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The American Heiress Daisy Goodwin 9780312658656 Books

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The American Heiress Daisy Goodwin 9780312658656 Books

Note: This review, as well as many more, can also be found on my blog, The Baking Bookworm (www.thebakingbookworm.blogspot.ca).

My Review: This is another book that I picked up from my local library based on the book cover. What can I say? I'm attracted to pretty things and the dress alone in the picture is spectacular. It's a really beautiful book cover and from the description on the back I was expecting a grand, epic read that follows the life of an affluent American woman plunked down in England in the Gilded Age. I was looking forward to a lot of plot twists, people being deceived and slandered but in a cool, posh, English way. Kind of a British version of a Sidney Sheldon novel.

Unfortunately my assumptions didn't pan out and I didn't find it quite as epic as I was hoping. Not epic at all actually. While it does have a slight Downton Abbey feel to it (especially since it includes the point of view of Bertha, Cora's maid), it just doesn't have the excitement or the riveting characters that are known at Downton.

I wanted to love this book, I really did. But there were several issues that I just couldn't overlook. First of all, the pace was extremely slow. While I realize that large books tend to take a bit of time to get wind in their sails there's also a point at which I need something to happen to propel the storyline and keep me from nodding off. This book lacked the twists, trials and tribulations.

It was also a pretty predictable read with certain events happening much too easily and serendipitously for young Cora. If I had a dollar for every time I heard of someone falling off a horse into the arms of a rich Brit I'd have ..... well, nothing. Because that just doesn't happen. But I also realize that it's nice to use our imaginations -- I get that, I do. But it also has to be believable. It's a fine line.
I think another issue with the book are the flat characters. Cora, the main character, came off as pretty bland, the Duke was also a one-dimensional pompous rich guy and their 'love' felt more like infatuation on Cora's part. No one really stood out for me as more than a cliché.

This book also skims over a lot of issues that could have made this book have more depth. It hints at certain social observations but never feels like it gets into the 'nitty gritty' of it all. Certain characters are brought into the storyline (like the hat maker) and then never really used to their full potential or to progress the storyline. Why add them at all?

I will say that the book is beautifully written as it describes the locations, homes and clothing of the era. It was also interesting to see the 'new money' versus 'old money' issue as well as the difference in American versus English attitudes. But without more depth of the storyline and characters who mature throughout the book I can't honestly say that I liked this book.

It is not an in-depth historical fiction book by any means but could be a fun, light read.

My Rating: 2/5 stars


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The American Heiress Daisy Goodwin 9780312658656 Books Reviews

Having just finished this book, I can state that it is shallow, predictable, mediocre in writing, and an altogether unsatisfying read. To compare Daisy Goodwin to Edith Wharton and Julian Fellows, is grossly unfair to both Wharton and Fellows, who are master writers and storytellers.
I will not recap the predictable story of the American billionaire heiress who has saved an English Duke's estate, her ambitious mother or the conniving landed English who set out to thwart her, that has been already been done by previous readers, and written far better by Wharton and Fellows.
What I will warn potential readers about is wasting their reading time on a work that is so poorly written and developed. The characters are shallow, stereotypical, and use interesting. The plot is predictable , down to the total reveal/ resolution during the last 20 pages of the book. Most disappointing is the lack of real research on the part of the author. Detailed descriptions of rooms, parties, clothing cannot compensate for the lack of historical basis. These details read like something the author imagined rather than something that is based in historical reference. Along the same vein, the dialogue vassilates between imagined speech of the Golden Age, both British and American, and current American dialect, perhaps to attract the contemporary reader.
If you enjoy reading this particular genre, reading or even rereading Wharton or Fellows is far more satisfying .
After reading this I do not have high hopes for Victoria, I will skip Goodwin's book and do not have high hopes for the TV adaptation, although it may improve onscreen.
Heed the naysayers, they are on target!
First of all, I'd like to preface my review by saying that I never really understand when reviewers say things like "I'll never get that time back" when criticizing a book that's meant to be entertainment. Unless something is a school assignment, is necessary for continued participation in a book club, or a threat at gunpoint is involved, why finish a book you hate? Isn't life too short to read bad books?

I don't consider myself a "quitter" when I choose not to finish a book; I just consider a different use of my time, because time is money. (And so are books, admittedly.) With that being said, I did finish this book, and was entertained by it. Does that make it a great book? No, but do all books have to be great literature? Let's hope not, because that would really lower the bar on what's considered great.

Entertainment aside, this is a very formulaic book with a very predictable plot. The heroine is a static character, and there's a pretty poor attempt at an African-American, southern-born lady's maid -- the concept of which could have been very interesting, considering, but ends up being a fail here. Additionally, there are very modern (as in, 21st century) character views in the book which don't ring true at all for the times. Marriage for love was an anomaly; marriage for money, property or position was the norm. Things like cheating husbands, mistresses, etc., were, if carried on tastefully, not just accepted by wives, but were often even expected. Would most 21st-century women be shocked and outraged by being expected to live that way? Probably. But if you're writing a book about another era, does it make sense to plop a 21st-century woman into the center of it?

Ms. Goodwin does do a fantastic job of recreating this world, in the sense of social behaviors, clothes, furniture and the like. Her atmosphere is really very good in that regard, and when details like these are used to further the sense of transportation into another time or place, I disagree with readers who dismiss these details as mere fluff. They're part of what makes this book entertaining.

For entertainment's sake, "The American Heiress" lives up to its many good reviews. It is entertaining, it's a fun read, and it's an easy read. If you're a fan of this era and/or these situations, and want something autobiographical, check out "The Glitter and the Gold" by Consuelo Vanderbilt, from whose life and circumstances this book heavily borrows. For straight-up nonfiction, check out "To Marry an English Lord" by Carol McD. Wallace and Gail MacColl. For "great" literature based on this era and circumstances, try anything by Edith Wharton. But don't blame Ms. Goodwin for not being Edith Wharton.

Because at the end of the day, who *is* Edith Wharton ... but Edith Wharton?
Note This review, as well as many more, can also be found on my blog, The Baking Bookworm (www.thebakingbookworm.blogspot.ca).

My Review This is another book that I picked up from my local library based on the book cover. What can I say? I'm attracted to pretty things and the dress alone in the picture is spectacular. It's a really beautiful book cover and from the description on the back I was expecting a grand, epic read that follows the life of an affluent American woman plunked down in England in the Gilded Age. I was looking forward to a lot of plot twists, people being deceived and slandered but in a cool, posh, English way. Kind of a British version of a Sidney Sheldon novel.

Unfortunately my assumptions didn't pan out and I didn't find it quite as epic as I was hoping. Not epic at all actually. While it does have a slight Downton Abbey feel to it (especially since it includes the point of view of Bertha, Cora's maid), it just doesn't have the excitement or the riveting characters that are known at Downton.

I wanted to love this book, I really did. But there were several issues that I just couldn't overlook. First of all, the pace was extremely slow. While I realize that large books tend to take a bit of time to get wind in their sails there's also a point at which I need something to happen to propel the storyline and keep me from nodding off. This book lacked the twists, trials and tribulations.

It was also a pretty predictable read with certain events happening much too easily and serendipitously for young Cora. If I had a dollar for every time I heard of someone falling off a horse into the arms of a rich Brit I'd have ..... well, nothing. Because that just doesn't happen. But I also realize that it's nice to use our imaginations -- I get that, I do. But it also has to be believable. It's a fine line.
I think another issue with the book are the flat characters. Cora, the main character, came off as pretty bland, the Duke was also a one-dimensional pompous rich guy and their 'love' felt more like infatuation on Cora's part. No one really stood out for me as more than a cliché.

This book also skims over a lot of issues that could have made this book have more depth. It hints at certain social observations but never feels like it gets into the 'nitty gritty' of it all. Certain characters are brought into the storyline (like the hat maker) and then never really used to their full potential or to progress the storyline. Why add them at all?

I will say that the book is beautifully written as it describes the locations, homes and clothing of the era. It was also interesting to see the 'new money' versus 'old money' issue as well as the difference in American versus English attitudes. But without more depth of the storyline and characters who mature throughout the book I can't honestly say that I liked this book.

It is not an in-depth historical fiction book by any means but could be a fun, light read.

My Rating 2/5 stars