Book Description
They're Complete Opposites . . .
Until They Kiss
Windfall
Without Precedent
New York Timesbestselling author JoAnn Ross has the courtroom buzzing in this fan favorite, reprinted here for the first time ever. Sexy, successful lawyer Quinn Masterson decides Jessica O'Neal, opposing counsel in his latest divorce case, will make the perfect wife. But this mother of three no longer believes in happily-ever-afters -- and Quinn will be forced to make a very persuasive case for love at first sight.
Without A Net
The witty, lighthearted touch of bestselling author Isabel Sharpe turns the well-ordered life of Amanda Marcus and her seven-year-old daughter upside down. Despite her protests, Amanda's scrumptious, kid-at-heart neighbor Arch Williams plans to keep it that way -- turning Amanda from stodgy to spontaneous . . . and from lonely to living on the edge!
Customer Reviews:
4 1/2 *s A Windfall of great story telling!.......2004-01-23
This is a duet of stories (one old and one new) about two women rediscovering what they want out of life.
JoAnn Ross's WITHOUT PRECEDENT was originally published in 1986 and it holds up well as we meet harried, divorced single mom Jessica O'Neill who started her life over after her divorce. She depends on no one and is determined NEVER to marry again. She's experienced that trap once and will never give up her independence or identity for a man. She's determined to raise her three daughters and build her fledgling law career all on her own.
Quinn Masterson, on the other hand, has spent his whole adult life focused on building his law career and making partner by age forty. Well he just turned forty last month and has achieved all his career goals. Now he is ready to focus on his personal life. And as if on cue, into his life walks the lovely Jessica O'Neill, opposing counsel on a divorce case that Quinn is handling for a friend. It's love at first sight for Quinn and he proceeds to sweep her off to dinner (if not off her feet) and charms his way into her consciousness. He very quickly also charms his way into her family, winning over her three daughters and her mother in short order. How come charming the prickly Jess is so difficult? She is perfectly happy to have an affair with Quinn but no more. Problem is Quinn wants more - he wants it all - marriage, a home, kids you name it. Can he ever convince gun-shy Jessica that she can be married without losing her hard won independence? Personally I thought Jess was a bit unreasonable as well as selfish, especially since it was clear that Quinn was nothing like her ex. He is sweet, considerate, fun to be with and supportive of her plans and dreams. He was romantic, spontaneous, sexy and just plain adorable! Will Jess finally see the light and discover that she is one lucky woman?
Though Jess had her moments where she made me (and Quinn!) crazy, this is still an enjoyable story.
I had never heard of Isabel Sharpe until I visited Shannon McKenna's (one of my fave authors) website and clicked on her link to Ms Sharpe's site. There I read the excerpt for WITHOUT A NET and decided this was a story I wanted to read. It's a charming, sweet and poignant story of shy, repressed Amanda Marcus and spontaneous, free-spirited Arch Williams.
Amanda has lived her life quietly and, for the most part, for other people. She is intimidated and overshadowed by her flamboyant, appearance-conscious and overbearing mother to the extent that she is not sure who she really is and what she really wants. She's also been unlucky in love having been left, not only at the altar by her first love, but also eighteen and pregnant. She's spent the last seven years working as a seamstress, raising her daughter and avoiding her mother. But when the whirlwind of Arch Williams and his three nephews enters Amanda and Clarissa's quiet life things will never be the same.
Arch Williams writes children's books and seems to be a child at heart himself. He has just bought the house in which Amanda rents an apartment and has also become temporary guardian for his three nephews. When they invade Amanda's apartment so that Arch can meet his new tenant, the two females seem timid and small when contrasted to Arch and his high-spirited nephews. At first all Arch sees is a painfully shy and repressed woman - not at all his type. But soon Arch begins to believe that there is more to this shy butterfly than he first thought and he is determined to bring her out of her shell.
Amanda and Arch begin a romance, which is fun and sweet with Arch challenging her to assert herself and Amanda teasing him about his overgrown kid ways. But as things get more serious these differences begin to cause conflicts that may just tear them apart - along with other external factors that force Amanda to make some serious decisions about her future. Meanwhile, in a charming and deftly drawn subplot Amanda's high society mother Maude is reluctantly attracted to Arch's working class dad Sonny. What a cute romance and metamorphosis for Maude! It seems that Amanda wasn't the only one who was afraid to break out and live the life she really wanted! A charming, sweet story - I'll look forward to reading more from Ms Sharpe.
Two enjoyable stories and a highly recommended read!
Book Description
The acclaimed author of Into the Forest mines our fears and explores our capacity to love in this epic tale of modern motherhood.
Young and pregnant, Cerise and Anna make very different decisions about how to direct their lives. While teenaged Cerise struggles to support herself and her young daughter, Anna finishes college, marries, and later gives birth to two daughters of her own. After the birth of her second child, a tragic accident tears Cerise's life apart, and she loses her already tenuous position in society. As the story progresses--and Cerise's and Anna's lives interweave and inexorably approach each other--both women are dramatically, forever changed. Unforgettable, awe-inspiring, and grippingly honest, Windfalls is a daring and mesmerizing tale.
Customer Reviews:
It will serve a purpose.......2007-09-18
The opening page has three quotes.
First, one by Adrienne Rich:
"Nothing could have prepared me for the realization that I was a mother, one of those givens, when I knew I was still in a state of uncreation myself."
Next, by Henri Cartier-Bresson:
"Of all the means of expression, photography is the only one that fixes forever the precise and transitory instant. We photographers deal in things which are continually vanishing, and when they have vanished, there is no contrivance which can make them come back again."
Last, one by Adam Zagajewski -- and I'll let you find that one on your own, leaving you something to look forward to. Just to give you a hint, it is a poetry of words about light and nature, and more.
If these words move you, then welcome to the opening of an urgent and important tale that will be hard to forget. The first chapter, a lovely piece called "After all" sets such an exquisite tone for the story that Hegland is about to reveal to the reader. The first several chapters are titled after the last words in that chapter, a refreshing and intriguing effect, imprinting their meaning upon us.
I found the first review by Publishers Weekly revealed more than I would have about the plot turns and if you haven't yet read it(that review) -- skip it. You'll enjoy a few more surprises, though I wouldn't say the author sets this book up as a suspense in order to keep you turning pages to find out what happens as much as she gathers your compassion and your thoughts about her themes to share the journey of her characters.
When I finished this book, I immediately went back to page one to read the first two pages over again, the chapter "After All". There is some structuring of events in this novel that some might find arranged in a step by step format but Hegland's efforts here ring true to me. It doesn't feel contrived to fit what she is working towards as much as it falls into place to produce her portraits of two women and their separate choices with resulting consequences and something like fate mixed in.
I would expect most if you are interested in the mothering process that this book alone will interest you and keep you reading. Additionally, if there is an artist inside of your soul, or you are sensitive to art - photography, drawing, writing - this book will snag itself under your skin and make you itch at the same time as you sense its beauty.
It's surprising how few people have apparently read or reviewed this book; if you like it, pass it on, share it so it can stir the wonder of more people.
Good, but a little disjointed.......2007-05-12
"Windfalls" tells the stories of two young women in the 1970s who dealt with unexpected pregnancies in different ways, and the impact their choices had upon their lives in the decades the followed.
Anna, a grad student with a promising career in photography, chooses to have an abortion. She never tells anyone about it, and although she eventually marries and gives birth to two little girls, Anna's lost child is always at the back of her mind.
Meanwhile, thousands of miles away, 15-year-old Cerise decides to become a single mother. She goes on welfare, drops out of high school and eventually gets a mundane job at a nursing home to provide for her daughter Melody, whom she adores.
But Melody isn't a loving little girl forever. Barely into her teens, she becomes rebellious, tattooing her face, having sex and smoking pot as Cerise begs her to learn from her mother's mistakes. Naturally, she doesn't, opting instead to run away with her hippie friends. Meanwhile, Cerise - who ended up having another baby, Travis, with an unreliable man - is left to mourn and struggles to hold her life together.
When a tragedy causes Cerise to lose both Travis and her home, she takes to the streets, crazed and desperate to find her daughter. Within a short time, she has become essentially unrecognizable to the world as anything but a homeless woman, pathetic and meant to be ignored. To top off her pain, she can't stop thinking about her dead son and her missing daughter, with whom she has never been able to reconnect.
As Cerise's life hits its ultimate low and she wonders if she'll make it through the day, her path collides with that of Anna, who needs a babysitter for her young daughters. Cerise reluctantly agrees, and it's quickly apparent that both Lucy and Ellen are thriving from their new caregiver...who is also beginning to heal slightly from re-entering society.
Then Cerise spots a newspaper photograph that gives her a new lead on Melody's whereabouts, and she knows what she has to do.
Overall, the stories of the two women are solid, well-written and intriguing. But, the back cover description promises their lives will come together, and I spent 75% of the book waiting for that moment. It was a little jarring, moving between Anna's and Cerise's individual stories for such a long time with no apparent connection between them except their pregnancies. Even when the two finally met, I couldn't help thinking that their stories were separate for such a long time that it didn't really come together all that well. In my mind, it almost seemed like two completely different books, forced together, and it didn't really work as well as it might. Either Ms. Hegland should have found a way for the two to meet sooner in the story, or else opted for each character to have her own book.
A Tale Well Told.......2006-01-06
I had anxiously awaited Hegland's second novel, having thoroughly enjoyed her first, Into the Forest, and was not disappointed. She presents a fascinating view of motherhood from a totally different perspective than I have seen before. Even as a non-mother, I was drawn into the inner feelings of both main characters in a way that was unexpected. The tale is woven beautifully with intricate details of both setting and characters intertwined throughout. A truly excellent novel I recommend most highly.
Poignant.......2004-10-23
This was a poetic read; brought tears to my eyes more than once.
Recommended.
An Incredible Read.......2004-10-14
This novel written by a local Sonoma County author, Jean Hegland, is an incredible read. It took me into the lives of two women, their children, their troubles and their personal journey. As I read, I came to know these two women, care about them and eagerly await my quiet time with them each evening. Last night, I finished the book and set it down with the sadness of losing a close friend.
A piece of work is art to me when it surpasses its medium and provides me with a quality of emotion or a uniqueness of thought I didn't have before. Windfalls was both of these for me. I lived the life and felt the emotions of Anna and Cherise. At one point early in the story, there was a scene so vivid and devastating that I had to avoid the novel for several days to recover my perspective. Of course, I know these things happen, but I'm normally able to keep them at a distance. Not so with Hegland's work. She writes up close and personal and her heart shines through from the words on each page. And even during terrible events, she moves her characters forward through their heroine's journey like she's holding a baby bird and teaching it to fly.
In a limited sense, the story is about motherhood. And it is written about women but not necessarily just for women. Her birthing scenes brought me back into the delivery room where I witnessed the births of my last three children. So in the larger sense, the story is about human parenting.
The artistry of a novel also lives in the crafting of its words, and it is Hegland's choice of words, her similes, her descriptions that kept me intrigued and stirred my emotions as though I were reading poetry. But it goes further, because the right gathering of words can have a rhythm, a magic balance between the sounds so that they sing and for me, this novel was a song.
Finally, both Anna and Cherise are protagonists in the story, and I realized as I put the book down for the last time, that I knew more about Anna because of the kind of person she was. Yet Cherise was the more unusual and more interesting character, and in a subtle way, she was the predominate protagonist because of who she wasn't.
Reviewed October 5, 2004
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The Windfall: A Novel
Charles Egbert Craddock
Manufacturer: Adamant Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Contemporary
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ASIN: 0543974464
Release Date: 2001-04-27 |
Book Description
This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1907 edition by Duffield & Co., New York.
Average customer rating:
- What dreams are made of
- Should Have Told His Wife Up Front
- Decent start, interesting premise, lousy finish
- A Rare Thriller
- Riveting
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Windfall: A Novel
James Magnuson
Manufacturer: Villard
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
United States
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Ghost Dancing
ASIN: 0375502106
Release Date: 1999-02-09 |
Book Description
In his twenties and thirties, Ben never thought about money--more or less what you'd expect from a scholar whose specialty was the transcendentalists. But now, in his forties, trying to raise two children on a thirty-thousand-dollar-a-year salary, it's all he thinks about.
Money is a problem for Ben Lindberg. As a college professor, he's fought long and hard to keep his intellectual life--and his family life--safe and secure. But he can't afford to replace his broken-down car, can't even afford to fix it, can't even afford to move his family into a better part of Austin.
Then, one night, things change. Searching for the stray family cat, Ben finds in the basement of an abandoned feed store eight coolers filled with fifty-dollar bills. A windfall.
He knew he should leave, but he couldn't. It was the most extraordinary moment of his life and he wanted to savor it.
Ben takes the money, hides it and doesn't tell his wife. For a time, their lives improve. They move into a wonderful new house and buy a second car. Ben becomes a hero to his family. But when someone comes looking for the coolers, Ben discovers that everything comes at a cost--in this case, a cost beyond anything he could have imagined.
Windfall is the story of an ordinary man in extraordinary circumstances. Tautly plotted, intelligently written, and shot through with searing psychological insight, it is a novel of paranoia and betrayal, secrets and shattered ideals--a relentlessly suspenseful thriller.
Customer Reviews:
What dreams are made of.......2006-04-12
Ben Lindberg is an untenured assistant professor at a university (been there - done that). In Ben's case, he is in the English Department at the University of Texas. Admiral Jervis of the Royal Navy is reputed to have said that junior officers should not marry. Perhaps the same philosophy should apply to junior faculty members. Ben has a wife (second marriage) and two school age children. He is in his forties and has financial problems. He is in Austin, Texas, during the real estate boom, and is priced out of the market. There is a problem finding a suitable, affordable place to rent. His van is on its last legs and he doesn't know where he will find the money for a new one. He would like to do things for his wife and children, but money is tight, and they have to watch every penny. The future retirement outlook appears skimpy.
Ben goes out one evening in early January looking for the family cat, and thinks he hears it in a crawl space under an abandoned building. Instead of the cat, he finds a large cache of money - six ice chests packed full, mostly 50s and 100s. It is obviously unreported income from illegal activities and does not officially exist. Ben is caught on the horns of a dilemma. He is normally an honest man, but he badly needs money; and who would know if he helps himself. He takes the money and hides it, skimming off a bit for immediate needs. He makes a rough estimate based on bulk - over $7 million, enough to cover the annual payroll of his entire university department for many years.
Ben lacks iron nerves, and having the money makes him edgy. He researches means of laundering money ranging from buying large numbers of lottery tickets to depositing the money in a bank in the Bahamas. He observes some shady looking men making inquiries, and needs to keep a low profile. He does not want to tell his wife because she might want to turn the money in to proper authorities; but needs to explain the sudden added income. It creates family problems. He makes an arrangement with one of his students to launder some of the money through a business.
Then there is collateral damage. Someone is killed. Things start to fall apart. Ben has doubts about trusting the student. Universities don't teach people survival skills for the real world jungle, and there is a danger Ben will be eaten by tigers (he is not very street smart). The bad guys get a lead on Ben, and show up wanting their money. Ben's life is torn apart. There is an added twist at the end (maybe a double twist).
I would note that the author is in the English Department at the University of Texas and is intimately familiar with the scenes used in the novel (his wife is from a Mississippi family). It is very well written, drawing the reader into the story and holding your attention. Readers might think of how they would have handled things but, given the same circumstances, would you have done things differently? Hindsight is always better than foresight. I might add that there is never an indication of what happened to the money in the coffee can under the porch.
Readers are also referred to the author's latest novel, "The Hounds of Winter."
Should Have Told His Wife Up Front.......2002-12-08
Ben should have told his wife, Katy, up front. Two minds are better than one and she might not have been so wobbly, stronger backbone. A good read as the reader goes along trying to figure out how to have done it differently. Some may think the latter half of the story follows standard thriller lines. See also "The Moneybag" for legal aspects of a similar situation.
Decent start, interesting premise, lousy finish.......2001-08-24
This was a disappointing book. It started ok, and actually was a fairly good (maybe B-) read for most of the book, but just a terrible finish (like D-).
The protaganist was just too wimpy. And the book finishes that way.
This was a thriller that was also a human drama (or was it a human drama that was also a thriller?). But the thrill died out, and the drama didn't flourish.
I'd give it one star, but it was decent most of the way through, so let's go with 2**.
A Rare Thriller.......2000-02-22
Though the plotline may not cover entirely new territory, Magnuson's deft style more than makes up for it. He manages to paint a very vivid picture of the world Ben inhabits, with its moments of both happiness and terror. The reader becomes wound up in Ben's life. And, Windfall is so tightly written that it is impossible to put down.
Riveting.......1999-09-12
Plot is complex and surprising, a real "page-turner". More unusual, the moral/ethical issues are also presented with depth and complexity.
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Windfall: a novel
M. C. Millman
Manufacturer: Judaica Press, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Ages 9-12
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ASIN: 1932443444
Release Date: 2006-03-20 |
Product Description
In this captivating new novel by M.C. Millman, a high school girl wins a one hundred and forty-seven million dollar lottery and must deal with the unexpected results of her windfall.
Product Description
The story of ten people, including a prostitute, a prizefighter, a bum, a stockbroker, a stenographer, etc. who are each given a million dollars. Basis for the 1932 film "If I Had a Million". The film was broken into segments following the fortunes of the various newly minted millionaires, each segment with its own director. The directors included James Cruze, H. Bruce Humberstone, Ernst Lubitsch, Norman Z. McLeod, Lothar Mendes, Stephen Roberts, William A. Seiter, and Norman Taurog. Appearing in the film (most as the recipients of windfalls) were Gary Cooper, Charles Laughton, George Raft, Jack Oakie, Richard Bennett, Charles Ruggles, Alison Skipworth, and W.C. Fields. The Fields and Skipworth segment, where they use their new found fortune to buy a fleet of cars and hire drivers to run road hogs off the road, is a comic classic. The premise also inspired the popular 1950s television series The Millionaire.
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Windfall: A novel about ten million dollars
Robert Hardy Andrews
Manufacturer: THE JOHN DAY COMPANY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: B00087PCNU |
Average customer rating:
- I love this book!
- Terrible!
- Couldn't Put it Down!!!!!
- A Disappointment
- Not one of her best
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The Beloved Scoundrel
Iris Johansen
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Dark Rider
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The Magnificent Rogue
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The Tiger Prince
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The Golden Barbarian
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Lion's Bride
ASIN: 0553590383
Release Date: 2007-02-27 |
Book Description
Now, from nationally best-selling Iris Johansen comes a thrilling tale of abduction, seduction, and surrender that sweeps from the shimmering halls of Regency England to the decadent haunts of a notorious rogue...
She was a hostage torn between passion and loyalty...
Marianna Sanders realized she could not trust this dark and savagely seductive stranger who had come to spirit her away across the sea. She possessed a secret that could topple an empire, a secret that Jordan Draken, the duke of Cambaron, was determined to wrest from her. In the eyes of the world the arrogant duke was her guardian, but they both knew she was to be a prisoner in his sinister plot—and a slave to his exquisite pleasure.
He was the fabulous rake they called the Duke of Diamonds...
For years, brilliant, deadly Jordan Draken had schemed to destroy the emperor who threatened everything he valued most in the world. Now that he held this defiant woman who was the key to his final triumph, he felt a fierce sense of satisfaction...and the first stirring of desire. She was only supposed to be a pawn in his plans, but once alone with his captive, Jordan realized she was a prize he could never surrender.
Customer Reviews:
I love this book!.......2007-09-17
This is my favorite book she ever wrote. I like the characters that she created for this book and she portrayed them. I would recommend this book to anyone that enjoys romance novels.
Terrible!.......2007-07-10
I read romance novels from time to time, and I would have to say this is the worst one I have ever read. The first chapter was alright but then nothing happened. I kept reading thinking that things would have to turn around, but by the time I read around page 215 I gave up on this book and went to bed. As of that page, there is no charisma between the two main characters and there aren't any love seens. Not only that, but I just could not connect to the main character. I hardly care about her glass making and her little brother, the latter of which I found rather distracting in the story. Furthermore, the main character spends more of her time with Gregor, the Duke's friend than she does with him. I really didn't care to read a bunch of small talk. Most of what I read was noise. I rarely ever skip pages in romance novels, because they are usually so exciting, but with this book, I found myself quickly skimming through pages to find something worth while going on. I hope Barnes and Noble will take this book back, because it wasn't worth it. Save your money and buy something better that what I could write, and I don't write.
Couldn't Put it Down!!!!!.......2005-11-16
I couldn't understand why some reviewers gave such low comments on this book. I LOVE Beloved Scoundrel, I've read it a millions times, and it's just as interesting as if it were the first time I read it. This book made me an Iris Johansen fan, and now I'm looking for some of her other works. It's not in anyway boring, I couldn't put this book down. Her characters were so believable, I loved Jordan his determination to avoid the heroine, but yet he's helpless but to fall in love with her, and I loved Marianna's determination and strength. She goes to all lengths to keep her family's greatest secret, even though she knows that it very well may destroy the bond she's built with Jordan. The thing I liked the most was, that despite succumbing to Jordan seduction, she never took her eye of what was important, keeping the Jedelar's secret, and keeping Alex, her only relative left safe. Jordan though a serious womanizer, and uses his experience to intimidate Marianna, he still lives by a certain code of honor. And I think it was believable the 3 year long wait, Johansen paints that image perfectly, and doesn't drag out the 3 years so you don't even notice it really except that the fact that Jordan can no longer deny his feelings for her because he can't hide behind the fact that she was too young and balancing between half-woman/half-child. Excellent twists and turns, some shockers I didn't seem coming. And it was interesting to get inside Jordan's head, and see who was the man behind all that cynicism.
I'm very picky when it comes to the books, I read or buy, and I have little patience for stupid or boring books, and this is NOT one! I have all my friends read this book, I would highly recommend to anyone who likes romance, and strong complex characters who have depth.
A Disappointment.......2002-12-15
I've read a few of Iris Johansen's books, and they were very good. However, I know during that day and age men were marrying and courting younger girls, but I just could not get pass her age she was a child. Gregor and Jordan kept saying that to each other. Even though she was not your average sisteen year old, she possessed a lot of strength and wisdom. Besides the age the book is downright boring. I will continue to buy her books, maybe the next one will be better.
Not one of her best.......2002-09-02
I did enjoy it but not as much as her other books. You get the usual strong and possessive hero and spirited and passionate heroine. But it was not packed with exciting plot twists every other page, like her other books such as Wind Dancer. I was a little surprised that the Jordan and Marianna succumbed to their passions after 3 long years. I found that a little stretched given the intensity of how they felt towards each other. The first half of the book was a bit dull. It was unclear whether Jordan tried to seduce Marianna because of his pent up lust or was he induced by the time urgency to get the Jeledar from her and thought seductive persuasion was the way to go. It was not convincing how the Jeledar could protect Kazan from Napoleon, in the end, it was a little anti-climax. I liked the part when Jordan trailed Marianna to ther destination. That illustrated Marianna's determination, resourcefulness and courage, which earned Jordan's and his troops' admiration and love. Because before that, we only knew that Marianna was a gifted in making stained-glass, had a mind of her own, stubborn and not with a very clear objective what she wanted to do other than protecting Alex and the Jeledar. Overall, I found the plot and character development a bit under my expectation but an enjoyable read nevertheless.
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BELOVED SCOUNDREL
Penelope Neri
Manufacturer: Zebra
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Historical | Romance | Subjects | Books | England | General | Regency | United States
ASIN: 0821712594 |
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Beloved Scoundrel
Clarissa Ross
Manufacturer: Leisure Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000K0ATKG |
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Beloved Scoundrel
Clarissa Ross
Manufacturer: Dorchester Publishing Company, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 084390710X |
Average customer rating:
- Full of insight and a wonderful read
- what it is
- A Frolic In French History
- Couldn't put it down!
- Novel Masquerading as Bad History
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My Beloved Talleyrand: The Life of a Scoundrel by His Last Mistress
Steve Pieczenik , and
Roberta Rovner-Pieczenik
Manufacturer: iUniverse, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0595342086 |
Book Description
“I am first to admit that a woman, especially a young woman, does not attach herself to a brilliant, older, accomplished man without seeing some reward at the end. I may have been a master in the art of submission but I am not without self-respect. If Talleyrand were here with me now, he would agree that what began as a manipulation on both our parts, turned into a wonderful partnership.”
Talleyrand's mistresses, intrigues, betrayals, and deceits were legendary, but only one woman could capture his love: his niece and mistress Dorothea, who records his life in the enthralling masterpiece My Beloved Talleyrand.
A debauched French aristocrat bishop, Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord renounced the Church and his nobility in order to save France from self-destruction. He supported and then overthrew King Louis XVI, the leaders of the French Revolution, and finally Napoleon Bonaparte.
After the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo, Talleyrand dominated the Congress of Vienna, determining the course of history for both Europe and America for the next one hundred years.
Customer Reviews:
Full of insight and a wonderful read .......2006-12-17
The authors have created a unique avenue into a tumultous period of history. Talleyrand's extraordinary era is brought alive by the intelligent treatment of the key characters, and by the psychological authenticity of their stories. Highly recommended.
what it is.......2006-06-06
The past is just like the present only there is less of it. This book approaches Talleyrand from an interesting perspective: his final mistress. The plot must be a story rather than a laundry list of facts however accurate. The very fact that things are not always understood then as they are now by a professor of history ( to offer a far-fetched example) does not detract from the book. Indeed, it adds, frankly, a soupcon of authenticity. Who knows what then as now is less important than who does the knowing. Who knew of Dorothea before this book? As a result, this book is not a conventional history as much as it is an unconventional story well told. Is it all true? Quite beside the point: it's all almost possible enough... to turn the next page.
A Frolic In French History.......2006-06-04
My Beloved Talleyrand is a guided tour, with the mistress with whom Talleyrand spent his mature years as the tour guide. She lived with him from the Congress of Vienna through the years in London, and his final years in France. And she knows his history -- aide to Louis XVI, conspiritor in the Revolution, foreign minister to Napolean, advisor and ambassador to the restored monarchy. Talleyrand had unique roles in a pivotal time of western history, and his mistress tells the story with an eye for the intrigue, swagger, and power politics of the time.
Couldn't put it down!.......2006-06-04
This is such a fascinating, well written book. Great for the beach this summer, book club, or before bed!
Jeffrey Slavin Somerset, Maryland
Novel Masquerading as Bad History.......2006-06-02
Readers need to remember that this is a historical novel, not straight history - whatever the author's pretensions. Besides over-idealizing Talleyrand (perhaps to serve the author's own obvious political biases made clear in the Foreword), the book has many gross historical errors of fact that I wouldn't tolerate in a sophomore term paper - and that could have been avoided simply by careful fact-checking. P. just doesn't seem to take history seriously. (The list of reference sources at the end has many more items on antiques, fashion, and architecture than on political or diplomatic history.) As for the writing, some of it is on the level of a teen-age romantic novel, and elsewhere it changes to an ordinary historical narrative - so it's not always clear just what authorial voice one is hearing. This is very sloppy history indeed - the author should stick with Tom Clancy. (I'm a professor of history in Portland, Oregon.)
Average customer rating:
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Beloved Scoundrel
Manufacturer: Zebra Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000FMOQ3K |
Average customer rating:
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The Beloved Scoundrel
Manufacturer: Bantam Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GRRTA6 |
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