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A Century of American Romance/Dreams
Stranger in Paradise
hey met amongst the pomp and pageantry of Queen Elizabeth's coronation. They courted on fog-shrouded streets and in intimate pubs. And after only one day, brash American Mac Weaver had won the heart of Englishwoman Jane Townsend. He promised her the world and 1953 America it's big, bustling and too prosperous to comprehend. They look forward to life in idyllic days filled with backyard barbecues, bridge parties and babies . . . babies . . . babies!
250 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1990
31 people are currently reading
141 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Bretton
130 books598 followersBarbara Bretton is the USA Today bestselling, award-winning author of more than 40 books. She currently has over ten million copies in print around the world. Her works have been translated into twelve languages in over twenty countries.
Barbara has been featured in articles in The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Romantic Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Herald News, Home News, Somerset Gazette,among others, and has been interviewed by Independent Network News Television, appeared on the Susan Stamberg Show on NPR, and been featured in an interview with Charles Osgood of WCBS, among others.
Her awards include both Reviewer's Choice and Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times; Gold and Silver certificates from Affaire de Coeur; the RWA Region 1 Golden Leaf; and several sales awards from Bookrak. Ms. Bretton was included in a recent edition of Contemporary Authors.
Barbara loves to spend as much time as possible in Maine with her husband, walking the rocky beaches and dreaming up plots for upcoming books.
Barbara has been featured in articles in The New York Times, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Romantic Times, Cleveland Plain Dealer, Herald News, Home News, Somerset Gazette,among others, and has been interviewed by Independent Network News Television, appeared on the Susan Stamberg Show on NPR, and been featured in an interview with Charles Osgood of WCBS, among others.
Her awards include both Reviewer's Choice and Career Achievement Awards from Romantic Times; Gold and Silver certificates from Affaire de Coeur; the RWA Region 1 Golden Leaf; and several sales awards from Bookrak. Ms. Bretton was included in a recent edition of Contemporary Authors.
Barbara loves to spend as much time as possible in Maine with her husband, walking the rocky beaches and dreaming up plots for upcoming books.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
November 9, 2014
Favorite Quotes:
“It was all there, all the beauty and wonder and sorrow of life, there in the papers and scrapbooks and photographs packed away with wedding dresses and pressed corsages. Somehow the Wilson attic had become the repository of memories for two families and, in a fashion, of a way of life long gone.”
“Open your eyes, Liz thought. Can’t you see the people who used to be? Love wasn’t a modern invention. Before computer chips and microwave ovens and VCRs, men and women had fallen in love and married and somehow managed to make happily-ever-after come true…”
“The fact that he found her beautiful thrilled Jane. She’d never realized what power there was in being a woman. What pleasure there was to be found in the simplest gesture when there was a man close at hand to appreciate it.”
“He wasn’t much good at dealing with sorrow. His wife had seen too much of it for one lifetime. The obvious solution was to make sure sorrow never found either one of them again. Their meeting had been touched by magic. Their marriage would be, as well.”
My Review:
To complete this review I read both books, A Sentimental Journey and Stranger in Paradise, 512 pages, and it wasn’t enough, I want more. The world fell to the wayside as I immersed myself in their world of the 1940s through 1990. The tale starts well before my time, but I felt like I was living it with them. I heard what my mother called “the Old Standards” playing on their radios. Her characters were fully fleshed out and inhabited. I was so captivated by Ms. Bretton’s writing that I seemed to be smelling, seeing, feeling, hearing, and living whatever they did. I grieved their losses, breathed a sigh of relief when they came to their senses, fretted for their concerns, despaired over the injustices of the time, and cheered for their accomplishments. I am exhausted to say the least, but would gladly continue if Ms. Bretton could be coerced into writing more of this exceptional story.
“It was all there, all the beauty and wonder and sorrow of life, there in the papers and scrapbooks and photographs packed away with wedding dresses and pressed corsages. Somehow the Wilson attic had become the repository of memories for two families and, in a fashion, of a way of life long gone.”
“Open your eyes, Liz thought. Can’t you see the people who used to be? Love wasn’t a modern invention. Before computer chips and microwave ovens and VCRs, men and women had fallen in love and married and somehow managed to make happily-ever-after come true…”
“The fact that he found her beautiful thrilled Jane. She’d never realized what power there was in being a woman. What pleasure there was to be found in the simplest gesture when there was a man close at hand to appreciate it.”
“He wasn’t much good at dealing with sorrow. His wife had seen too much of it for one lifetime. The obvious solution was to make sure sorrow never found either one of them again. Their meeting had been touched by magic. Their marriage would be, as well.”
My Review:
To complete this review I read both books, A Sentimental Journey and Stranger in Paradise, 512 pages, and it wasn’t enough, I want more. The world fell to the wayside as I immersed myself in their world of the 1940s through 1990. The tale starts well before my time, but I felt like I was living it with them. I heard what my mother called “the Old Standards” playing on their radios. Her characters were fully fleshed out and inhabited. I was so captivated by Ms. Bretton’s writing that I seemed to be smelling, seeing, feeling, hearing, and living whatever they did. I grieved their losses, breathed a sigh of relief when they came to their senses, fretted for their concerns, despaired over the injustices of the time, and cheered for their accomplishments. I am exhausted to say the least, but would gladly continue if Ms. Bretton could be coerced into writing more of this exceptional story.
October 23, 2015
I read this years ago, and I didn't enjoy it that much back then. I found it quite boring then, and it really hasn't improved that much now. The relationship between Mac and Jane was very hastily entered into, and much of the drama they dealt with stemmed from that, though some of it was also the world climate at the time, which was one of the few redeeming qualities of the book. It gave us that glimpse into a time period that isn't well understood and often swept under the rug. I also enjoyed seeing the glimpses into the lives of the characters from Sentimental Journey. I had a hard time connecting with Jane due to her aloof nature, and Mac seemed too smarmy at times for me to appreciate him as a hero as well. All in all, not a book I would recommend much to others.
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January 18, 2018This final book connected the previous books and following up with the children of their parents who were detailed in the stories. The country changed with the years following WWII and not all the changes were productive to America. Too many innocent were questioned as being communist and many were even prosecuted. Each generation continues the family story.
March 3, 2015
I loved this series!
Home front series was awesome. I love WWII era stories! Very easy read and kept me from many of my daily chores because I couldn't but it down!
Home front series was awesome. I love WWII era stories! Very easy read and kept me from many of my daily chores because I couldn't but it down!
December 21, 2015
Bland. The kind of bland that hurts your eyes from all the glazing over.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews