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Laddar... The Vines of Yarrabeeav Dorothy Eden
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New York Times bestseller: A sweeping romantic saga about the colonization of Australia, from the author of An Important Family. When Gilbert Massingham chooses Eugenia Lichfield for his bride, he knows the aristocratic beauty is the ideal mistress for his plantation in the Australian wilderness. But the virile, larger-than-life, vineyard-obsessed Gilbert isn't the husband Eugenia imagined when she left England for this untamed land. Then exiled Irish portrait artist Colm O'Connor and prison refugee Molly Jarvis come into their lives, altering the family's destiny. As Yarrabee grows into one of Australia's premier vineyards, a subtle struggle for power begins that will have far-reaching consequences for Eugenia, Gilbert, and their children. Featuring a cast of unforgettable characters, The Vines of Yarrabee presents the vitality and violence of pioneer life and an unusual and moving love story. Inga biblioteksbeskrivningar kunde hittas. |
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Google Books — Laddar... GenrerMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823Literature English & Old English literatures English fictionKlassifikation enligt LCBetygMedelbetyg:
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Well, that was depressing.
Eugenia leaves her home in England, traveling to the wilderness of Australia to marry Gilbert, the owner of a vineyard plantation. It becomes immediately clear that Eugenia is second fiddle to her husband’s vineyard. Matters only get worse, when Gilbert brings in a widowed and pregnant convict to be a maid at their newly built home, appropriately named Yarrabee.
Eugenia struggles to find her role in the home, and in her marriage. Gilbert treats her like an ornament, a refined, delicate creature, smothering her nearly to death. Meanwhile, the maid secures a permanent role in the household, rolling up her sleeves and becoming more help to Gilbert than he would ever allow Eugenia to be.
As the years pass, children are born, the vines prosper and struggle, there are passions and heartbreaks and tragedies, while each person is trapped in a defined role, they are helpless to break free from, without ever truly knowing or understanding the people they are the most familiar with.
Those familiar with Dorothy Eden may associate her with the Gothic style romantic suspense genre that was so popular in the sixties and seventies.
This book doesn’t not fall into that category, but is, instead, a family saga, and pure historical fiction. There is no mystery, or supernatural element, and while Yarabee is a large house, it’s newly built, is not haunted, or crumbling, or set on the cliffs of Cornwall.
The story gets off to a slow start, but eventually, I found myself absorbed in Eugenia’s sad battle with homesickness, and the tragic way her life unfolds. While Gilbert’s dominance and his obsession with his vines makes it hard to like him, Eugenia could also try one’s patience. Of the two, though, I did sympathize with Eugenia, who was trapped in the proverbial ivory tower, but longed for more out her marriage and her life.
As I continued to read, I was buoyed by a few possibilities, but was disappointed over and over again, by the way the things turned out.
I could see a type of personal triumph, I suppose, with the way things turned out in the end. Unfortunately, it was not the way I would have liked the book to end. These events should have transpired much earlier in the book. As such, the conclusion left me feeling dispirited and unsatisfied, with some question as to how things might have proceeded from there for our Eugenia.
While I have read several of Eden’s novels over the years, there are still many I have yet to read, but to date, this one is my least favorite.
2.5 stars ( )