The Night is Done

Durant Family Saga #3

by Sheila Myers

William and Ella Durant, heirs to a bygone fortune, are recounting the events that led to the Durant family downfall during the Gilded Age. In 1931 William returns to visit the estate he once possessed in the Adirondacks to speak with the current owner, copper magnate Harold Hochschild, who is writing a history of the region and wants to include a biography of William. Simultaneously, Ella is visiting with an old family friend and former lover, Poultney Bigelow, journalist with Harpers Magazine, who talks her into telling her own story.

William recounts the height of his glory, after his father’s death in 1885 when he takes control of the Adirondack railroad assets, travels the world in his yacht and dines with future kings. However, his fortune takes a turn during the Financial Panic of 1893 and amid accusations of adultery and cruelty.

Ella’s tale begins when she returned from living abroad to launch a lawsuit against her brother for her fair share of the Durant inheritance. The court provides a stage for the siblings to tear each other’s reputation apart: William for his devious business practices and failure to steward the Durant land holdings, and Ella for her unconventional lifestyle. Based on actual events, and historic figures, The Night is Done is a tale about the life altering power of revenge, greed and passion.

260 pages, Paperback

Published August 14, 2017

About the author

I'm an award-winning author of historical and contemporary novels. I like to venture out into the wilderness, swim in lakes, climb mountains, and make the occasional trip to a cemetery to find inspiration. Human failures and passions are always good starting points for a plot and there is plenty of that to go around. I've been adapting my stories to screenplays, because why not? Website https://www.sheilamyers.com/

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Reviews

[Jypsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you HFVBT for a complimentary copy. I voluntarily reviewed this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

The Night Is Done
A Durant Family Saga
By: Sheila Myers

REVIEW ☆☆☆☆
The Night Is Done is actually the last of a series, but I read it first. This story is told by siblings William Durant and Ella in two different perspectives and two time periods of the1890s and the1930s, as they recount the highs and lows of their lives. Their father owned half a million acres of Adirondack property and the Adirondack Railroad Company, and obviously, he was a wealthy man. Upon his death, William was in charge of distributing the inheritance properly. You can probably guess what happened. The wealth caused a rift between William and Ella. Enough was never enough, despite the lifestyle of luxury. Ella accused William of cheating her. Did he, or was it just greed? These two destroyed their characters in court, each trying to prove their right to the fortune. This story is about the evil of money. William and Ella were both unhappy with their lives in different ways, and living in bitterness and hatred must have been exhausting. Being a true story makes this even sadder. To have the world and lose it-can you imagine? Wealth is not worth the cost. The author did a great deal of research to craft this story and put it all together with different perspectives and time periods. This was an interesting compelling story that fascinated me. If you read historical fiction, I suggest trying this book.

[David Fitz-Gerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Night is Done is poetically introduced by the first stanza of Rudyard Kipling’s 1911 poem, The Dawn Wind. It’s the perfect passage to place on the first page.

This book is a dual timeline book, and bounces between the 1890s and the early 1930s, between the Panic of 1893 and the Great Depression. Initially, it was challenging to keep up with the changes, as each chapter was written from a different point of view. After a while, I figured out how to make note of who “I” was. Having two main characters was another challenge to contend with. These dual timelines and dual main characters are wonderfully woven together by the author.

As the book opens at Camp Eagle Nest in 1931, Harold Hochschild (1892-1981) finds an old man in his garden, watching loons on the lake. That man turned out to be William West Durant (1850-1934), the property’s previous owner. Hochschild expected Durant’s arrival, however, Durant was a day earlier than scheduled. Hochschild was chronicling the history of the central Adirondacks for his book, titled Township 34. Durant was the father of the Adirondack Great Camp building style, at once “rustic luxury” and “unrestrained opulence.” Hochschild would go on to be the founder of the Adirondack Museum, now known as The Adirondack Experience, on Blue Mountain Lake, which by the way, is a fantastic place to visit if you want to step back in time.

Later in the book, Poultney Bigelow (1855-1954) and Ella, more formally known as Heloise Durant Frethey Rose (1858-1943), reunite at Poultney’s home at Malden-on-Hudson in 1933. Bigelow’s second wife had recently passed away. In addition to their romantic entanglements in the distant past, Poultney and Ella were both authors. As William tells Hochschild his side of the story, Ella tells her side of the story to Bigelow. William’s story is a “personal account of how he went from one of the wealthiest land-owners in the region to a clerk in a hotel.” Ella’s story involves a complex legal struggle to reclaim the wealth she lost when her brother cheated her out of her fair share of their father’s estate.

The Night is Done is a story about a family’s fall from grace. A fortune lost. A family is torn apart. Two greedy people, destroying each other in what ultimately became a lose-lose situation. A pyrrhic victory where the winner fails to benefit.

My favorite part of this woeful tale is the setting. At a time when the wealthy left the hot and humid northeastern cities for the crisp, cool splendor of an Adirondack summer, they brought their fancy tastes with them to the wilderness. Part hermit, part guide, Alvah Dunning (1816-1902), provides some great moments in the book and provides a nice foil to the characters from the cities.

Here’s one of my favorite quotes from this book. “I can unequivocally state that of the many places I have traveled and seen―the temples of Karnak, the crystal waters of the Azores, the chalky cliffs of the Isle of Wight―none compared to the beauty of Mohegan Lake the afternoon I spent with my family.”

This must have been a difficult story to research and craft. Sheila Myers masterfully weaves the antlers into the chandeliers, so to speak. In a tale about revenge and greed, it is ironic how much money wealthy people spend to spoil themselves in rustic richness. When it’s all over, I’m not sure which character was the protagonist, and which was the antagonist. Maybe both and neither, all at once.

​I thoroughly enjoyed The Night is Done, and I heartily recommend it.

[Nancy Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Leave it to me to start in the middle of a series and not be aware that it was a true story until I read the epilogue. After realizing it was a true story, it all began to fall into place for me. Up to that point, I was enjoying the story line but kept feeling like it wasn't reading like a good fiction book should. The case is solved.

This book is of several written about the Durant family; this one, in particular, dances around siblings William and Ella Durant. Their father owned and developed a large portion of the Adirondacks with homes, hotels and railroads. He lost a great portion of his wealth and his son, William felt obligated to pick up where his father left off in an attempt to rebuild the family fortune, respectability and public opinion. But in real life, as it is in fiction, money and power usually breed greed, unhappiness and a sense of longing. This story bounces back and forth between William and Ella's account of the struggle that ensued for years over their father's estate, the shady deals entered into to deceive family and friends and the eventual destruction of the Durant Family.

I found this to be an interesting story - even more so once I opened my eyes to the true intentional pain inflicted by family members to one another and the realization that money can weight a tall man's pockets to the point of decreasing his stature.

There were some very insightful paragraphs throughout the book, but none resonated as loudly and clearly as these:

"To be happy in life for any length of time, one must first learn to live on less than one makes. This applies to all men except those who have so little manhood that they can happily allow others to support their idleness."

"If you show a man you believe in him, he will, in return, try to show that you are not mistaken."

It is true accounts like this one about the spoils of wealth that make me glad I am content with what I have, able to enjoy locations and the world around me, have a beautiful family and can rise each day with a desire to prove that I am a person worth believing in. I hope this feeling and philosophy in life continues with me each day and until The Night is Done.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Goodreads.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

William Durant returns to Eagle's Nest, one of his Adirondack Great Camps in 1931, after losing all of his land.  William is there to talk to Harold Hochschild, the current owner of Eagle's Nest who is writing a history of the area.  Simultaneously, William's sister, Ella Durant visits her longtime friend, Poultney Bigelow who is a journalist for Harpers.  Poultney talks Ella into telling her side of the family story.  The siblings recount their versions of the family's properties after their father's death and their time spent in the Adirondacks. 

The Night is Done is the third book in the Durant Family Saga.  I have only read this one and didn't feel like I missed anything.  I was also lucky enough to read this while in the Adirondacks looking over some of Durant's former land, which gave me a great sense of perspective and place.  William's story begins with glory, riches and dreams before turning south.  Ella's story begins with a ruined reputation, going after her brother for money and land before finding her place.  The Durant's story in this book is one of their downfall, showing the effects of greed and mistrust.  I enjoyed reading about Durant's construction of some of these iconic Great Camps.  It is obvious that Durant took great care in the building and design of each of his camps and valued the land and nature that they were built on.  With that, Durant isn't exactly a likeable character, his constant need for bigger and better eventually concretes his downfall.  His interactions with Ella and refusing to give her any land to the point of a lawsuit over inheritance sets the siblings up for a public display of tearing one another apart.  Ella is also not the most likable, making a series of questionable decisions and fighting over land that she doesn't necessarily want or need. The Durant's are characterized through their pride, greed and stubbornness.  The story is obviously well researched and gives an insight into the family that opened up the Adirondacks as a resort for the wealthy. 

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. 

[Donna Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Historical fiction is not necessarily my choice of reading material, yet as an avid outdoors person, I was drawn to this author by one of her blog posts comparing the writing process to climbing mountains. I chose this book to read as an introduction to the Durant family history and came into the read on the last volume of this Trilogy. It was a somewhat difficult read at first trying to relate to the characters and wealthy lifestyle depicted in the story. Nonetheless, I persisted and was pleasantly surprised to be enjoying the story the more I read.

This compelling page turner set in the late 1800's, eloquently describes the story of William and Ella Durant, brother and sister and both heirs to their father's inheritance. Their relationship is fraught with sibling rivalry, power struggles and control issues enough to keep you thoroughly entertained throughout the story. Their father owned half a million acres of land in the Adirondacks as well as the Adirondack Railroad Company. After his father's death, William, designated as Power of Attorney over his father's estate, had the dilemma of carrying out his father's legacy, and distributing the wealth amongst his family members. What better dilemma to have in one's life than to decide how to spend an inherited fortune, you might ask? All that glitters isn't always gold, as the saying goes and you'll just have to read this book to discover the outcome. The Night is Done is truly an engaging and poignant account of a wealthy family's steady decline from riches to rags.

[A.M. Clyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

All three of Ms. Myers books on the Durant family are amazing! Each one is written from in a different style/POV. Possibly my favorite of the series, Night is Done concludes the story of the Durants and brings some closure for the reader. Interestingly, it starts in 1931 told through the interviews by Harold Hochschild, real-life person who eventually owned the Durant resorts created by William West Durant, architect of the Adirondack style of architecture. Written in first person, this book switches POVs at almost every chapter, which is unique. So you get the intimate perspective of William, Ella and Hochschild, the storyteller.

This series inspired me to visit the Adirondacks, and actually stay in North Creek, NY - something I've always wanted to do anyway. Thank you, Ms. Myers!

My only regret is that the Durant mansion no longer stands. RIP.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Night is Done is the third installment from Sheila Myers series, Durant Family Saga. I found it to be interesting that it was based on a true story. The author obviously did her research to bring to life. I was entertained from start to finish.

I am giving The Night is Done four stars. I would love to read the other books from the Durant Family Saga to find out what had happened prior to this one. I will be looking for more by Sheila Myers in the future.

I received this book from the publisher. This review is 100% my own honest opinion.

[Nathanael Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Engaging story of local, and international, lore. Myers explores an era of extravagance mingled with natural beauty and wonder of the Adirondack mountains with lovely writing.
This book recounts more of the family history, leading us through what I can believe is a well researched, nuanced exploration of real-life strife, unrequited love, sibling rivalry, and more through an engaging and flowing style.

[Regina Buttner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having grown up in Upstate New York where I spent many footloose weekends exploring the Adirondack mountain region, this beguiling family saga resonated with me. The author brings the extended Durant family to life, illuminating their grandiose dreams, personal foibles, and the inevitable pull of ego and greed, all of which is set against the backdrop of a transformational era in American history. The writing evokes the Adirondack setting–the pristine mountain lakes, the crisp autumn air, and the biting cold of a snowy winter's day. If you're a history buff, this is a series you need to read!

[Hapzydeco · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel concludes the trilogy. All three novels are good historical reads.