Storm Over Windhaven

Windhaven Saga #2

by Marie de Jourlet

They were bold, willful pioneers, planters of the rich Alabama soil, from Lucien Bouchard, the patriarch who created Windhaven out of the strength of his dreams and the power of his soul, to his grandson, Mark, whose cruel sensuality and fierce ambitions tear at the very roots of the family heritage... And the Bouchard women -- Sybella, the spirited wife of Henry Bouchard, who has to compete for her husband's love with the ravishing slaves he took to his bed; Lucy, whose girlish sparkle turns to full-blown fire when she meets the handsome Luke Bouchard; and Maybelle, whose innocence could not exist for long in a land of naked passion and secret lusts. In a tumultuous era -- when privileged and arrogant men submit the young and beautiful to their dark desires and the strong and proud to the sting of the lash -- the Bouchards struggle to preserve their deeply divided family and the legacy of freedom and peace for which they have lived and died -- the magnificent promise of Windhaven.

Genres: Historical Fiction

528 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

A pseudonym used by Paul Little.

Reviews

[Misfit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Storm Over Windhaven continues the story of the Bouchard family began in Windhaven Plantation. Loucien Bouchard has achieved his great dream of a grand and prosperous plantation. Loucien is kind and good and against slave labor, although the law won't allow him to free them. Lucien's son Henry is not kind and good, and is a die-hard slave owner of the worst kind, as is Henry's youngest son Mark. Henry's oldest son, Luke, is kind and good and wise like his grandfather. There are several sub-plots with various nefarious characters, but really the only thing that happens are Henry and Mark beating women or slaves, and kind and good Lucien and Luke trying to save them.

Really, that is all that happened until the last 50 pages or so where the author has to get the family from the 1830s to the end of the Civil War (where book #3 begins). Fifty pages of mind-numbing, endless exposition of the war and which Bouchard family member married whom. And that was after 300 some pages of mind-numbing, endless abuse of women and beating slaves (you will likely feel the need to bleach your brain). If you're PC sensitive, I do not recommend you reading this series. If you are expecting a romantic element, you will not find it here. There is quite a bit of historical detail, but then again the author is so heavy handed with the historical detail that it becomes mind numbing at times. I do see some potential for the story moving forward in future books, so I'm going to hang in for a while yet and see if they improve. Apparently Marie de Jourlet is a pen-name of author Paul Little, and there is definitely a feel of manly-men attitude that comes across in the writing.

[Saori]

the first 5 books of this series were the most memorable 'cause there were a lot obstacle that happened to the family they were still trying to establish their own home to the new world..

[Allen Jeffreys · Rating 3 out of 5]

Setting is pre-Civil War and regards plantation life showing the feelings of abolitionist as well as seccessionist.

[Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read years ago.