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Maria [MARIA EUGENIA PRICE COMME] [Paperback]
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July 9, 2024
My mother owned & read many of Eugenia Price’s non-fiction works, I’ve also read and appreciated her non-fiction, but I had not read all of her fiction works. Since last year, I have been casually reading through Price’s fiction works, one series at a time. I’ve now completed book two of the Florida Trilogy.
Once again, Eugenia proves she excels at making history come alive with details that show deep research, which is what I’ve also seen in her St. Simons Trilogy. It appears from what we know historically, Price deals fairly with history and with her real, historical characters.
Maria was the central character with her three husbands, and a bevy of men hanging around her, who it appears all are in love with her. Jesse Fish and Luciano Herreras were real historical figures also, and I can see it was plausible that both men could have had contact with Maria, as both men were long time residents of St. Augustine and dealt with real estate. Luciano was a famous historical figure; records show he was a spy for Spain as Price’s book hints about and Fish, also famous. Fish had a huge liaison network that he used most effectively the first part of his life and became enormously wealthy, but he died impoverished, a prisoner on his island. The broad contours of his life were generally as Price recorded, although many of the peripheral details were fictionalized. Once again, the reading of a book of Eugenia Price has caused me to do some additional search for historical details, so that I can be more informed concerning the history of early Florida. I love a book that causes me to study further concerning the book’s subjects.
My only negative of the story is with the character of Maria Evans Fenwick Peavett Hudson. She was so fixated on the acquisition of material possessions that she never seemed to be content with what she had, always restless without peace. For a Christian fiction story, this female lead left many positive life lessons, but her faith and practice walk seemed truly sad. She fought at the idea of trusting in God and anchored her security in herself and her possessions. At the end of the story, John Edward, her adopted son tries to speak to Maria about God’s love and care. Eventually you have a nebulous, ethereal response about “joy.” Antonia, Luciano’s sister on page 398 tells Maria that “joy might be God—in the marrow of our bones.” In my opinion, this was a start, but it would have been more satisfying if at the end of the book, after her many life sorrows, Maria had actually understood what a personal relationship with the Lord was all about. Other than that, this was a good historical read.
Once again, Eugenia proves she excels at making history come alive with details that show deep research, which is what I’ve also seen in her St. Simons Trilogy. It appears from what we know historically, Price deals fairly with history and with her real, historical characters.
Maria was the central character with her three husbands, and a bevy of men hanging around her, who it appears all are in love with her. Jesse Fish and Luciano Herreras were real historical figures also, and I can see it was plausible that both men could have had contact with Maria, as both men were long time residents of St. Augustine and dealt with real estate. Luciano was a famous historical figure; records show he was a spy for Spain as Price’s book hints about and Fish, also famous. Fish had a huge liaison network that he used most effectively the first part of his life and became enormously wealthy, but he died impoverished, a prisoner on his island. The broad contours of his life were generally as Price recorded, although many of the peripheral details were fictionalized. Once again, the reading of a book of Eugenia Price has caused me to do some additional search for historical details, so that I can be more informed concerning the history of early Florida. I love a book that causes me to study further concerning the book’s subjects.
My only negative of the story is with the character of Maria Evans Fenwick Peavett Hudson. She was so fixated on the acquisition of material possessions that she never seemed to be content with what she had, always restless without peace. For a Christian fiction story, this female lead left many positive life lessons, but her faith and practice walk seemed truly sad. She fought at the idea of trusting in God and anchored her security in herself and her possessions. At the end of the story, John Edward, her adopted son tries to speak to Maria about God’s love and care. Eventually you have a nebulous, ethereal response about “joy.” Antonia, Luciano’s sister on page 398 tells Maria that “joy might be God—in the marrow of our bones.” In my opinion, this was a start, but it would have been more satisfying if at the end of the book, after her many life sorrows, Maria had actually understood what a personal relationship with the Lord was all about. Other than that, this was a good historical read.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review