Catherine GaskinCritiques

Family Drama

"Try it my friend-try just one day working the cane under that sun and under a whip, and you will know what a damnation slavery is. You will rise up in your thousands and demand that Parliament pass the Emancipation act-'

Fiona by Catherine Gaskin

This is one of my favorite books of all time.

It is historical fiction mixed with a bit of Gothic. Actually it is mixed with a lot of Gothic. Because of the description of the book, some people may think it’s purely a slave saga and while slavery definitely plays a role in the book, the subject matter encompasses much more than that.

This book is about Fiona, a nanny who goes to work for a family simmering with secrets. Fiona has the ability to see into the future but only partially so she can see things and see images of what will happen or what might happen, but it doesn’t ever tell the complete story. She has to put the rest together herself.

As Fiona acclimates into the household she’s pulled into the life of this family including Fergus, one of the family members with whom she falls in love. I really don’t want to say too much more as this is a hauntingly beautiful novel that it is best to go into not knowing alot about.

There are some beautiful characters in this book and as mentioned, slavery is one of the aspects of this book particularly a couple of beautiful souls who are slaves that Fiona befriends.

I should mention that this book takes place in the West Indies. The setting is absolutely beautiful and tropical. Everything about the book is lovely.

I read this book so many times it turned into a joke with my dad. I first read it in childhood and I reread it every few years.

It is a breathtakingly beautiful haunting atmospheric work of historical fiction that unfortunately has a terrible title. ( Really, does "Fiona" tell you anything?) I actually amused myself once by coming up with alternative titles for the book and I came up with "shadows of the soul" as the winning title.

I would really urge anyone who is a fan of Historical and/or Gothic fiction to check this book out. It should have far far more reviews than it does as the beauty of the book definitely rises to five stars. There is beauty, there is triumph of spirit, there is tragedy and there is joy. Read this book and love it as I do

Story moved along nicely. Interesting how the 2 men both wanted the same two women. Liked how the story started with Brendan breaking the glass, the info about making glass, the way of life of old Ireland, the determination of the Lady Maude to the end, and the way the ending was a satisfying solution for all.

Edge of Glass is a romantic suspense novel written in the 1960's and also set in the 60's. Maura discovers after the death of her mother that she descends from the Sheridan dynasty, the owners of the legendary Sheridan glassworks. Her mother, Blanche, had been disowned for getting involved with someone other than the one her mother had selected and getting pregnant.Blanche had concealed all of this all of Maura's life, and naturally, she is shocked to find there is not only the historic glassworks still in production, but an ancestral home as well. She feels attracted to 2 different men that are connected to her new-found family, and those men have bad blood between them.
I am giving the book a mediocre review as I did not care for one scene where Connor (one of the men) gets angry and slams Maura's head against a doorframe. Why would she even consider getting involved with the man after that? He obviously has anger issues, and no problem with abusing a woman. I also would have preferred a different ending, where she gets her cake and eats it too-- fighting for her ancestral home that she is heir too and half ownership in the glassworks instead of just walking away from it all.

I have owned this book since it was published in 1975. Glad I finally got around to reading it. Talk about strong women-this story is certainly full of them. First Anna Rainard, a very headstrong, independent woman, who migrates from England to America after the death of her first husband amid the great depression, and raises her daughter, Nicole, alone. Second, Nicole, who is brought back to England (by a grandfather she has never met) under conditions of his will. Nicole, having lacked a warm upbringing by her mother, is also determined to make her own way, following in her mother's footsteps, until she falls in love and marries Lloyd Fenton, a surgeon. Finally happy, her world is torn apart by WWII and she again finds herself having to make her own way. In the background of this lavishly painted epic romance is the alluring Lymara, a centuries-old estate that becomes her final home and ultimate love. Nicole is not always likable in this story, but she is a woman we can all admire for her endurance and fierce family loyalty.

An interesting, well-written sequel, with an independent strong heroine and a nice balance between the reality and the paranormal. Still, it wasn't nearly as engaging as The Illusionists.

A Falcon for a Queen by Catherine Gaskin
4 stars

Summary From the Book:
Kirsty Howard has traveled a long way to find what is behind her brother, William’s death. Her brother had left China where they were raised to seek out their grandfather in Scotland hoping to establish a relationship with the not very outgoing or friendly old man that had had little to do with their side of the family. William’s death makes Kirsty determined that she must find out more. She has his letters, and a scroll he sent which contains strange Chinese symbols. She knows what the characters say: “she has killed” but they don’t make sense to her. Surprisingly the grandfather and William seemed to have gotten along very well but the old man sees no use for Kristy whatsoever. A woman can’t run the distillery and he has no heir to leave his estate to. Mairi Sinclair, the enigmatic housekeeper, can’t see much use for Kirsty either, and from the moment she first steps foot on the property, makes Kirsty feel very unwelcome.

Despite all the opposition she faces, Kirsty is determined to make a place for herself at Cluain. Angus is her only remaining relative, and Cluain is her destiny. Enlisting the help of Callum Sinclair, Mairi’s equally enigmatic son, she takes a tour of the whiskey brewery and begins learning all she can about the process. But why is she continually being blocked in her quest to find out what really happened to her brother?

My Thoughts:
A beautifully written book with rich imagery. I visited the Highlands of Scotland with my grandfather as a child many times when he returned to what he always considered his home. The words on these pages made me wish to hop a plane and return again to what I thought of as a "magical" land. This was my Blind Date With A Book but it is also a "snowy-day, grab a blanket and a cuppa tea and loose yourself in the story" kind of read.

I asked for historical fiction a la' [a:Tracy Chevalier|1973|Tracy Chevalier|http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1355349263p2/1973.jpg] in the Aussie Readers group and was offered this suggestion. So far so good. Possibly a little dry/ long. Not my favorite genre so don't trust what I say, good or bad, though. :)

Ok, I'm done. I never did entirely empathize with Sara. I liked a few little episodes, but most of it was narration about a woman who had as basically her only goal in life being powerful enough, and financially secure enough, and respectable enough, to not have to endure the hardships of her childhood. I never did understand if there was anything else motivating, or even interesting, her. (The childhood romance and her affections for her children came close, but somehow were not brought alive for me.) Nor did I learn enough about the convicts' experiences or the 'natives' or the less-powerful free settlers.

Still, I was glad I read it, and I do appreciate the recommendation. And I do forward the rec. to any fan of historical fiction - despite the covers that make it look like a romance.

This was light but entertaining.  Scotland settings always interest me, and this is set in a remote area with lots of description of the countryside.  The main character, Kirsty, was born in Scotland but her father is a Catholic missionary who is assigned to China.  This book takes place after her childhood in China, when she comes to Scotland after her father passes away.  She wants to solve the mystery surrounding her brother's death after he travelled to Scotland to meet their grandfather and never returned.  The ending is a bit obvious but still enjoyable, and the characters are engaging.½

Couldn't get into this. I gave up a quarter of the way through. Something I rarely do.

I recently rediscovered an old friend. I hadn’t seen her for over thirty years, but I recognised her instantly. Her name is Sara Dane, and with more than 2 million copies sold, she became the most acclaimed novel of 20 authored by Catherine Gaskin (1929 – 2009). Needless to say, our friendship had stood the test of time, and our meeting again resulted in another reading of this very memorable book.

The novel, Sara Dane is a romance (historical), published in 1954. It’s the story about a young convict woman, sentenced to transportation to Port Jackson, in 1792 (for nothing more than would be considered a child’s prank in modern times) and the hardships she endures in overcoming the stigma of her conviction, before rising to a position of wealth and prominence among the citizens of early New South Wales.

This book appealed to me for several reasons back in the 1980’s; it was most likely the very first novel (fiction) I had ever read on British settlement in Australia, and as an Australian, why I found it especially interesting. It also appealed to me because Sara Dane is an unforgettable character with a great deal of backbone, unlike many heroines in earlier romance novels.

However, the reason I consider the novel Sara Dane to be an old friend, is quite frankly because the author Catherine Gaskin is such a wonderful story teller. Well written stories aren’t easily forgotten, and the memories of them often remain in both a readers mind and heart. It wasn’t at all surprising after reading Sara Dane to learn that many of Catherine Gaskins novels became best sellers, and earned her such titles as ‘the girl with the golden pen’ and ‘the queen of storytellers’.

~

Sara Dane by Catherine Gaskin (Back Cover):-

A wild cacophony of screams and shrieks issued from the dark hold where a maniacal group of women rolled together in a frenzied struggle.

Lieutenant Andrew Maclay could see that one of them, almost hidden beneath the others, was fighting alone. ‘Silence!’ Andrew roared. The mob slowly quietened. ‘Is there a woman here called Sara Dane?’ he asked.

The lone fighter struggled to her feet. Slim and straight, the skin of her throat and face was unlined, but the dirt of the stinking hold covered whatever beauty she might have possessed. She wore a hacked and tattered gown many sizes too large; but she wore it with an air of cherished grandeur. She lifted her head proudly.

‘I am Sara Dane,’ she said.

~

A list of Catherine Gaskin’s novels:-

This Other Eden (1947)
Dust in Sunlight (1950)
All Else is Folly (1951)
Daughter of the House (1952)
Sara Dane (1954)
Blake’s Reach (1958)
Corporation Wife (1960)
I Know My Love (1962)
The Tilsit Inheritance (1963)
The File On Devlin (1965)
Edge of Glass (1967)
Fiona (1970)
A Falcon For A Queen (1972)
The Property of a Gentleman (1974)
The Lynmara Legacy (1975)
The Summer of the Spanish Woman (1977)
Family Affairs (1980)
Promises (1982)
The Ambassador’s Women (1985)
The Charmed Circle (1988)

J M Lennox

Joanna Roswell, an antique dealer, goes to Thirlbeck with her mentor to see the treasures housed there and owned by the 18th Earl of Askew. But there are dark secrets of the past from the last three centuries that they also find.

I liked the The Ambassador's Women much better reading it for the second time, as I had a better grasp of what was happening. I have a mistrust of this-length and style of Catherine Gaskin's, after never having been able to finish Family Affairs and finding Promises, well, depressing. But this one is rather good, if one likes reading about 30 years in the lives of two families and the sagas that follow. It's quite interesting.

I bought this because it was by Catherine Gaskin, not because it had an attractive cover (because it most certainly does not!) Then the blurb nearly put me off. It's about an American woman who left her English husband 6 previously, during WWII, and is returning to England to arrange for custody of her 7-year-old daughter (who she hasn't seen for 6 years) as part of the divorce process, only to become caught up in drama with the family she wants to leave...
However I really really enjoyed it, partly because of the integrity of the characters. Susan is struggling with humiliation, because her marriage failed. She also feels she's a coward because she's scared things will change her plans (to marry the new man in her life and take her daughter back to America). Paul is determined not to marry her unless she has no doubts about her past marriage and pushes her to confront her emotions. Louis wants to work out where things went wrong, and above all, doesn't want to pretend.
It was different and intriguing because I didn't know what I wanted to happen; didn't know whose side I was on. The characters were intelligent, so I didn't find I screamed at them for not thinking or making mistakes. They didn't mess up their lives in the way I first anticipated they might. Susan is not a really strong character, but she is aware of her faults and mistakes and she felt real. I didn't admire her every action, but neither did she. I liked the integrity and values, and as Susan has a plane booked in a week, it maintains the suspense (as everything has to be resolved in that time frame.)
I also thought that it was an interesting look at the effect of WWII on marriages and how that lead to breakdowns in communication.
If it had been a modern story, I think Susan would have been a strong character struggling against everyone who is selfishly trying to achieve their own ends. Instead, she is confronted with two unselfish men and the knowledge that while she isn't faultless, blame doesn't lie with her alone.
I was impressed. I don't know I'd reread it again and again, but I really liked it.

This was an interesting look at gender power politics in Spanish society in the 1910s and 1920s, but if the story was reduced to the basic order of events, (beginning with "falls in love with guy called Richard, moves to another country, gets married to someone else..." etc,) it was remarkably similar to Sara Dane. The details, setting, tone, first person narration and characters were quite different, but that basic structure / order of events was.
It was a reasonable read - historically very interesting - but far from being one of my favourites of hers. (I'll admit by the end of it, I was over the main character being in love with someone she actually barely knew.)

Nostalgic read, first read it in my teens (a long time ago) and I remembered the love story quite well (a little improbable but that's what romantic fiction is for!). However I'd missed the drug usage and hadn't registered the really interesting backdrop of the emancipation of slaves in the West Indies. Not great literature but enjoyable and far from trashy!

Sara Dane is transported to Australia for a trivial offence

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