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To View The Valley
The year is 1905, and the small, idyllic town of Lune Du Lac, Wisconsin is about to be rocked to the very core of its socially accepted existence…
When, sickened by the hold big city debauchery has on her family, Ida Bloomfield blackmails her philandering husband into relocating them all from Milwaukee’s dark influence, to the bright promise of a new start in this new town. With their two grown, fraternal twin sons, Albie and Ethan, in tow, Ida is sure life there will be better for them. However, unbeknownst to Ida, her husband, Joseph Bloomfield (corrupt banker and sexual deviant) is unwilling to relinquish the strange relationship he has with his mistress, Annabelle Wainright—and so cleverly he devises an elaborate ruse to move Annabelle along with them. Hiding her in plain sight under the adopted guise of Mrs. Beverly Asher, coal mining heiress/prospective bank depositor, Joseph Bloomfield is intent on keeping their affair alive at all costs.
Meanwhile, Ethan Bloomfield, a confident, scholarly young man, unashamed of his homosexuality, meets naïve, nineteen-year-old Royal Easterly—a neighbor from across the street—and is instantly attracted to him. Royal, eldest of the three Easterly children, and a talented aspiring artist, is also immediately taken by Ethan and succumbs quickly to his charms. With romance burgeoning, things look hopeful—that is until Ethan’s undisclosed past returns to jeopardize their newfound happiness forever.
In turn, Ethan’s twin brother, Albie, a notorious, unabashed playboy, falls helplessly in love with Nina Fowler. A girl of intoxicating beauty, Nina possesses both a keen intellect and a questionable reputation. Desperate to save her father’s failing lumber business, Nina seduces Albie into helping her map out a massive corporate expansion—the likes of which can only be accomplished through a hefty cash investment from Albie’s duplicitous father; a man never to be trusted.
Amidst all this, Royal’s younger sister, Honoria, a determined, but misguided woman driven solely by societal acceptance and the need to emerge at last from her sainted mother’s long-cast shadow, is about to be married to recent medical school graduate, Dr. Brodie Wingate. A product of her town’s close-minded bigotry, Honoria is a racist homophobe. She despises not only her family’s newest neighbors—the Bloomfields, Lune Du Lac’s first Jewish family—but also her brother, Royal, for being a “Nancy.” Unsure as to why their father, Malcolm, so constantly and flagrantly defends his son’s obvious perversion, slowly Honoria pieces together a decades-old mystery of shocking proportions.
Finally, as hundreds gather at Honoria’s wedding reception for the unprecedented social event of the season, a disillusioned woman, one mad with jealousy and hell-bent on revenge, is about to set in motion a deadly series of events that will ultimately change all their lives forever...
When, sickened by the hold big city debauchery has on her family, Ida Bloomfield blackmails her philandering husband into relocating them all from Milwaukee’s dark influence, to the bright promise of a new start in this new town. With their two grown, fraternal twin sons, Albie and Ethan, in tow, Ida is sure life there will be better for them. However, unbeknownst to Ida, her husband, Joseph Bloomfield (corrupt banker and sexual deviant) is unwilling to relinquish the strange relationship he has with his mistress, Annabelle Wainright—and so cleverly he devises an elaborate ruse to move Annabelle along with them. Hiding her in plain sight under the adopted guise of Mrs. Beverly Asher, coal mining heiress/prospective bank depositor, Joseph Bloomfield is intent on keeping their affair alive at all costs.
Meanwhile, Ethan Bloomfield, a confident, scholarly young man, unashamed of his homosexuality, meets naïve, nineteen-year-old Royal Easterly—a neighbor from across the street—and is instantly attracted to him. Royal, eldest of the three Easterly children, and a talented aspiring artist, is also immediately taken by Ethan and succumbs quickly to his charms. With romance burgeoning, things look hopeful—that is until Ethan’s undisclosed past returns to jeopardize their newfound happiness forever.
In turn, Ethan’s twin brother, Albie, a notorious, unabashed playboy, falls helplessly in love with Nina Fowler. A girl of intoxicating beauty, Nina possesses both a keen intellect and a questionable reputation. Desperate to save her father’s failing lumber business, Nina seduces Albie into helping her map out a massive corporate expansion—the likes of which can only be accomplished through a hefty cash investment from Albie’s duplicitous father; a man never to be trusted.
Amidst all this, Royal’s younger sister, Honoria, a determined, but misguided woman driven solely by societal acceptance and the need to emerge at last from her sainted mother’s long-cast shadow, is about to be married to recent medical school graduate, Dr. Brodie Wingate. A product of her town’s close-minded bigotry, Honoria is a racist homophobe. She despises not only her family’s newest neighbors—the Bloomfields, Lune Du Lac’s first Jewish family—but also her brother, Royal, for being a “Nancy.” Unsure as to why their father, Malcolm, so constantly and flagrantly defends his son’s obvious perversion, slowly Honoria pieces together a decades-old mystery of shocking proportions.
Finally, as hundreds gather at Honoria’s wedding reception for the unprecedented social event of the season, a disillusioned woman, one mad with jealousy and hell-bent on revenge, is about to set in motion a deadly series of events that will ultimately change all their lives forever...
- GenresHistorical
410 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 25, 2015
11 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
December 9, 2021
The problem with this book as I see it:
The villains and the good characters are given equal space.
This book is clearly about two gay guys who are starting a new relationship. Unfortunately, the characters in the world around them are given just as much space as the new relationship. To me, it made the book drag, whenever it got too far off topic.
One guy had a sister who caused trouble, and the other one's dad was the troublemaker. There was too much info about the troublemaker's lives.
The author wanted to have a 360 viewpoint, and make everyone feel like a fleshed out character. However, I didn't care about the father's mistress or problems, or the sister's fiancee or life issues. These people were just there to cause trouble, but they were written as if they were main characters. It made the book too long.
Focus on the main characters, and let everyone else be an accessory to the plot. Excessive details about the father's banking scheme, or his mistress going shopping--- I just didn't care!
Same with the sister and whatever it was she was thinking or doing. It was fine to read when it fueled her hatred, but her personal needs and desires just didn't matter to me.
Trying to make someone a villain and a main character is not right. It would be like worrying about how much the klan has to pay to buy rope to string up black people.
The villains and the good characters are given equal space.
This book is clearly about two gay guys who are starting a new relationship. Unfortunately, the characters in the world around them are given just as much space as the new relationship. To me, it made the book drag, whenever it got too far off topic.
One guy had a sister who caused trouble, and the other one's dad was the troublemaker. There was too much info about the troublemaker's lives.
The author wanted to have a 360 viewpoint, and make everyone feel like a fleshed out character. However, I didn't care about the father's mistress or problems, or the sister's fiancee or life issues. These people were just there to cause trouble, but they were written as if they were main characters. It made the book too long.
Focus on the main characters, and let everyone else be an accessory to the plot. Excessive details about the father's banking scheme, or his mistress going shopping--- I just didn't care!
Same with the sister and whatever it was she was thinking or doing. It was fine to read when it fueled her hatred, but her personal needs and desires just didn't matter to me.
Trying to make someone a villain and a main character is not right. It would be like worrying about how much the klan has to pay to buy rope to string up black people.
October 24, 2015
To View The Valley is set in Lune Du Lac, Wisconsin, a puritanical small town in the beginning of the XX century. Despite its apparently bland aspect, the town hides plenty of intrigue, bigotry, corruption and racism. In historical fiction it’s easy to commit anachronism - the “historical sins of sins” -, so I was pleasantly surprised to see the author tackling sensitive matters without resourcing to contemporary political correctness. As a matter of fact, this is one of the best things about this book: Bruce Benzel makes the characters behave like someone born in the XIX century would, and that’s essential for the reader’s immersion in the story. When we picture Honoria homophobic and anti-semitic remarks, they sound realistic, when a husband is acting with a cold formality towards his wife, we can easily recognize the authenticity of the representation.
For historical fiction to work, the setting must be enticing and well-described, and the lexical repertory must create in the reader the “illusion” that he’s back in time. In the lack of a better word, let’s just say that Benzel nailed it. When he refers to an approaching car, for instance, he uses the word “motorcar”, and when an upper-class character is speaking you can easily imagine his posh accent and mannerisms, thanks to the careful use of passé words and expressions.
Royal and Ethan’s gay relationship was another nice surprise. The fact that the book is set in Wisconsin in 1905 makes the romance even more interesting, considering that the state officially legalized sex between consenting male adults only in 1983. I particularly enjoy reading about gay relationships because it gives me an opportunity to experience another point of view, and to broaden my mind as to how diverse and beautiful human sexuality is. Nonetheless, the steamy moments are never vulgar or excessive.
Despite being a book with several complex characters following a gray moral code, one of them can be considered more villainous than the rest (guess who)…
I recommend this book to people who enjoy “genre-fluid”, complex novels that comprise several storylines that intersect and influence one another, and have a penchant for historical thrillers and life-like characters. One of the best novels of the year, 5/5 stars!
For historical fiction to work, the setting must be enticing and well-described, and the lexical repertory must create in the reader the “illusion” that he’s back in time. In the lack of a better word, let’s just say that Benzel nailed it. When he refers to an approaching car, for instance, he uses the word “motorcar”, and when an upper-class character is speaking you can easily imagine his posh accent and mannerisms, thanks to the careful use of passé words and expressions.
Royal and Ethan’s gay relationship was another nice surprise. The fact that the book is set in Wisconsin in 1905 makes the romance even more interesting, considering that the state officially legalized sex between consenting male adults only in 1983. I particularly enjoy reading about gay relationships because it gives me an opportunity to experience another point of view, and to broaden my mind as to how diverse and beautiful human sexuality is. Nonetheless, the steamy moments are never vulgar or excessive.
Despite being a book with several complex characters following a gray moral code, one of them can be considered more villainous than the rest (guess who)…
I recommend this book to people who enjoy “genre-fluid”, complex novels that comprise several storylines that intersect and influence one another, and have a penchant for historical thrillers and life-like characters. One of the best novels of the year, 5/5 stars!
October 10, 2015
I actually was attracted to reading this book after looking at the cover. I really liked the clothing style and the image. I have always fantasized about living in this time period and I am very attracted to books set in this time period. I thought that the author did a great job conveying the time period and I really did feel like I was in the year of 1905.
The book is set in Lune Du Lac, Wisconsin. Ida is unhappy in her marriage and is aware of her husband's cheating ways. Ida has a plan to stop her husband and move the family to a new beginning. Her husband is obviously not happy with this idea and wants to keep the relationship he has going with his mistress. He wants to bring Annabelle with him on the move and even disguises her so that she will fit in. Ida's husband Joseph is a sexual deviant and a very corrupt person who has the intentions to keep his affair moving along.
Ida and Joseph have 2 twin boys, Ethan and Albie. Ethan is very unashamed that he is homosexual. During these times, it's something that he has tried again and again to not cover up. Ethan is very artistic and he falls hard for his neighbor Royal. Royal is smitten with Ethan as well and it was really fun to watch their relationship grow. During these times especially, homosexuality wasn't highly talked about, so I found that to be an interesting aspect of the book. Albie on the other hand falls in love with a woman named Nina who is beyond beautiful, but has a bit of a sketchy reputation. She tries to get Albie to help out her father's business.
Honoria is also a main character and to be honest she is a little stuck up. She's very racist and homophobic. She also seems to think that she is better than everyone for marrying a medical student. She's very unhappy with her brother's choices to be homosexual and she thinks her father shouldn't support it either.
Every character in the book played an unique role in the plot and I enjoyed watching it develop. Loved the chapter where disaster struck and how all of the characters ended up reacting to it. I honestly can't wait until book 2 and I want to see where all of the characters go in the next book. Highly recommend this one.
The book is set in Lune Du Lac, Wisconsin. Ida is unhappy in her marriage and is aware of her husband's cheating ways. Ida has a plan to stop her husband and move the family to a new beginning. Her husband is obviously not happy with this idea and wants to keep the relationship he has going with his mistress. He wants to bring Annabelle with him on the move and even disguises her so that she will fit in. Ida's husband Joseph is a sexual deviant and a very corrupt person who has the intentions to keep his affair moving along.
Ida and Joseph have 2 twin boys, Ethan and Albie. Ethan is very unashamed that he is homosexual. During these times, it's something that he has tried again and again to not cover up. Ethan is very artistic and he falls hard for his neighbor Royal. Royal is smitten with Ethan as well and it was really fun to watch their relationship grow. During these times especially, homosexuality wasn't highly talked about, so I found that to be an interesting aspect of the book. Albie on the other hand falls in love with a woman named Nina who is beyond beautiful, but has a bit of a sketchy reputation. She tries to get Albie to help out her father's business.
Honoria is also a main character and to be honest she is a little stuck up. She's very racist and homophobic. She also seems to think that she is better than everyone for marrying a medical student. She's very unhappy with her brother's choices to be homosexual and she thinks her father shouldn't support it either.
Every character in the book played an unique role in the plot and I enjoyed watching it develop. Loved the chapter where disaster struck and how all of the characters ended up reacting to it. I honestly can't wait until book 2 and I want to see where all of the characters go in the next book. Highly recommend this one.
December 14, 2015
A very interesting book set in Lune De Lac in 1905, with a few references into the past. It is written mainly around the characters from 2 main families and their interactions with others in the town. These are the Easterly family, Christians, and the Jewish neighbors that move into town, the Bloomfields. This book is very well written and shows how judgmental people of this time period could be. It is also a story of how deep true love can go. There is also a murder and mystery and intrigue.
.* I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
.* I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews