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HTML:New York Times–bestselling author Jacqueline Briskin delivers a richly romantic, epic novel about the founding of the automobile industry, spanning two continents and five turbulent decades of American history In 1894, while penniless nineteen-year-old Tom Bridger works at a Michigan furniture company that fuels his ambitions, he falls in love with beautiful, sophisticated Antonia Dalzell. But his real talent is inventing machines. He's secretly working on an electrical replacement show more for the horseless carriage. So is his friend, engineer Henry Ford. With America still a bit player on the burgeoning automotive stage, Tom dreams of creating a company to rival the dazzling car manufacturers of Europe. Through vision and hard work, he achieves his greatest ambition. Onyx, his automobile company, is a world away from his humble beginnings and the shameful legacy he carries. Successful beyond his wildest dreams, Tom becomes America's first billionaire. But through it all, he is haunted by his passion for Antonia, the woman he could never marry —and he finds himself challenged by their son, who is determined to destroy Tom's empire. With vibrant, emotionally complex characters and authentic historical detail, The Onyx is an unforgettable novel about the cost of a lie, the lengths to which a man will go to honor a promise . . . and the secrets he will carry to his grave. Historical Fiction. Literature. Fiction. Romance. show lessTags
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Member Reviews
"The Onyx" is Briskin’s typical fare... essentially a maudlin love story incorporated into a complex three-generation saga taking the reader from 1894 to a grand conclusion in 1947. Focusing on the inception of the automobile- then called the horseless road carriage- and the astronomical growth of Detroit’s burgeoning auto industry, the reader is transported from the poor young inventor’s shack where he developed the first gas engine to his multi-million dollar industrialized assembly line factory.
Though totally fiction, using an imaginary auto company called Onyx, Briskin incorporates a lot of factual history relative to the development of the automobile, the difficulty in building a prototype, intolerable conditions in the show more factories, the catastrophic consequences of the Depression, and the famous sit-down strike during the Depression which gave birth to the United Auto Workers Union and their first big demands.
Published in 1982, Briskin’s historically-based tale recalls many of the social and cultural issues of prior eras: the social barriers between the wealthy and the working class, anti-semitism, and the stigma of having children out of wedlock. The common solution to that problem was often to pass the child off to a hastily acquired unsuspecting husband… though not necessarily the case in this particular story.
One distinct feature about "The Onyx" is the demonstration through strong characterization of just how much some people were willing to sacrifice to achieve their goals. The price was often painfully high. The protagonist, founder of Onyx, was hard working, dedicated, strong willed, persevering, stubborn and uncompromising. Some of those traits were his greatest strength, but also his most profound weakness.
And on the humorous side- as the story progresses- the reader gets a litany of words used to describe a plethora of promiscuous women: chippies, dishes, floozies, girlies, and sweet babies.
"The Onyx" is voluminous in size and ponderous in content. It’s no wonder one reviewer referred to "The Onyx" as a soap-opera. Briskin offers intense drama and a poignant, somewhat fantastical, plot drenched in sentimentality which incorporates webs of love affairs, unrequited love, deceit and lies, uncontrollable tempers, and a quest for vengeance. Read it and enjoy the weep. show less
Though totally fiction, using an imaginary auto company called Onyx, Briskin incorporates a lot of factual history relative to the development of the automobile, the difficulty in building a prototype, intolerable conditions in the show more factories, the catastrophic consequences of the Depression, and the famous sit-down strike during the Depression which gave birth to the United Auto Workers Union and their first big demands.
Published in 1982, Briskin’s historically-based tale recalls many of the social and cultural issues of prior eras: the social barriers between the wealthy and the working class, anti-semitism, and the stigma of having children out of wedlock. The common solution to that problem was often to pass the child off to a hastily acquired unsuspecting husband… though not necessarily the case in this particular story.
One distinct feature about "The Onyx" is the demonstration through strong characterization of just how much some people were willing to sacrifice to achieve their goals. The price was often painfully high. The protagonist, founder of Onyx, was hard working, dedicated, strong willed, persevering, stubborn and uncompromising. Some of those traits were his greatest strength, but also his most profound weakness.
And on the humorous side- as the story progresses- the reader gets a litany of words used to describe a plethora of promiscuous women: chippies, dishes, floozies, girlies, and sweet babies.
"The Onyx" is voluminous in size and ponderous in content. It’s no wonder one reviewer referred to "The Onyx" as a soap-opera. Briskin offers intense drama and a poignant, somewhat fantastical, plot drenched in sentimentality which incorporates webs of love affairs, unrequited love, deceit and lies, uncontrollable tempers, and a quest for vengeance. Read it and enjoy the weep. show less
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Author Information
36+ Works 963 Members
Jacqueline Briskin was born Jacqueline Orgell on December 18, 1927 in London, England. She enrolled at UCLA in pre-law, but quit after two years to marry Bert Briskin. In 1964, she took a night class at UCLA Extension called The Craft of Fiction. Her first novel, California Generation, was published in 1970. Her other novels include Too Much Too show more Soon, Everything and More, Rich Friends, Paloverde, and The Onyx. She also wrote two novels using the pen name Diane Du Pont. She retired in the mid-1990s to take care of her husband, who was in declining health because of Alzheimer's disease. He died in 2004. She died on December 24, 2014 at the age of 87. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The Onyx
- Original title
- The Onyx
- Original publication date
- 1982
- Dedication*
- Voor Bert
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.
Classifications
- Genres
- Fiction and Literature, General Fiction, Romance, Historical Fiction
- DDC/MDS
- 813.54 — Literature & rhetoric American literature in English American fiction in English 1900-1999 1945-1999
- LCC
- PS3552 .R49 .O6 — Language and Literature American literature American literature Individual authors 1961-
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 69
- Popularity
- 455,538
- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.13)
- Languages
- 6 — Dutch, English, Finnish, Italian, Spanish, Swedish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 25
- ASINs
- 6
