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Dawn's Early Light by Elswyth Thane
I'm about 2/3 through Yankee Stranger and am enjoying it. I'll be curious to see your reaction, Misfit (when the person ahead of you finally gets back from their extended vacation and returns the book, that is!!). You didn't care much for the battlefield scenes in Dawn's Early Light, and Yankee Stranger has much more of that sort of thing....
[quote=""traveldog""]My cat, by the way, is a handsome, bright, brave but still thoughtful boy with a touch of sadness in his background named Bracken (Ever After, 3rd in the series).[/quote]
Now that I have met Bracken I have to say that, given your cat's personality, the name Bracken couldn't be more fitting!
[quote=""Misfit""]I will have to wait longer to find out about Bracken. [/quote]
You will love Bracken -- all the women do.
He is handsome, wealthy, smart, ambitious, and (best of all) so witty! I love this exchange between Bracken and his sister (never fear, this is no spoiler, since it is revealed at the very beginning that he has a wife from whom he is estranged):
For a few minutes they rode in silence. Then Bracken said --
"All right. I'll tell them."
"That you have a wife?"
"Mm-hm. It may be a trifle difficult to find an opening, of course. 'Speaking of cut-worms, I have been deserted in a most scandalous fashion by my lawfully wedded wife' -- would that be too abrupt, do you think?"
That one made me laugh out loud!
Now that I have met Bracken I have to say that, given your cat's personality, the name Bracken couldn't be more fitting!
[quote=""Misfit""]I will have to wait longer to find out about Bracken. [/quote]
You will love Bracken -- all the women do.
He is handsome, wealthy, smart, ambitious, and (best of all) so witty! I love this exchange between Bracken and his sister (never fear, this is no spoiler, since it is revealed at the very beginning that he has a wife from whom he is estranged):For a few minutes they rode in silence. Then Bracken said --
"All right. I'll tell them."
"That you have a wife?"
"Mm-hm. It may be a trifle difficult to find an opening, of course. 'Speaking of cut-worms, I have been deserted in a most scandalous fashion by my lawfully wedded wife' -- would that be too abrupt, do you think?"
That one made me laugh out loud!
**drums fingers on table**
Still waiting for my copy. Last check shows they've billed the previous borrower
Still waiting for my copy. Last check shows they've billed the previous borrower
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be
...is the only place I want to be
I do hope you get the book soon -- I am enjoying this series, it would be fun to compare impressions with someone else who's reading it for the first time.
What impresses me about Thane's writing is her ability to create a never-ending supply of characters who are original and so engaging. There are some overlaps in characters from book to book, although characters from the previous book tend to stay more in the background in subsequent books, while she creates a whole new cast of characters to occupy center stage.
What impresses me about Thane's writing is her ability to create a never-ending supply of characters who are original and so engaging. There are some overlaps in characters from book to book, although characters from the previous book tend to stay more in the background in subsequent books, while she creates a whole new cast of characters to occupy center stage.
>>>Now that I have met Bracken I have to say that, given your cat's personality, the name Bracken couldn't be more fitting!<<
Hah!! The name was given -- and the impression formed -- only a week or so after we adopted Bracken from a big city shelter just hours before he was scheduled to be euthanized. He was, we've since discovered, in pretty bad shape quite subdued by the experience - understandably so. At that time, however, he gave no hint as to the smug, attention-seeking, insistent, mischievous tyrant he would become!!! I think I owe Thane's Bracken an apology! I'm really thinking James Bond - or perhaps Atilla! -- might have been a more appropriate moniker...... (however, I do like 'Bracken' better).
It's so nice to hear someone discover and enjoy these books ..... I think I must be getting due for a re-read (something I seem to have to do about once every decade).
Hah!! The name was given -- and the impression formed -- only a week or so after we adopted Bracken from a big city shelter just hours before he was scheduled to be euthanized. He was, we've since discovered, in pretty bad shape quite subdued by the experience - understandably so. At that time, however, he gave no hint as to the smug, attention-seeking, insistent, mischievous tyrant he would become!!! I think I owe Thane's Bracken an apology! I'm really thinking James Bond - or perhaps Atilla! -- might have been a more appropriate moniker...... (however, I do like 'Bracken' better).
It's so nice to hear someone discover and enjoy these books ..... I think I must be getting due for a re-read (something I seem to have to do about once every decade).
This afternoon I finished 'Dawn's Early Light' which I had been anticipating greatly since finishing 'Yankee Stranger' which I read first as I had a copy. And I'm glad to say it didn't disappoint, although I do wish I had read it first as I think I'd have appreciated more of Tibby's references and comparisons with her grandchildren to Julian and other characters from DEL. Julian was a great character and I felt that his loneliness on first arriving in Virginia, was really palpable. This is definitely a keeper and probably a re-read for me, Thane packed in such detail! 
It's stimulated my interest in reading more historical fiction set in the US.
It's stimulated my interest in reading more historical fiction set in the US.I've just started book #4 -- The Light Heart -- and I really just have one complaint about Thane's family saga. That is, I really don't like the storyline she created for Susannah Day -- she makes her a sacrificial lamb who offers herself and any chance for happiness on the altar of forbidden love. It just rubs me the wrong way, especially since the object of Sue's love marries someone else and goes on to have a contented and happy family life. It really bugged me in book #3, and now that she's continuing it in book #4 it's bugging me even more. How do the rest of you feel about it?
How do the rest of you feel about it?
Last edited by Michy on Mon October 11th, 2010, 10:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
I have to admit I thought that Sue's attitude towards the whole situation with Sedgewick, so many years later was unrealistic, especially as in Yankee Stranger she was so adamant that Sedgewick should marry and raise a family, and not spend his days moping after her. It's exactly like she's sacrificed herself and her happiness for an unfulfilled relationship. How can she have lived her life like that? It doesn't seem sustainable to me I'm at the bit in Ever After when Major Gratian is taking a big interest, I do hope she marries him! Even if it's just for his dress uniform hehe 
I'm at the bit in Ever After when Major Gratian is taking a big interest, I do hope she marries him! Even if it's just for his dress uniform hehe [quote=""LoobyG""]I have to admit I thought that Sue's attitude towards the whole situation with Sedgewick, so many years later was unrealistic, especially as in Yankee Stranger she was so adamant that Sedgewick should marry and raise a family, and not spend his days moping after her. It's exactly like she's sacrificed herself and her happiness for an unfulfilled relationship. How can she have lived her life like that? It doesn't seem sustainable to me I'm at the bit in Ever After when Major Gratian is taking a big interest, I do hope she marries him! Even if it's just for his dress uniform hehe [/quote]
That's exactly how I felt about it. I just can't see any self-respecting person (which Susannah definitely seems to be) behaving that way, even in fiction.
The Light Heart starts in 1902 and goes through WWI, so I'm looking forward to it -- that era interests me. That was part of my dissatisfaction with Ever After, was that I just couldn't muster up much interest in the Cuban war for independence, Teddy Roosevelt notwithstanding,
BTW -- have you read the Poldark series (I'm sure you have, I'm probably the last person on earth who hasn't )? I just read the first one and really, really liked it. It reminds me quite a lot of the Williamsburg series, except that it's set in Cornwall rather than America.
I'm at the bit in Ever After when Major Gratian is taking a big interest, I do hope she marries him! Even if it's just for his dress uniform hehe [/quote]That's exactly how I felt about it. I just can't see any self-respecting person (which Susannah definitely seems to be) behaving that way, even in fiction.
The Light Heart starts in 1902 and goes through WWI, so I'm looking forward to it -- that era interests me. That was part of my dissatisfaction with Ever After, was that I just couldn't muster up much interest in the Cuban war for independence, Teddy Roosevelt notwithstanding,
BTW -- have you read the Poldark series (I'm sure you have, I'm probably the last person on earth who hasn't
)? I just read the first one and really, really liked it. It reminds me quite a lot of the Williamsburg series, except that it's set in Cornwall rather than America.FYI, Dawn's Early Light and Yankee Stranger are both available on Kindle now. $3.99 I believe is the price I saw.
At home with a good book and the cat...
...is the only place I want to be
...is the only place I want to be