Awful. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. The story was engaging and believable and I loved the inclusion of well-known historical figures. I appreciate when an author goes to the trouble to build the story around actual historical events and figures and provides a learning experience for the reader as well as an enjoyable read. This is the first of three novels by Rebecca Dean and I am looking forward to reading the next two. ( )

Different than the historical fiction I usually read, It was a bit more fluffy than I like my historical fiction, I prefer anya seaton type books, so maybe that it why. This withstanding I did like it as a light read with a good story, and it did lag a bit for me. So I guess my review would be ehhhh, I didn't love it I didn't hate it . I may try it again when I am more in the mood for this type book. ( )

I think I'd probably term this as "light" historical fiction -- a fun summer read with enough family drama & intrigue to keep the reader interested. As other reviewers have mentioned, Rebecca Dean has chosen to tell the story from the point of view of 5 of the main characters (3 female, 2 male) in sequential order (rather than alternating back & forth), which I thought was an interesting way to tell the story. I initially wasn't sure that it would work, but I think it did. The book description leads the reader to believe that the story centers around the character of Delia, but her portion of the story is only the focus at the beginning, and then she becomes somewhat of a background character from that point on. While Delia did have some redeeming qualities, I found her rather superficial, & the once-in-a-while slips into southern U.S. slang just didn't seem to "fit" & annoyed me more than anything.

I enjoyed this story overall, but I think the comparison to Philippa Gregory is misleading. Rebecca Dean is not yet up to Gregory's caliber, or perhaps her writing style is just different than Gregory's & she shouldn't be compared to her at all, which is probably more likely the case. I find it interesting that the UK title for this book is "A Dangerous Desire", which leads one to believe it is more suited for the historical romance genre. ( )

The summary of the book provided by the publisher hints that it is mostly about Delia Chandler. The book is broken into five parts which focus on the perspective of different characters. The first perspective is Delia's, and her section of the book is the largest ( I believe) and lays the groundwork for the rest of the story. I found Delia to be a sympathetic character and I liked her immensely. In fact, I ended up liking most of the major characters with the exception of the few that the author made easy to dislike. Instead of summarizing the story (which I find that most book backs do well enough), I'll state my impression of the book.

I wouldn't recommend this as a book someone was going to read in the expectations of an historical representation of the time. This book is somewhat like Forrest Gump to me in that the main character goes through many world changing events and encounters many famous people. However, those historical encounters are more of a background in the piece. The two wars and the depression do help guide the story along as the characters respond to the world around them, but this book felt more like a piece of fiction than historical fiction because the historical events, places, and people were not the focus of the book and therefore you don't gain a new perspective or more knowledge of them. The only exception being that perhaps you may have a more favorable view or Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII.

The five sections were an interesting take on this story-telling. I understand that the purpose was so that the story could unfold more, but I'm not sure I would have chosen the same characters to focus on that the author did. The five sections were of Delia, her two daughters (Petra and Davina) each had a section, and then their two men (Darius and Jack) each had a section. Had she chosen to have just Delia and her daughters have a section, it would have made more sense to me. By having the two gentlemen at the end have their own section, it seems interesting that other main men in the story in relation to Delia didn't have a section from their point of view. The family drama that is built, then bursts out of control, and finally resolved seemed to be an attempt at a mystery angle in the book, as was the focus on how to reconcile different political beliefs and actions.

As a whole, the story was interesting and should be read for fun- expect a fictional tale with smatterings of historical references and some mild hints at mystery. If you planned on reading this as a strong historical tale, I'm afraid you'd likely be disappointed. Going into this book, I wasn't sure what category or genre to expect, and so I was able to enjoy it as a light read. I gave 5 stars because the author somehow made me sympathetic to spouses being unfaithful when I normally can't understand it being necessary. The book took me out of the present and gave me some fun hours of reading time, and that's exactly what I wanted! ( )