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Deepwater
An early American family is seen through the eyes of its women, including Tess, who pursues dreams in a new world, Della, who triumphantly emerges from the Revolution, and Seleta, who struggles to save her son during the Civil War. Reprint.
576 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 1994
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
July 4, 2012
"But what you'll have instead will be burnished and hardened and battle-proven as this land. And that, to me, is a richer love. It's a real marriage."
Deepwater is a very chunky book (with tiny font!) set in the Cape Fear region of North Carolina. The story spans several generations, from 1711 through the end of the Civil War and Restoration period. The prologue begins with the lost settlement of Roanoke (including the author's spin on what happened to those who went missing), and is then broken into three parts. In the first, sisters Tess and Glory Hannock aren't willing to let something like a marriage separate them when Tess marries a dashing privateer. It isn't true love forever, but Tess isn't one to let that stop her and through her experiences we watch the colony grow and prosper until those little disputes with the King over taxation without representation get started...
The second section is centered around Tess's niece Della (younger sister Glory's daughter). Della's been spoiled and travelled abroad, and when she comes home she hones in on wealthy plantation owner Phillip Gage and she's determined to marry him and become mistress of Deepwater. Phillip is loyal to King George, so you can imagine things get a bit complicated when just about everyone else is on the rebel side, including his wife. The last third of the book begins in 1850 and is centered around Laurel Gage. Laurel marries a Quaker and owning slaves is not the *done thing* for him, but paying for labor takes its toll on Deepwater and slowly eats away at the acreage and profits.
That's about all you need to know. This is one of those books that is too difficult to recap without writing a long report, and I'm not of a mind to do it. I liked this a lot, especially as the story focused on the people and the land, there really wasn't a lot of interaction with real historical characters. Better still, despite the two wars involved in the story, there are no real battle scenes, nor are they touched upon in any great detail - no endless info dumps telling the reader about every major battle in excruciating detail. How refreshing. The only downside that might be a deal breaker is that these aren't a set of characters you're going to get emotionally involved with; nor do any of the three women have a great *love story*. If you're looking for romance, I suggest you keep on looking.
Last quibble, and nothing to do with the book itself, but part of the publisher's blurb:
"Seleta...The wife of a Quaker abolitionist, she saw her beloved land fall to the Yankees. Yet is wasn't the horror of war that became her greatest challenge...it was her battle to save her young son."
Ummmm, Seleta was Laurel's daughter and wasn't a grown woman with children until well towards the end of the book and she was pretty much out of the picture by then.
It's a good thing you-know-who hasn't reviewed it. Then we'd finally know whether or not she reads the books :)
Deepwater is a very chunky book (with tiny font!) set in the Cape Fear region of North Carolina. The story spans several generations, from 1711 through the end of the Civil War and Restoration period. The prologue begins with the lost settlement of Roanoke (including the author's spin on what happened to those who went missing), and is then broken into three parts. In the first, sisters Tess and Glory Hannock aren't willing to let something like a marriage separate them when Tess marries a dashing privateer. It isn't true love forever, but Tess isn't one to let that stop her and through her experiences we watch the colony grow and prosper until those little disputes with the King over taxation without representation get started...
The second section is centered around Tess's niece Della (younger sister Glory's daughter). Della's been spoiled and travelled abroad, and when she comes home she hones in on wealthy plantation owner Phillip Gage and she's determined to marry him and become mistress of Deepwater. Phillip is loyal to King George, so you can imagine things get a bit complicated when just about everyone else is on the rebel side, including his wife. The last third of the book begins in 1850 and is centered around Laurel Gage. Laurel marries a Quaker and owning slaves is not the *done thing* for him, but paying for labor takes its toll on Deepwater and slowly eats away at the acreage and profits.
That's about all you need to know. This is one of those books that is too difficult to recap without writing a long report, and I'm not of a mind to do it. I liked this a lot, especially as the story focused on the people and the land, there really wasn't a lot of interaction with real historical characters. Better still, despite the two wars involved in the story, there are no real battle scenes, nor are they touched upon in any great detail - no endless info dumps telling the reader about every major battle in excruciating detail. How refreshing. The only downside that might be a deal breaker is that these aren't a set of characters you're going to get emotionally involved with; nor do any of the three women have a great *love story*. If you're looking for romance, I suggest you keep on looking.
Last quibble, and nothing to do with the book itself, but part of the publisher's blurb:
"Seleta...The wife of a Quaker abolitionist, she saw her beloved land fall to the Yankees. Yet is wasn't the horror of war that became her greatest challenge...it was her battle to save her young son."
Ummmm, Seleta was Laurel's daughter and wasn't a grown woman with children until well towards the end of the book and she was pretty much out of the picture by then.
It's a good thing you-know-who hasn't reviewed it. Then we'd finally know whether or not she reads the books :)
January 2, 2024
Part 1: 4 stars
Part 2: 1.5 stars
Part 3: 2.5 stars
Overall I’d this is 2.5 stars…over the top melodrama and uncharacteristic for the time period.
Part 2: 1.5 stars
Part 3: 2.5 stars
Overall I’d this is 2.5 stars…over the top melodrama and uncharacteristic for the time period.
November 2, 2024
More like 3.25 stars. I remember reading Jekel's books a long time ago from the library and I'd enjoyed them then. In recent years I decided to go back to the old books I'd enjoyed and reread them to see if they were still as good as I remembered.
Deepwater is a good book...it's a solid family saga of several generations of women who own a tobacco plantation. It starts during the founding of America and carries through the Revolutionary War, ending just after the Civil War. There's a locket that may or may not have belonged to Virginia Dare, but it gets passed down from generation to generation.
The best section in the book was the section about Tess. The other sections faltered a bit and by the time the Civil War section rolled around, I was skimming it. The character of Della was okay, but she was wishywashy when it came to her husband. Then Laurel was just as wishywashy about her husband as well. I also think the bits about nature could've been taken out because it sounded too much like Jekel was trying to be like James Michener.
But still, it was a good read, especially for someone like me who loves diving into a big ol' family saga.
Deepwater is a good book...it's a solid family saga of several generations of women who own a tobacco plantation. It starts during the founding of America and carries through the Revolutionary War, ending just after the Civil War. There's a locket that may or may not have belonged to Virginia Dare, but it gets passed down from generation to generation.
The best section in the book was the section about Tess. The other sections faltered a bit and by the time the Civil War section rolled around, I was skimming it. The character of Della was okay, but she was wishywashy when it came to her husband. Then Laurel was just as wishywashy about her husband as well. I also think the bits about nature could've been taken out because it sounded too much like Jekel was trying to be like James Michener.
But still, it was a good read, especially for someone like me who loves diving into a big ol' family saga.
July 1, 2019
Good book but she can’t keep her dates straight. That simple fact made me give it less than 4. One example, Levi was born in 1860 (pg. 365) then on page 389 it states ‘now four, which is 1864, move to pg. 411 we are back in 1863. This was the second time in this same book where the dates didn’t follow the storyline. Also, I could have done without the nature lessons in between.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 7, 2020
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, maybe because I live in Brunswick County NC and the Cape Fear is close to my heart. Most importantly the book was well written, the author did her due diligence by researching the area and most of the historical aspects of this novel I believe, were spot on. It's difficult to find this book, search using the authors name and not the title of the book.
February 11, 2020
Currently reading this first book by Pamela Jekel in my experience. I cannot believe I have never discovered this author. Masterful writing with absolute command of the craft, this is a highly enjoyable read and I am looking forward to more.
May 24, 2019
It's a slow start in the beginning. Then it got good. Kept you on your toes
April 29, 2021
I've read several of her books. She is an excellent writer. I love history with fiction.
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June 27, 2009j'ai mieux compris la guerre de l'indépendance
October 1, 2011
Very good history of North Carolina combined with romances.
November 10, 2012
I loved this book.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews