Booth's DaughterAges: 12 and up Pages: 192 List Price: $17.95 Cover: Hardcover Published: 4/1/2007 ISBN: 1-932425-86-1 ISBN-13: 978-1-932425-86-4 |
In March 1880, at age eighteen, Edwina is experiencing many new things. For the first time she sees her actor father, Edwin Booth, in King Lear, a play he had considered “too harsh for a young lady.” For the first time she finds herself squarely facing the burden carried by her family name for more than a decade: the assassination of President Lincoln by her uncle John Wilkes Booth. And for the first time she is in love, with Downing Vaux, an artist whose father, like Edwina's, is famous. Edwina leaves Downing behind when her father insists that she accompany him on a year-long theatrical tour abroad. Downing is loyal, however, and when she returns to New York they become engaged. But when the assassination of President Garfield thrusts the Booth family back into the limelight, Edwina finds that she must travel abroad again with her father, and Downing's devotion is tested. Forced to reexamine her life, Edwina faces a difficult choice between duty and the pursuit of happiness.In this surprisingly modern coming-of-age story set in a well-researched historical context, Raymond Wemmlinger explores the light and dark sides of creative genius and the comforts and burdens of family. Reviews"Elements reminiscent of an Edith Wharton novel—the mannered social interactions, Gilded Age settings, and matrimony-bound momentum––will draw many romantically inclined readers, who will delight in the sweet inevitability of Edwina’s love match as much as in the closing message: “Grab your own chance at happiness. You can make others happy only if you’re happy yourself." "[Wemmlinger's] quick-moving and well-written story employs appropriately old-fashioned speech and the result is enthralling." "T[An] impeccably researched and compelling debut." |
