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Patricia Gallagher (1)

Auteur van Castles in the Air

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14 Werken 111 Leden 3 Besprekingen

Werken van Patricia Gallagher

Castles in the Air (1976) 26 exemplaren
Mystic Rose (1977) 19 exemplaren
Echoes and Embers (1983) 11 exemplaren
On Wings Of Dreams (1985) 11 exemplaren
Eeuwige trouw (1979) 10 exemplaren
The Sons and the Daughters (1961) 9 exemplaren
All for Love (1983) 6 exemplaren
The Thicket (1973) 5 exemplaren
A Perfect Love (1987) 4 exemplaren
The Fires of Brimstone (1985) 3 exemplaren
Summer of Sighs (1977) 2 exemplaren
Shannon (1977) 2 exemplaren
Sombras de Paixão (1976) 2 exemplaren
Answer to Heaven (1962) 1 exemplaar

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Castles in the Air begins at the end of the Civil War as Devon Marshall's father commits suicide after the building containing his newspaper business burns to ashes. Devon realizes that the only way to continue a career as a journalist is to strike out for New York, so she breaks off her engagement to an injured war veteran and finagles her way onto the private rail car of banking tycoon Keith Curtis who makes her an offer she can't refuse. Once in New York and not wanting to depend on Curtis for support, Devon strikes out on her own, but she soon finds that obtaining employment as a female journalist is virtually impossible without connections and takes other jobs instead -- jobs that end up with unforeseen complications.

Married Curtis can't forget Devon and rescues her from her latest job as one of the "birds" in a cage at a notorious saloon and unwilling to fight him any longer Devon agrees to become Curtis' mistress (his wife is an invalid, or is she just pretending to be paralyzed?) and as much as he'd like to he cannot marry Devon. The book continues with the ups and downs of their relationship and Devon's involvement in different circles of New York society, dirty politics, emancipation for women, and more. Eventually Devon does obtain a job as a journalist reporting for the women's section of a local paper and she is able to take further that job as she is assigned as one of the many female reporters following the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant from the viewpoint of Mrs. Grant and the social whirl of Washington DC.

Although the basic premise of the storyline sounds like your basic historical romance, and at times it did seem to take on a soap opera/TV mini series type of quality, I have to give the author credit for including a great deal of historical facts and characters. In addition to being entertained with a good story, I obtained a wonderful inside peek at the people and history of late 19C politics with it's dirty politicians, social scandals, railroad barons, the social mores of the day and more as Devon must ultimately decide between her love for Keith and their son or her independence to strike out on a new life that she can live without secrecy or fear of discovery and scandal. The ending definitely left an opening for more of Devon's story and I'd dearly like to know if she continued this in her other books. Four stars.

**Edited -- Gallagher did continue Devon's story in two subsequent books. No Greater Love and On Wings Of Dreams.
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Gemarkeerd
Misfit | May 10, 2009 |
No Greater Love begins in 1873 shortly after Castles in the Air left off. Desperate for a real home and family Devon Marshall agrees to marry Reed Carter and start life afresh with him in Texas, which turns out to be quite a bit rougher than she expected. Devon tries to forget her love for Keith Curtis and their child Scotty and build a new life with Reed, but he's not the perfect man he appeared in the first book and she struggles to return his love. Their marriage is further hampered by spoiled young miss Melissa Hampton's designs on her husband. Reed is appointed as a junior Senator to Washington DC and the Carters try for a fresh start in the Nation's capital. Devon eventually accepts an assignment to report on a sensational trial in New York that brings her back in contact with the now widowed Keith and sparks fly once again....

Despite the impression the book's cover would give as being just another historical romance, Gallagher's knack of blending her characters into that of our nation's history and the perfect touch of those wonderful little historical details of the clothes, furnishings and customs of the Victorian era made for a near perfect mix of romance and history -- from the desolate landscapes of Texas, to the corrupt politics and politicians of US Grant's presidency and more as Devon continues her career as a social reporter following the Grants on their world tour at the end of his presidency. As in the first book, Devon and Keith's story does have a soap opera/TV mini feel to it, but I found it to be highly entertaining and frankly had a hard time putting it down. Four stars and I'm now off to start the final book in the series, On Wings Of Dreams.
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Gemarkeerd
Misfit | May 10, 2009 |
If you have read the first two books in this series Castles in the Air and No Greater Love and want to avoid spoilers you probably don't want to read further. On Wings of Dreams continues the story of Devon Marshall and Wall Street banker and millionaire Keith Curtis. Now married and with twin daughters in addition to Scotty they spend their time between Halcyon on Hudson and New York City. Devon continues to work as a freelance journalist and also becomes involved in the suffrage movements and campaigns against child labor, which causes some tension in her marriage. On a trip to her hometown of Richmond, Virginia Devon is reunited with her former fiancé Daniel Haverston who much to Keith's chagrin is still deeply in love with Devon. Worse yet, their son Scotty strikes an immediate attraction with Haverston's daughter Fawn that develops into a lifelong love that causes tensions between Keith and Devon.

While I enjoyed this book very much and wanted to follow Devon's story to the end, I did find this to be quite a bit slower paced with not as much action as the previous two in the series. The author does provide a glorious look at life in the upper crust society of New York, Washington, the reborn south including a tilting contest on a Virginia plantation (loved that!) to the opulent castles of Newport, Rhode Island and more. I also very much enjoyed the effortless way the author brought in so many wonderful details of life in the late 19C, the clothes and furnishings and social mores along with the main players of the day from presidents to railroad barons. As in the first two books, Devon and Keith's story does have a soap opera/TV mini feel to it but still very entertaining. My only real complaint is that while not quite qualifying as a true "bodice ripper" there's quite a bit more in the scenes between Devon and Keith than in the first two books and I would not recommend this for a younger reader. All in all an entertaining read and an interesting peek into 19C life, but only for fans of the first two books who have to read the rest of the story (and I did).
… (meer)
½
 
Gemarkeerd
Misfit | May 10, 2009 |

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Statistieken

Werken
14
Leden
111
Populariteit
#175,484
Waardering
½ 3.3
Besprekingen
3
ISBNs
29
Talen
2

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