith while Edith puzzles Charles. Back at the family seat of Broughton Hall, Edith is tempted by Simon Russell, an actor who is filming scenes for a period drama at Broughton with the story's narrator. She embarks on an affair with Russell which leads her to eventually very nearly divorce Charles. She returns to the Broughton fold upon news of her being pregnant. She accepts Charles for who he is and they live "happily enough". Characters The Narrator, Edith Lavery's friend Edith Lavery Charles, Earl Broughton Simon Russel, an actor The Marquess of Uckfield ('Tigger'), Charles Broughton's father The Marchioness of Uckfield ('Googie') (born Lady Harriet Trevane), Charles Broughton's mother Lady Caroline Chase, Charles Broughton's sister Eric Chase, Caroline Chase's husband Adela FitzGerald, the narrator's eventual wife Lord Cumnor Lady Cumnor The Honourable Tommy Wainright Lord Peter Broughton, the Marquess of Uckfield's younger half-brother Viscount Bohun Viscountess Bohun Bob Watson Annette Watson Isabel Easton, Edith Lavery's friend David Easton, Edith Lavery's friend Stella Lavery, Edith Lavery's mother Kenneth Lavery, Edith Lavery's father Reception The novel received mixed reviews.