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Kara
"FORTUNE HUNTER"
That was what they called Kara when she arrived as the unblushing bride of Timothy Rankin at his great Louisiana plantation of Manoir. Tim had gone North in search of a suitable wife, and instead came back with this girl of dubious background and doubtful breeding.
But Kara had not fought her way out of poverty to be held down by the pride and prejudice of the Rankins. Kara was a woman who knew how to get what she wanted--all the position and power that her beauty and strength could make hers.
TIMOTHY
He was not the husband of Kara's dreams, but he would have to do, as Kara drove him to the heights of political power and the depths of degradation.
AMORY
He was Kara's father-in-law, the very model of a perfect southern aristocrat. But Kara knew the weakness of his flesh and how to use it to make him her slave.
CHARLES
He was the one man whom Kara really wanted, even if she had to battle not only his violently jealous wife but his incredibly beautiful quadroon mistress to make him hers body and soul. Men were Kara's playthings, power her god - and she would sacrifice anyone and anything on the altar of her ambition...
That was what they called Kara when she arrived as the unblushing bride of Timothy Rankin at his great Louisiana plantation of Manoir. Tim had gone North in search of a suitable wife, and instead came back with this girl of dubious background and doubtful breeding.
But Kara had not fought her way out of poverty to be held down by the pride and prejudice of the Rankins. Kara was a woman who knew how to get what she wanted--all the position and power that her beauty and strength could make hers.
TIMOTHY
He was not the husband of Kara's dreams, but he would have to do, as Kara drove him to the heights of political power and the depths of degradation.
AMORY
He was Kara's father-in-law, the very model of a perfect southern aristocrat. But Kara knew the weakness of his flesh and how to use it to make him her slave.
CHARLES
He was the one man whom Kara really wanted, even if she had to battle not only his violently jealous wife but his incredibly beautiful quadroon mistress to make him hers body and soul. Men were Kara's playthings, power her god - and she would sacrifice anyone and anything on the altar of her ambition...
271 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
9 people want to read
About the author
Julie Ellis
155 books14 followersLibrarians note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
From the inside cover of the Kappa Books edition of Eden:
Julie Ellis was born in Columbus, Georgia. She moved to New York at age 16 with her parents, after her high school graduation. Julie studied drama, and was part of the mid-'50s Off-Broadway scene as actress/playwright/co-producer. Seven of her plays were produced Off-Broadway and presented on the summer hotel/bungalow colony circuits. She wrote 76 sides of children's records (hitting BILLBOARD'S Bestseller List). Her first paperback novel was published in 1960 and between 1960 and 1974 she wrote 143 contemporary, gothic, romantic suspense novels and 3 non-fiction titles that were published by major paperback houses.
Julie has written one hardcover/softcover bestseller per year (a number of early paperback originals now being re-published in hardcover in the United Kingdom). Ellis is published in thirteen countries. A favorite among library readers across the country, Julie regularly appears on LIBRARY JOURNAL'S "Pre-publication Bestseller Lists." In 1993 she made the United Kingdom's Registrar of Public Lending Rights List of the most-read authors in the United Kingdom Library System (minimum of 300,000 loans per author).
A single mother since 1972 (first separated, then widowed), Julie considers her major productions her daughter Susan and her son Richard. Julie is a passionate environmentalist whose convictions appear regularly in her novels (the devastation of our Northwest forests in LOYALTIES, the unnecessary deaths caused by the tobacco industry in LASTING TREASURES, gun control in COMMITMENT). Julie is a vegetarian with occasional lapses due to social circumstances. She alternates between her Manhattan apartment and beach house in Montauk.
From the inside cover of the Kappa Books edition of Eden:
Julie Ellis was born in Columbus, Georgia. She moved to New York at age 16 with her parents, after her high school graduation. Julie studied drama, and was part of the mid-'50s Off-Broadway scene as actress/playwright/co-producer. Seven of her plays were produced Off-Broadway and presented on the summer hotel/bungalow colony circuits. She wrote 76 sides of children's records (hitting BILLBOARD'S Bestseller List). Her first paperback novel was published in 1960 and between 1960 and 1974 she wrote 143 contemporary, gothic, romantic suspense novels and 3 non-fiction titles that were published by major paperback houses.
Julie has written one hardcover/softcover bestseller per year (a number of early paperback originals now being re-published in hardcover in the United Kingdom). Ellis is published in thirteen countries. A favorite among library readers across the country, Julie regularly appears on LIBRARY JOURNAL'S "Pre-publication Bestseller Lists." In 1993 she made the United Kingdom's Registrar of Public Lending Rights List of the most-read authors in the United Kingdom Library System (minimum of 300,000 loans per author).
A single mother since 1972 (first separated, then widowed), Julie considers her major productions her daughter Susan and her son Richard. Julie is a passionate environmentalist whose convictions appear regularly in her novels (the devastation of our Northwest forests in LOYALTIES, the unnecessary deaths caused by the tobacco industry in LASTING TREASURES, gun control in COMMITMENT). Julie is a vegetarian with occasional lapses due to social circumstances. She alternates between her Manhattan apartment and beach house in Montauk.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 16, 2024
Boring as hell—not an Antebellum South/plantation novel so much as vignettes of several dull characters & a summary of 1850s politics interspersed with multiple scenes of childbirth. The back blurb & flyleaf are incredibly misleading as to content, & pivotal moments—such as one character’s death, or another character’s attempted rape which leads to suicide—are skimmed over in mere sentences; everything potentially sexy, violent, shocking, or otherwise in the vein of soapy vintage melodrama is either glossed over or briefly summarized. Yawn. 🥱 (Also: massive time gaps. I hate that.)
Imagine sitting down in a theatre to watch DJANGO UNCHAINED, but instead you’re forced to endure three hours of C-SPAN. …Yeah. That’s what reading this book feels like. 🤖
{Note: This book is part of my ongoing quest to pluck tomes I’ve had unread for 7+ years & either love-and-keep or DNF-and-donate.}
Imagine sitting down in a theatre to watch DJANGO UNCHAINED, but instead you’re forced to endure three hours of C-SPAN. …Yeah. That’s what reading this book feels like. 🤖
{Note: This book is part of my ongoing quest to pluck tomes I’ve had unread for 7+ years & either love-and-keep or DNF-and-donate.}
April 29, 2014
This book was a fast read and I actually enjoyed it. This book had the potential to be a great novel but was too short to accomplish that. The description of the book was not accurate in that Kara was not a power/money hungry woman. She was a smart independent woman. This books details the life of a Irish woman named Kara who comes to America for a fresh start. Starting in New York and ends up in Louisiana. It's the Old South and things are starting to change..you will hear the name Lincoln among others and hear talks about War being a likely outcome. This book deals with Slavery and Homosexuality. There was a incident of Rape but could not call it a bodice ripper because the woman being raped liked it so it's questionable. You would have to be the judge of that.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews