Jack Casey

1810, America. Lady Eleanora Van Rensselaer is twenty-two and a widow. She has the connections needed to construct a waterway through the wilderness to Lake Erie. Will political plots lead her to love?

For the sake of honesty, I didn't finish this book. I didn't even get a quarter of the way through this because I was so very uncomfortable. The book begins with our leading lady, Eleanora, listening to her maid confess her love for a groom. From her characterization, the maid is very young and show more naive. Eleanora called her 'poor lamb' and 'my pet', and constantly touched the girl's cheek. It came across as very inappropriate and I couldn't stand to read it.

So I left the story for a few weeks and then came back. I forged ahead a little more, trying to ignore how uncomfortable Lady Eleanora's treatment of her servant made me. Nothing recommended her as an admirable character and I couldn't find anything that I liked about her.

When I reached the point of Eleanora being relieved to remove her tightly laced whalebone corset (followed by her rubbing her breasts) I had to walk away again. I will not force myself to read something that makes me so uncomfortable and got that small historical detail wrong.

I am clearly not the target audience for this book and I would not recommend it. I received a free copy through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program and all opinions expressed are my own. show less

This novel is a re-issue for e-book of “A Land Beyond the River”, originally published in 1988. It tells the story of the building of the Erie Canal, as told through the eyes of Eleanora Van Rensselaer, a wealthy widow with restless ambition, and Daniel Hedges, a ship captain, boat builder and man of many practical talents who lives on the “frontier” at what would become Buffalo, NY. It focuses largely on the political intrigues involved in the canal project, pitting DeWitt Clinton show more against Martin VanBuren.

As a reader, I am in two minds about the story. The political tale was intriguing and well-told. I found myself wishing for more detail on the actual perils of construction. These were strangely glossed over, except for a section involving the plague of malaria among the work crews at one point. The personal story of the relationship between the fictional characters of Eleanora and Daniel was the weak point of the book. Eleanora, as a character, was unsympathetic and often inexplicable. Daniel fared a bit better, when on his own dealing with the canal or with the War of 1812. When he was dealing with Eleanora, he was as unconvincing as she.

Overall, it was an interesting novel, if not a stellar one.

I received a copy of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. show less

This book alone holds as much history for me as the story itself.

I am a former parishioner of St. Patrick's in Troy, New York. When it was decided by the Diocese to close St. Patrick's, we, the parishioners, decided to write a book on the history of St. Patrick's. I wrote that book. One of the parishioners suggested that we ask Jack Casey to possibly read what I was writing or edit it ... because time did not allow we didn't bother and instead edited the book by committee.

When I found this show more book in the Rectory, while going through old things left behind by past pastors, I immediately took it for myself. I have only just now gotten around to reading it.

It took me awhile to get into reading this book ... I wanted to not like the writing style because I was insulted, when it was suggested that I have Casey rewrite my words for the History of St. Patrick's book. (I'm immensely thankful that we never asked him because his writing style is different than my own; he doesn't use the Oxford comma, for example, which is a pet peeve of mine – comma usage was a great debate during the writing of the History of St. Patrick's.)

Once I finally committed to reading this book as often as I could, I feel in love with the story and it's characters. Many times I found myself mourning the series of events that led to the trial and the way things played out. In the final chapters, I found myself having to pause to wipe my tears away because I was so moved.

I absolutely loved the way in which Bat and Mamie were presented -- the love that Mamie has for someone so flawed and she doesn't care because she loves him that much. And Bat is too stupid to realize until it's too late ... someone hand me the Kleenex!

My problem with the book, and the reason I won't give it a higher rating than Good / 4 Stars is because I don't know how factual the treatment of Father Swift is and it disturbs me that he was presented in such a way. Father Swift is not a fictional character. He was the 1st priest of St. Patrick's. I have his prayer card from his funeral in 1916. Where did the material for his portrayal come from? I found none of this in writing the History of St. Patrick's. If it was entirely fabricated by the author, a fictional priest – an associate priest of the parish – should have been created.

I did not find the portrayal of Father Swift to at all be a good one ... Especially the scene when he comes to realize that what is done to Bat Shea is entirely "preordained" ... This is not a Catholic belief and total BS. There's another scene where it says the Bishop had contacted Father Swift and informed him to change his Homily for Shea's funeral ... I would like to see the source of that as well.

At the end of the book, Casey does acknowledge where he got most of his references from, in regards to, the story and the trial -- no mention of Father Swift or the Diocese, however. He also acknowledges that these are fictional characters that he obviously couldn't tell their hopes, thoughts, and dreams based on the source material he used ... That's fine. It's completely another to add anti-Catholic rhetoric to the end of your book for absolutely no reason except to make it appear that the Catholic Church got involved in the politics of Bat Shea.

Adrianne show less

Book Review: Into the Heartland, Jack Casey (2021)
Reviewed by: Patricia M. Muhammad
Date: March 20, 2021
*I received this ebook in exchange for an honest review

*Contains Spoilers*

It is the 19th century, a time where many migrated west, European immigrants flooded the northeast and expansion for those who desired greater prosperity seemed limitless. In the state of New York, a few enterprising individuals decide to proceed towards a land escapade to build a canal connecting New York, show more Pennsylvania and the Atlantic. The proposed project is the Erie canal and the risk is huge. Land is the greatest commodity of wealth, and those who seek to convince others to support it speak of the potential viability of mercantile trade that this navigable route could provide. This, both political and social sponsors assert will likely be the new avenue towards wealth.

The main players in the scheme are Eleanora Rensselaer, Van Buren and Clinton and a man who lives a simple life with his wife and family, Daniel Hedges. Each one uses their abilities, whether it is being a landowning socialite, a politician or one who understands how the working man thinks to gather support. Eleanora is a widow who has kept the condition of retaining her merged lands a secret from most. The author describes her beauty, her dress as being extraordinary, but with this is she is haunted by the burden—the need for a new husbandry. She often fights temptation and sometimes just as she is about to capitulate to her natural desire for a man, she is rarely rejected. Van Buren and Clinton are judge and attorney general. There are the primary actors within the local political arena of New York society. There are two major events that the author details regarding the proposed canal, the War of 1812, which is a disrupter to all that is usual and seeking support for an appropriations bill in Washington, D.C. The war causes Daniel, who had already inclined to Eleanora, to lose his wife in children to the British. It also causes a delay in "digging the ditch." Jack Casey details a six year trek in which opponents, supporters and those who had the most to financially gain worked against and towards the fruition of the project. Eleanora seems most interested in maintaining her status, both politically and financially. Politics is messy and those who wished to gain power or increase it are willing to slander and malign anyone who steps in their path—even if it is a woman. Van Buren approaches Eleanora's brother in law who is most legally eligible to challenger her current holdings of merged lands.

Throughout the story, she clings onto the vast property (and deeds), Claverack, as if it defined her, and in some ways it did. Her relationship with Daniel does not begin in the most puritanical sense. Eleanora is a troubled one, and Daniel, a good-natured man seems to be less conflicted with his feelings for her even before his wife, Carrie died. The author surprisingly includes a relationship with such indiscretion for the 19th century and one wonders whether the budding romance has any significance to the primary plot—the building of the canal. It does, but not towards the last few chapters in which the story seems to accelerate. Eleanora understands what her freedom means when circumstances forces her to. Earlier in the book, she is explaining to her daughter Kate that women (white) are bound by the laws of some dead man regarding the rules of inheritance as it pertains to women. One can clearly understand how land ownership, even for a woman was the primary method to be a respectable citizen and wield such influence in politics and social life. It is not until the courts become involved due to Van Buren's interference and she is compelled to see the court order of ejectment that she allows herself to feel what she always had—for Daniel. There is one point that, despite losing her land and the hope that her representative vowing to have her at least retain her dower, she explains to Daniel that she is finally happy. Eleanora accepts her feelings for him while Daniel had never denied his. She believes that he is to reject her because she upheld her material gain above their adoration for one another. He suspected she withheld something and that her reluctance to proceed with their relationship during the project was due to another matter—and he was right.

The reader will sense that the author, Jack Casey, has an immense knowledge of how land ownership is conveyed, especially when he uses the 19th century explanation of what those with real estate experience now understand as the 'Rule Against Perpetuities' (to the legal beavers out there). The text is detailed and thoroughly researched into matters of political strategy and the history of 19th century politics. However, when I initially read the synopsis of the book, I considered the potential for an ode to John Steinbeck's style. Though the author did not meet this expectation, Jack Casey defines 𝐼𝑛𝑡𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐻𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑑 with his own recollective style of historical fiction with intersperses of romance. Campaigns, backdoor deals, mobs of the masses and the potential for a lucrative future for those who support the canal are at the ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑡 of this book. Yet, in the end, the reader receives the warmth of the one character who appeared to be one of the most aloof, Eleanora, who finally has the happiness her reluctant heart desires. show less