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Synopsis
Banished from her uncaring family home for her growing friendship with older neighbor St. John, Alexandria Thaine is unprepared for the new life she encounters with her distant cousins in England’s West Country. She blossoms under the warmth of the Falconers, and as she throws herself into the thrilling danger of the family’s smuggling trade, Alex forms an unbreakable bond with the eldest son, Rane.
But just as Alex begins to imagine a future in Devon with Rane at her side, the death of her older sister forces her back home to care for her sister’s motherless twins. Still yearning for Rane, Alex grows to love the helpless babies, and as she rekindles her friendship with St. John, she finds herself caught between her heart and her home.
When the opportunity comes to start anew in Maryland’s lush horse country, Alex faces the agonizing choice between the life she dreamed of and the promise of the new world. But starting over in a golden land on the brink of war brings unforeseen dangers to her door, and when Alex’s new family is threatened, can she find the strength to risk her happiness today for the wild hope of a brighter tomorrow?
The sweeping, epic and emotional novel by beloved storyteller Celeste De Blasis, available in eBook for the first time. Perfect for readers who love Poldark, Outlander and Daphne du Maurier.
A Wild Hope was originally published as Wild Swan.
My Thoughts
At the instigation of her beloved grandmother, thirteen year old Alexandria (Alex) Thaine, the youngest and unloved child of Margaret and Caton Thaine, is sent to Clovelly, Devon, to live with distant relatives, the Falconers, a family of freetraders. The Falconers welcome Alex into their lives and provide the love and understanding that is sadly lacking in her own home. An instant bond forms between Alex and Rane, her cousin, and the two become inseparable. Away from the spite and meanness of her mother and older sister, Alex grows into a confident and happy young woman.
When Alex receives news that her sister has died, she returns to her home in Gravesend to help look after her sister's twins and await the return of St. John Carrington, her sister's husband, from the Napoleonic Wars.
At that time, Rane doesn't declare his true feelings for Alex as he believes she is too young. However, when she turns sixteen, he makes the trip to Gravesend to propose, but is too late. Alex loves the twins as if they were her own children and has chosen St. John, although church law prohibits them to legally marry.
With St. John ostracised by his own family since he married Alex's sister and Alex's family, except her grandmother and her brother Boston, disapproving of their relationship, the added heartache of the loss of a child precipitates their move to Maryland, a place Alex learned of when her path crossed with that of an escaped American prisoner of war. It is the ideal place for St. John's dream of breeding race horses and Alex's hope for a better future away from the strictures of family and English society. Although she cannot totally forget Rane, she consigns the life they may have had together to the past and focuses on carving out a future for herself, St. John and their children.
I loved this book and all those wonderful characters that populated its pages, even the not so nice ones. My heart went out to Alex from the first moment she entered the story - a free spirit who only wishes her mother to love her. Deep down Alex knows that she never will. As for the two men Alex loves, the much older St. John didn't endear himself to me as Rane did. I felt that Alex had made a mistake by staying with St. John. However, the initial rocky start to their "marriage" draws them closer and my opinion of St. John did change, although I never stopped hoping that Alex and Rane would find their way back to each other somehow.
Apart from the romance, this novel is filled with lots of political and social history, which ranges from England in the grip of the Napoleonic Wars to America where resentment of the English is still rife following the War of 1812, slavery, presidential elections, the coming of the railroad and the lead up to the American Civil War. The breeding of thoroughbreds and the horse racing circuit, which form a major part of Alex and St. John's life in Maryland, add a unique and interesting backdrop to an already enthralling tale.
If not for the release of this ebook, I would have been unaware of this author and the trilogy that was so popular back in the 1980s. A Wild Hope is a wonderful story of love, resilience, sacrifice and heartache. It truly is an epic.
About the Author
A Wild Hope is available from Amazon, Apple, Kobo and Google.
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Sounds like quite the saga, thanks for sharing your thoughts
ReplyDeleteThank you. I'm looking forward to book #2.
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