Book Description
When Navy ensign Billy Grenville, heir to a vast New York fortune, sees showgirl Ann Arden on the dance floor, it is love at first sight. And much to the horror of Alice Grenville--the indomitable family matriarch--he marries her. Ann wants desperately to be accepted by high society and become the well-bred woman of her fantasies. But a gunshot one rainy night propels Ann into a notorious spotlight--as the two Mrs. Grenvilles enter into a conspiracy of silence that will bind them together for as long as they live. . . .
Customer Reviews:
American etiquette in murder.......2007-01-19
When a scion of an East coast banking family is shot by his starlett wife, the family purses its lips. Dominick Dunne masterly describes how two worlds passionately met and clashed. Truman Capote's unfinished novel 'Answered Prayers' was inspired by the same real life events. Compassionate, intriguing, and, yes, scandalous.
repetitive, unsympathetic, and repetitive.......2006-08-04
I bought this book as something light to read on the airplane. And I didn't realize that the story was based on fact until I read these reviews later. But that should not matter - the book is presented as a fictional novel and should be judged as such.
The story, such as it is, is simple - a beautiful showgirl from Kansas falls in love with the scion from one of the richest, old money families in NY. The family, especially the always-proper mother, is aghast, but they are in love and elope and marry anyway.
However, as time goes on, they each realize the other is a vapid, malicious, lying cheat and the marriage disintegrates until the wife finally kills the husband in a supposed accident.
There could have been an interesting, tingly, evil, fun story here, but there wasn't. None of the characters are sympathetic, or even interesting.
The technique of telling the story from the point of view of a third character, a novelist, adds nothing, and leads to horrible repetition. First we hear part of the story at the beginning, then we learn the story in flashback, then we hear the story again, parts of it word-for-word, as the novelist convinces the wife to tell him the secret truth of what happened, which we, the readers, have already been told. This could have worked well had we learned something different each time, found out some secrets that puts everything in a different light, but instead we get nothing new or interesting.
The first 100 or so pages are actually fairly well written and quite engaging. But the book slowly falls apart after that, to the point that the last 50 pages are unreadably awful.
If you want a fun book about the rich, adulterous, horse-breeding set, read Jane Smiley's Horse Heaven instead.
Great guilty pleasure!.......2006-04-04
I am always reading a book on the subway. Most recently, that book was "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles." Bad choice. Twice I got so caught up in the detail of the lives of the Grenvilles that I read on past my stop. That has never happened before, and hopefully never again. Reading about the high society lives, the passion, the intrigue, the snobbishness of the society-registered upper crust is indeed a guilty pleasure, and a great pleasure as well. This novel, supposedly based on the true-life murder of William Woodward by his wife, presents the older Mrs. Grenville (mother-in-law): born well, married well, lived well. And it presents the younger Mrs. Grenville (daughter-in-law): born dirt poor in Pittsburgh, Kansas (yes Kansas), deserted by her father as a young girl, brought up by her mother and her various men of the moment, then turning to the glamorous life of a showgirl as she danced in a line behind Ethel Merman. But Ann Arden did marry well, William Grenville, Jr., don't you know, and she lived very well, to a point. To a point that her trashy, ill-tempered, paranoid roots took over and "Annie got her gun." Told by Billy Plant, one of the author's alter egos, this is classic Dominick Dunne without the incessant name-dropping, but with the terrific attention to detail he has brought to most of his writing. I found this book thoroughly enjoyable
Another world.......2006-02-28
If you're looking for a great vacation beach book or just something to curl up with for an afternoon, this is it. Great escapism.. . I really enjoyed this tale. I felt like I was a snoopy neighbor looking in the windows at someone else's troubles.
Great Light Entertainment, But as Superficial as the Heroine.......2006-02-19
In mid 1955, New York society was stunned by the sudden death of banking/real estate scion William Woodward at the hands of his wife, Ann, a former actress and model. Mr. Woodward was shot in the chest at point-blank range in their North Shore country house. Mrs. Woodward maintained to her dying day that she thought her husband was a prowler who had broken into a number of houses in the area. Interest in the case was so great that even the staid New York Times put it on the front page for weeks on end. Ultimately, the case was closed as an accidental shooting and Ann Woodward was never charged with any crime. Allegedly, Mrs. Woodward's mother-in-law, powerful society dowager Elsie Woodward, used her influence in New York to scotch criminal proceedings against Ann to save the family from the dishonor of a trial and public airing of the Woodward family's very dirty laundry. In 1975, Truman Capote (who had earlier befriended Mrs. Woodward) allowed a thinly-veiled treatment of the case (in which he suggested that Mrs. Woodward had deliberately shot her husband to prevent him from divorcing her on the grounds of bigamy) to be published by Esquire magazine. Ann Woodward killed herself with cyanide days after the article appeared. A short time later, Ann's troubled younger son Jimmy committed suicide. Eldest son Woody Woodward followed his mother, father and brother into the grave in the 1990s, also a suicide. Author Dominick Dunne befriended Woody Woodward in the early 1980s, and seems to have gotten Mr. Woodward's personal approval of his novel before its publication. THE TWO MRS. GRENVILLES has many advantages as a novel, but depth of characterization is not one of them. In the real world, Ann and Billy Woodward had one of those stormy relationships which make for good reading but aren't easy to live with. Unlike Dominick Dunne's slightly vapid but morally irreproachable "Billy Grenville," Billy Woodward was a charming ne'er-do-well, a drug addict, an alcoholic, and a wife-beater who used his fists on Ann Woodward regularly. He also cheated on her with women and men. While, there can be no doubt that he both loved and hated his wife, their relationship was much more complex than Mr. Dunne seems willing to admit. In THE TWO MRS. GRENVILLES, Ann Grenville is a character without depth or likeability, a woman who ruthlessly takes advantage of her husband's weaker nature, cons him into marriage, and in general makes his life miserable. There is no doubt at all in the book that her husband's death is deliberate, nor is the reader given any sense of the struggles Ann had to endure in her marriage, being unable to please either her husband or her demanding mother-in-law. It is as if Mr. Dunne chose to write the novel which Truman Capote failed to produce, and it is well-known in New York that Mr. Capote was unreasonably obsessed with Ann Woodward and sought vengeance against her when their friendship soured. Because the reader is never given any insight at all into the complexity of the Woodward/Grenville relationship, Ann Grenville just seems like a heartless gold-digger and poseur, Alice Grenville (the determined matriarch) a proud and honorable woman fighting to protect her family tradition from being corrupted by the common interloper, and Billy Grenville a shallow fool instead of the tempestuous man he in fact was. While I enjoy this book - it is engagingly written and very fast-paced - as a study of human behavior and relationships, it leaves a lot to be desired. Good beach reading, but if you are really interested in the Woodward case, make sure to check out "This Crazy Thing Called Love" as other reviewers have suggested.
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THE TWO MRS. GRENVILLES
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HLWNSE |
Product Description
multiple books ship as one item. save on shipping/handling charges.
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The Two Mrs. Grenvilles
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HH02Z4 |
Average customer rating:
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The Two Mrs. Grenvilles
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HH24X2 |
Average customer rating:
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The Two Mrs. Grenvilles
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000HH24V4 |
Customer Reviews:
Not the best of the three.......2007-05-28
Samantha Riley is the heroine is this book and best friend of Jix (book 1) and Chelsea (book 2). It took me forever to warm up the Sam due to her attitude. But in the end she came around and saw in herself what other people knew was in her heart. There were time you just want to shake her and say what the hell is your problem. I did enjoy the first 2 books more that this one.
Fast read but a bit tedious.......2006-08-14
Samantha Riley has found the love of her life in Duncan Campbell, but instead of doing something about it, she runs away from him. Duncan works for Samantha's father so this means Samantha also has to stay away from her father and make excuses as to why she can't make a three-hour drive to see him.
Samantha's father, Patrick Riley, also knows Duncan is the man for Samantha. He summons Samantha home and tries to talk some sense into her but she won't relent. She will live her life the way she wants to and nobody, especially her father, will tell her how to live it for her or even whom to marry. After that argument, Samantha's father suffers a stroke and languishes in a coma.
Duncan Campbell is not a typical guy. He is a Scottish warrior who was born in medieval times and has been traveling through time through the use of crystals. He has spent most of his life trying to get back to a certain time to right a wrong he committed during one of his travels.
Samantha is filled with guilt and shame over her behavior but she won't allow anyone to comfort her. She yells at everyone to leave her alone. Duncan, however, won't listen to her. On a stormy night, he convinces Samantha to ride out with him to Jacob's Well to check on some green crystals he's been looking for. He finds them and says his goodbyes to Samantha. But before the crystals light up, lightning strikes and the crystals energy sweeps both Samantha and Duncan back to medieval Scotland.
They arrive at the village of Nirdagh, at the exact time Duncan has been trying to get back to. The first time Duncan visited Nirdagh, he fell in love with Talamar, a girl who was betrothed to a powerful laird named Gwain from another clan. Because of their love, Talamar was burned at the stake and Duncan escaped to another time. This time, Duncan is determined to save Talamar.
Samantha is jealous. Because of her jealousy, she spends most of her time baiting Duncan, fighting with him, manipulating him. And to make matters worse, and despite Duncan's warnings, Samantha assures Talamar that she will talk Gwain into breaking off the engagement so Talamar can marry whom she loves. Her meddling is not without consequences for it puts her, Duncan and the villagers in jeopardy of Gwain's wrath.
I know this book is part of a series but I, unfortunately, didn't read the other two before tackling this one. I couldn't bring myself to even like Samantha. She is a headstrong, unsympathetic spoiled brat who spends most of her time fighting with other characters. It actually became a bit tedious as she continually played her games manipulating Duncan and arguing with him, even when there is no real reason to. This story, of course, has to have a happy ending but in reality, I'm not sure anyone, even her family, could've put up with Samantha's shrewish behavior.
TESS MALLORY.......2005-10-07
This is the third book in the series. Each friend has her own story. Jix Ferguson in Highland Dream, Chelsea Brown in Highland Fling, and Samantha Riley in Highland Magic. Tess Mallory is such a great author and I love all her books, but...I did not like the characters Jix Ferguson or Samantha Riley. Chelsea was more or less neglected in this threesome friendship. They were actually very cruel to her and made fun of her behind her back. She is my favorite female character from all three of these books. The male characters are fine and very likeable. Samantha is just horribly insensitive and a nonsympathetic character and got a man who certainly could have done much much better.
The only reason I read this third book, and it took months to do it, is because it was three-book series.
Superb book.......2005-08-16
Duncan Campbell is desperate to time travel back into the far past to save a girl he wasn't able to help before. This time lightning struck, sending both he and a modern day female doctor, Samantha Riley, back to ancient Scotland where the people there believe her to be the Queen of the Fairies. When an evil plot was about to destroy all of them, Samatha found only one thing could save them..Highland Magic.
Highland Magic.......2005-06-29
The fact that her headstrong father wants Samantha Riley to marry Duncan Campbell is a good enough reason not to do it, in Sam's book. An argument on this very matter occurs immediately before her father falls into a coma from which he might never wake. Needless to say, Sam's heart is heavy with guilt and worry. When a dark depression settles over her, her friends try to cheer her as best they can, insisting that she accompany them all to a festival. Duncan happens to come along, and once again, the two get in an argument. By chance, they are supposed to return home together, but first, Duncan wants to stop at Jacob's Well, the mystic place where he landed in this century. Duncan's home lies in seventeenth century Scotland; he is a time traveller. While he and Samantha are in the cave, surrounding by seemingly dead magic crystals, lightening strikes, sending them into the past; unfortunately, not his past, though Duncan had visited that era of ancient Scotland before. In fact, he fell in love there, something that Sam is not thrilled about since she is beginning to have less than hostile feelings for Duncan herself. However, Sam has her own worries; she has been mistaken for Brigid, Queen of the Fairies. This gives her some power, but her position is tenuously built on a lie. Her only hope of staying alive lies in returning to the future, but will she have to leave Duncan, and her heart, in the distant past?
**** This lightweight, easily read story continues the saga begun in Ms. Mallory's other work. Sam's emotional struggles with grace and guilt touch a nerve in all people. Somehow, Duncan manages to be an alpha hero without being too macho. The supporting cast is brought to rich life, but the most winsome of the characters is not human. The baby dragon, Blinky, is precious. Before the book is over, you'll want one for a pet yourself. ****
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The Occult Laboratory: Magic, Science and Second Sight in Late Seventeenth-Century Scotland. A new edition
Michael Hunter
Manufacturer: Boydell Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Scotland | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
General | England | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
History of Ideas | Historical Study | History | Subjects | Books
Movements & Periods | History & Criticism | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books | Arthurian Romance | Beat Generation | General | Gothic Revival | Medieval | Modernism | Postmodernism | Renaissance | Romanticism | Surrealism | Victorian
Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books | Adolescent Psychology | Applied Psychology | By Topic | Child Psychology | Clinical Psychology | Cognitive | Counseling | Creativity & Genius | Developmental Psychology | Education & Training | Ethnopsychology | Experimental Psychology | Forensic Psychology | General | History | Hypnosis | Industrial Psychology | Logotherapy | Medicine & Psychology | Mental Illness | Movements | Neuropsychology | Occupational & Organizational | Pathologies | Personality | Philosophy of Psychology | Physical Illness & Psychiatry | Physiological Aspects | Psychiatry | Psychoanalysis | Psychobiology | Psychopharmacology | Psychosomatic Medicine | Psychotherapy, TA & NLP | Reference | Research | Sexuality | Social Psychology & Interactions | Statistics | Suicide | Testing & Measurement
General | New Age | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
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Parapsychology | Occult | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books
History of Science | History & Philosophy | Science | Subjects | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 0851158013 |
Book Description
The uncanny ability of certain individuals to foresee future events had long been regarded as a characteristic of the Scottish Highlands, but in the late seventeenth century interest in the phenomenon came to a head, stimulated by English scientific and philosophical curiosity about magic, particularly second sight.The natural philosopher Robert Boyle and other English savants investigated these Highland beliefs; they found the region a kind of laboratory, strange yet accessible, where data about unusual beliefs could be collected and theories tested. Scottish authors were also stimulated to write accounts of second sight, notably John Fraser, Dean of the Isles, and the Highland minister, Robert Kirk (1644-92), in his famous work, The Secret Commonwealth. These and other texts are included in this book, making available crucial information about belief systems which might otherwise never have been recorded, and illuminating changing contemporary attitudes towards the relationship between the natural and the supernatural. Contents: TEXTS An Interview with Lord Tarbat, 3 Oct 1678 (Robert Boyle) A Collection of Highland Rites and Customes The Secret Commonwealth (Robert Kirk) Letter to Joh Aubrey on Second Sight Letter to Samuel Pepys on Second Sight Second Sight (John Fraser) Questionnnaires and Responses (Edward Lhuyd and Robert Wodrow, John Fraser and John Maclean) Introductory material (33pp) by Michael Hunter MICHAEL HUNTER is Professor of History, Birkbeck College, University of London.
Book Description
Explores the interwoven effects of writing, witchcraft, magic, and religion in social and political areas for the Salasacas This is a case study of the interwoven effects of writing, witchcraft, magic, and religion on power such as birth certificates, baptism records, land titles, and tax records are very much a part of the same world in which witches keep lists of people to kill or save, the Church keeps lists of ancestors to honor, and God Himself keeps books of the living and the dead. The many aspects of this view of the quasi-magical uses of writing not only reinforce the subordination of nonelite groups with respect to the bureaucratic elites who control archival power, but also define the self-identity of the individuals within the nonelite groups. The book will therefore appeal to those interested in anthropology, literacy, power, or Latin America.
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The Book of Alfar: A Tale of the Hudson Highlands
Peter W. Hassinger
Manufacturer: Laura Geringer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Action & Adventure | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic | Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
General | Ages 9-12 | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0060284692
Release Date: 2002-06-04 |
Book Description
When Sander moves to the country, he is not greeted with the quiet life. His parents are fighting, and his sister, who used to be his ally, has abandoned him to become a teenager. But in the woods surrounding his new home, he finds a fairy world of dwarfs, pirates, soldiers, wandering ghosts, and a ruthless Lord of the Dunderburg who must be stopped. With the help of an unlikely friend, an ancient dwarf named Alfar, and Mini, a half-Native American girl steeped in the lore of the region, Sander embarks on a magical, swashbuckling adventure where only he can tip the balance in a world struggling between good and evil.
Screenwriter Peter Hassinger weaves fantasy with Celtic folklore in a spectacular first novel, reminiscent of Treasure Island or The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting fantasy tale.......2003-03-26
"Book of Alfar" wasn't quite as good as I had expected, but it's still quite a good fantasy/historical read, with likable heroes and a fairly interesting hodgepodge of Revolutionary War history and a dash of mythology. It needs a bit of tightening in areas, but overall quite nice.
Sanders has just moved into a very old house with his father, sister and self-absorbed mother, and nobody except his mother is happy about it. Sanders deals with this by wandering off into the woiods by himself, where he meets an Algonquin girl, Mini, and a goat-boy named Billy. And he catches sight of a Hessian soldier racing by, the ghost of a young man who leaped to his death centuries before. But the ghost isn't the only supernatural thing lurking around. The pleasant, peaceful dwarf Alfar is being instructed in wickedness and mischief by his ruthless grandfather, Dwerg, Lord of the Dunderberg, who is trying to whip him into a suitable Black Dwarf.
But mere mischief (putting bees in Sanders's attic) escalates when Dwerg decides that Alfar should marry Mini, the descendant of the people who killed Alfar's parents. Neither Mini or Alfar like the idea, and after Sanders saves Alfar's life, they set out to oust Dwerg, even though Alfar's magic isn't up to the task. Along the way they will run into eternally-sailing pirates, a dwarf-created storm, and finally the Lord of the Dunderberg himself.
Hassinger does a good job with "Book of Alfar"; in some ways it's a fairly typical fantasy, but has some nice quirks like the usage of real mythology in the storyline. (I was a little distracted by the fact that "Dwerg" means dwarf, and "Alfar" means elves) The usage of things like American history, a dramatic backdrop, and the pirates who will sail forever are good touches.
Sanders is the best-fleshed-out character in the book, a likeable kid who rises to the challenges; Mini is like a less intriguing Lloyd Alexander heroine, and I'm not sure why Billy was in the book. I like him, but I didn't think he added much to the plot. Sanders's family is quite well done, and Dwerg just avoids being cartoonish. Oh yes, and his wight-cloak is quite entertaining.
There are a few flaws; the good guys all become pals almost instantly, rather than a getting-to-know-you period. Occasionally Alfar seems a bit too much like a human being. Hassinger's writing style is brisk, not very detailed, but quite a few parts of it become very intense and poetic, such as the "granddaughter" scene on the pirates' ship.
It's a pretty good fantasy story, with a few flaws but some unique usage of history and legend make it above average. Nice read.
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Highland Magic
Christine Young
Manufacturer: Awe-Struck
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General | Romance | Subjects | Books
General | Historical | Romance | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1587495929
Release Date: 2007-02-10 |
Book Description
Keely the enchantress has dreamed of a priest who will attack her. Trusting her vision, she ventures out and finds a priest lying in a meadow. He is alive but unconscious, and when he awakes, he has no memory. As Keely nurses him to health, his mystery unfolds and she finds herself bound to him even in the face of treason.
Product Description
a wonderful,unique timetravel series that will make you laugh and cry!exceptional....
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Magic Mountains
Rennie McOwan
Manufacturer: Mainstream Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Scotland | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
General | England | Europe | History | Subjects | Books
Folklore & Mythology | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Folklore | Mythology | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Tourist Destinations & Museums | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | Travel | Subjects | Books
Mountain Climbing | Mountaineering | Sports | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1851587071 |
Amazon.com
Why are there certain places which, contrary to any logical reason, can make you feel uneasy or fearful? McOwan answers this question through a delightful blend of folklore and first-hand accounts, written with an obvious love for and connection to the Scottish hill country. Trek through the high country of Scotland in
Magic Mountains and ponder why past tales of ghostly figures, cursed places and magic creatures are so persistent in the present.
Books:
- The Way of the Traitor
- The Wyndham Legacy
- Time And Again: Time Was\Times Change
- Top of her Game (Black Lace)
- Trans-Sister Radio
- Ugly As Sin: Why They Changed Our Churches from Sacred Places to Meeting Spaces and How We Can Change Them Back Again (Forthright Edition)
- Watch for Me on the Mountain (Originally Published As : Cry Geronimo)
- What We Keep
- Windfall (2 Novels in 1)
- Wolf's Hour
Books Index
Books Home
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- Microbiology: A Human Perspective w/ARIS bind in card
- Living My Life, Vol. 1
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An Inconvenient Woman
People Like Us
A Season in Purgatory
Fatal Charms and Other Tales of Today/The Mansions of Limbo (Omnibus)
Justice: Crimes, Trials, and Punishments
