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3.31 AVERAGE
3.31 AVERAGE
If you like Downton Abbey, you'll like this book. It was fun and addicting - it was an easy read, but really entertaining.
Set in both New York and England during the Gilded Age, this book follows the story of Cora Cash, a beautiful heiress famous for being the wealthiest young lady in America. Her scheming socialite mother only wants one last thing for her daughter: a title. And so, Cora is sent to England to find a husband of nobility, where she finds herself soon engaged to Duke Ivor of Wareham.
"My Last Duchess" (later published in the U.S. as "The American Heiress") was a weakly written, predictable, and insipid book that I was only too happy to eliminate from my shelves.
The first thing that annoyed me was the author's constant throwing about of stilted descriptions of grandeur, obviously meant to be impressive. Rather than give the book an atmosphere of elegance and wealth (which is what normally comes to mind at the mention of the Gilded Age), I simply felt that she was tossing names and sums of money about at random.
An example from the first few pages: "The Cash household had its own Hall of Mirrors, which the visitors who had been to Versailles pronounced even more spectacular than the original."
Rather than show us the finery that the heroine is privileged to, Goodwin only ever tells us. Everyone in the book is aghast at the fact that the Cash family has their own trans-Atlantic steamer, and then the author throws in the fact that Cora brought along eight of her favorite horses on the voyage. But we never actually 'see' this ship for ourselves, or get a description of it. We are simply told that it is enormously expensive, and that's all that we really need to know.
Cora is constantly referred to as "the richest girl in the world," or "an American princess," or "a billionaire."
It just all seemed so very over the top and silly.
All of the characters are neglected, even the main character of Cora. I never liked her - at the beginning, she was a spoiled, foolish girl. At the end, she was the same.
She says to a man at one point: "Would you like to kiss me? Most men want to, but I am just too rich."
I certainly never felt that I got to know her. In the first few chapters, the reader is given the impression that she is a strong-willed girl longing to break free of her mother's controlling grasp. It could have been an interesting plot development, but it is dropped within the first twenty pages.
Cora's mother seemed set to become a major, interesting character, but she fell out of the plot entirely less than halfway through. Much the same for Teddy, a love interest of Cora's, who leaves and then weakly re-enters the book later on without ever being in much focus.
None of the characters were focused on enough, and none of their relationships made very much sense to me.
The supposed "romance" between the Duke, Ivo, and Cora was trivial and uninspiring. In fact, I would have to say that no love ever existed between them, and nor is it ever likely to.
Cora conveniently (but utterly by chance) takes a fall off her horse while riding through the Duke's property. Also by chance, he happens to stumble across her and rescue her.
Before they have shared even twenty minutes together, they are engaged. The society and gossip papers of two continents are obsessed with the couple's wedding, but they themselves approach it nonchalantly. The book seemed to always be highlighting the fact that their relationship lacked passion, and was cool and distanced - boring, even. I assumed that this was some sort of set-up so that Cora could leave Ivo in the end, but it turned out that it was just the way that their relationship was. Despite their obvious lack of any chemistry, the book insists that they love each other.
There is a revelation at the end of brothers falling in love with the same woman, who cheated on both of them, leading one brother to attempt suicide. His brother encouraged him, but then tried to save him, but failed, and convinced himself that he had killed his sibling, then went on to convince himself that the woman had actually made him kill his sibling, whilst both hating and loving her. The woman, to make the man angry, married a rich man, who was another sibling...
All this boggling information was dumped on the reader in exactly this manor - rushed and nonsensical. Perhaps if it had been built up, and written with a bit of finesse and talent, it would have been interesting.
But here, it was so C-grade soap opera, I skimmed the paragraph without even trying to make sense of it all.
This was an extremely obvious, shakily written book that was sorely in need of an editor. Not recommended.
"My Last Duchess" (later published in the U.S. as "The American Heiress") was a weakly written, predictable, and insipid book that I was only too happy to eliminate from my shelves.
The first thing that annoyed me was the author's constant throwing about of stilted descriptions of grandeur, obviously meant to be impressive. Rather than give the book an atmosphere of elegance and wealth (which is what normally comes to mind at the mention of the Gilded Age), I simply felt that she was tossing names and sums of money about at random.
An example from the first few pages: "The Cash household had its own Hall of Mirrors, which the visitors who had been to Versailles pronounced even more spectacular than the original."
Rather than show us the finery that the heroine is privileged to, Goodwin only ever tells us. Everyone in the book is aghast at the fact that the Cash family has their own trans-Atlantic steamer, and then the author throws in the fact that Cora brought along eight of her favorite horses on the voyage. But we never actually 'see' this ship for ourselves, or get a description of it. We are simply told that it is enormously expensive, and that's all that we really need to know.
Cora is constantly referred to as "the richest girl in the world," or "an American princess," or "a billionaire."
It just all seemed so very over the top and silly.
All of the characters are neglected, even the main character of Cora. I never liked her - at the beginning, she was a spoiled, foolish girl. At the end, she was the same.
She says to a man at one point: "Would you like to kiss me? Most men want to, but I am just too rich."
I certainly never felt that I got to know her. In the first few chapters, the reader is given the impression that she is a strong-willed girl longing to break free of her mother's controlling grasp. It could have been an interesting plot development, but it is dropped within the first twenty pages.
Cora's mother seemed set to become a major, interesting character, but she fell out of the plot entirely less than halfway through. Much the same for Teddy, a love interest of Cora's, who leaves and then weakly re-enters the book later on without ever being in much focus.
None of the characters were focused on enough, and none of their relationships made very much sense to me.
The supposed "romance" between the Duke, Ivo, and Cora was trivial and uninspiring. In fact, I would have to say that no love ever existed between them, and nor is it ever likely to.
Cora conveniently (but utterly by chance) takes a fall off her horse while riding through the Duke's property. Also by chance, he happens to stumble across her and rescue her.
Before they have shared even twenty minutes together, they are engaged. The society and gossip papers of two continents are obsessed with the couple's wedding, but they themselves approach it nonchalantly. The book seemed to always be highlighting the fact that their relationship lacked passion, and was cool and distanced - boring, even. I assumed that this was some sort of set-up so that Cora could leave Ivo in the end, but it turned out that it was just the way that their relationship was. Despite their obvious lack of any chemistry, the book insists that they love each other.
There is a revelation at the end of brothers falling in love with the same woman, who cheated on both of them, leading one brother to attempt suicide. His brother encouraged him, but then tried to save him, but failed, and convinced himself that he had killed his sibling, then went on to convince himself that the woman had actually made him kill his sibling, whilst both hating and loving her. The woman, to make the man angry, married a rich man, who was another sibling...
All this boggling information was dumped on the reader in exactly this manor - rushed and nonsensical. Perhaps if it had been built up, and written with a bit of finesse and talent, it would have been interesting.
But here, it was so C-grade soap opera, I skimmed the paragraph without even trying to make sense of it all.
This was an extremely obvious, shakily written book that was sorely in need of an editor. Not recommended.
Wow, the ending of this book was ok but getting there was like pulling teeth. It was sooooooo slow! I think this could be a great movie but it really needs to move it along.
I just finished this and it was pretty good but it's also created a raging desire to read some more Gilded Age novels. The best I know of are The Age of Innocence and The House of Mirth but I would like to find something written more recently, something that still captures the grandeur and nouveau riche grasping of the late 1800's.
Any suggestions?
Any suggestions?
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
For me this book felt a bit flat.
It felt like it was building up to something big and exciting and then nothing.
I don't know now a huge fan hey.
It was written nicely and the descriptions and the language were enjoyable though.
It felt like it was building up to something big and exciting and then nothing.
I don't know now a huge fan hey.
It was written nicely and the descriptions and the language were enjoyable though.
New York am Ende des 19. Jahrhunderts. Wie viele reiche junge Damen mit Aussicht auf ein großes Erbe soll auch die junge Cora Cash (der Name ist vielleicht ein bisschen zu offensichtlich gewählt) mitsamt ihrer Mutter nach Großbritannien verfrachtet werden, wo zahlreiche Adlige Geldsorgen haben und eine reiche Frau gut gebrauchen können. Eine Hand wäscht die andere, die ambitionierten amerikanischen Eltern bekommen einen Adelstitel für ihre Tochter, der britische Adlige kann sein Anwesen mit dem Geld der reichen Gattin retten. Wir kennen das Szenario beispielsweise aus Downton Abbey.
Cora selbst ist allerdings wenig begeistert von dem Plan und versucht, ihren Jugendfreund Teddy zu einer heimlichen Heirat anzustiften. Der jedoch will Maler werden und geht nach Paris. Also segeln Cora und ihre Mutter doch gen Großbritannien.
Die Ausgangslage des Romans der englischen Autorin Daisy Goodwin, die inzwischen vor allem als Autorin der Fernsehserie „Victoria“ und des zugrundeliegenden Buches bekannt ist, macht eine gewisse Vorhersehbarkeit zunächst einmal unvermeidlich. Allerdings gefiel mir der Anfang des Buches so wenig, dass ich kurz davor war, es abzubrechen. Ich fand die Dialoge furchtbar und die Beinahe-Instalove in diesem Fall besonders unglaubwürdig. Ich habe dem Buch aber noch eine Chance gesehen und es bessert sich tatsächlich. Es tritt eine Verflossene mit offenbar zwielichtigen Absichten auf. Ich wollte gerade einen Vergleich mit einem sehr bekannten Roman aufstellen, doch allein das könnte schon ein leichter Spoiler sein. Über den Titel des Romans besteht außerdem ein Bezug zu dem gleichnamigen Gedicht von Robert Browning (danke für den Hinweis, Servetus!), der einiges befürchten lässt. Erfrischenderweise gibt es eine Nebenhandlung mit Coras farbiger Zofe. Als ein großes gesellschaftliches Ereignis ansteht, meint die Leserin, genau zu ahnen, was passieren wird. Das tritt dann auch in etwa so ein, doch tatsächlich bleibt das Buch bis zum Schluss spannend. Es ist keine großartige Lektüre, aber ein unterhaltsamer Roman über das Gilded Age, auch wenn die Charaktere bis zum Schluss eher flach bleiben.
Cora selbst ist allerdings wenig begeistert von dem Plan und versucht, ihren Jugendfreund Teddy zu einer heimlichen Heirat anzustiften. Der jedoch will Maler werden und geht nach Paris. Also segeln Cora und ihre Mutter doch gen Großbritannien.
Die Ausgangslage des Romans der englischen Autorin Daisy Goodwin, die inzwischen vor allem als Autorin der Fernsehserie „Victoria“ und des zugrundeliegenden Buches bekannt ist, macht eine gewisse Vorhersehbarkeit zunächst einmal unvermeidlich. Allerdings gefiel mir der Anfang des Buches so wenig, dass ich kurz davor war, es abzubrechen. Ich fand die Dialoge furchtbar und die Beinahe-Instalove in diesem Fall besonders unglaubwürdig. Ich habe dem Buch aber noch eine Chance gesehen und es bessert sich tatsächlich. Es tritt eine Verflossene mit offenbar zwielichtigen Absichten auf. Ich wollte gerade einen Vergleich mit einem sehr bekannten Roman aufstellen, doch allein das könnte schon ein leichter Spoiler sein. Über den Titel des Romans besteht außerdem ein Bezug zu dem gleichnamigen Gedicht von Robert Browning (danke für den Hinweis, Servetus!), der einiges befürchten lässt. Erfrischenderweise gibt es eine Nebenhandlung mit Coras farbiger Zofe. Als ein großes gesellschaftliches Ereignis ansteht, meint die Leserin, genau zu ahnen, was passieren wird. Das tritt dann auch in etwa so ein, doch tatsächlich bleibt das Buch bis zum Schluss spannend. Es ist keine großartige Lektüre, aber ein unterhaltsamer Roman über das Gilded Age, auch wenn die Charaktere bis zum Schluss eher flach bleiben.
This was a decent historical novel. It had some romance, but it wasn't the main draw here. A bit surprising for a Vaginal Fantasy Book Club.
I got a very Edith Wharton vibe from this book. The story is not a happy one. It ends happy, I guess,. There are no sympathetic characters, just times when I felt some sympathy for a character here and there.
The main story centers on the meeting, wedding, and marriage of wealthy American heiress of the title, Cora Cash, and her English duke Ivo. I hesitate to say "relationship" because these two people barely know each other prior to and even after their marriage and that word signifies a deeper connection between two persons than I felt these characters had.
The subplot focuses on Cora's Black maid Bertha and her affair with the white English servant Jim.
I liked Bertha the best of the characters. Jim and Ivo are crap guys, not talking to their lovers honestly, not caring what their lovers have to say. Shitheads. And speaking of, Ivo's mom is monstrous and his mistress is nasty but one I kinda liked in her nastiness. I could see where she was coming from and pitied her for it. The Double Duchess, however, is an irredeemable ass. I did side with Cora and Bertha through the book, as one expects to do with the protagonists, but Cora was very naive for a spoiled rich girl, especially when it came to relationships and love.
I got a very Edith Wharton vibe from this book. The story is not a happy one. It ends happy, I guess,
Spoiler
with Cora and Ivo staying together in the end, both leaving their first loves, Teddy and CharlotteThe main story centers on the meeting, wedding, and marriage of wealthy American heiress of the title, Cora Cash, and her English duke Ivo. I hesitate to say "relationship" because these two people barely know each other prior to and even after their marriage and that word signifies a deeper connection between two persons than I felt these characters had.
The subplot focuses on Cora's Black maid Bertha and her affair with the white English servant Jim.
I liked Bertha the best of the characters. Jim and Ivo are crap guys, not talking to their lovers honestly, not caring what their lovers have to say. Shitheads. And speaking of, Ivo's mom is monstrous and his mistress is nasty but one I kinda liked in her nastiness. I could see where she was coming from and pitied her for it. The Double Duchess, however, is an irredeemable ass. I did side with Cora and Bertha through the book, as one expects to do with the protagonists, but Cora was very naive for a spoiled rich girl, especially when it came to relationships and love.
Spoiler
The crazy fireball-burning of Cora's mom at the beginning certainly made for an unexpected, fiery start to the novel.
This was the most over-hyped but forgetable book I've come across this year. I almost forgot to add it to my "read" list!
This book was a disappointment. Advertised as the answer to Downton Abby withdrawal, it just doesn't provide the same type of connection. First of all, it takes place in the generation before Downton, the Gilded Age. I was willing to overlook it as Gilded Age Newport is fascinating. I was hoping for more of an American spin on the Upstairs, Downstairs model. However, the book goes to England after it's exciting first chapter and creeps along there for the rest of the book. The characters don't seem to develop throughout the book. The mystery over her husband, Ivo, doesn't go "Rebecca" or "Jane Eyre" far enough for you to be intrigued. He is just plain boring. The book was just so-so, overall.