Ambitious and determined, Hallie Duer craves to be at the center of her epoch—with Prohibition and bootleg gin, Model Ts and moving pictures, Red roundups and the routine lynching of Negroes. The old order is in upheaval, and the emerging new order is at last allowing extraordinary women their long-deserved place in the sun. In this uncommon love story, Hallie, a consummate observer by profession, learns to become a passionate participant when she falls in love with a dynamic Irish lawyer, who is married but separated from his wife. The course of their involvement is complicated by Catholic convention and a secret from the past. Cool-headed, self-possessed Hallie experiences an all-consuming love, but pain, disappointment, and forgiveness are part of that passion.
Shirley Streshinsky is a novelist, biographer,and journalist who has been widely published in the U.S. and abroad.
Her non-fiction books include the biography AUDUBON, LIFE AND ART IN THE AMERICAN WILDERNESS. Her first book was AND I ALONE SURVIVED, based on the experience of the sole survivor of a small plane crash in the Sierra Nevada mountains, (with Lauren Elder), Literary Guild selection, Reader's Digest condensation, 18 foreign editions, and NBC movie for television; and OATS! A BOOK OF WHIMSY (with Maria Streshinsky).
Her historical novels include: THE SHORES OF PARADISE, GIFT OF THE GOLDEN MOUNTAIN, A TIME BETWEEN, and HERS THE KINGDOM. All were published originally in hardback by Putnam and paperback by Berkley, there were several editions in Europe, and three were best sellers in paperback. These titles along with the Audubon biography are all being reissued by Turner Publishing in 2013.
In a career that spans 40 years, Streshinsky's articles have been published regularly in such magazines as Redbook, the Ladies Home Journal, the Los Angeles Times magazine, and Glamour. Her travel stories have appeared in Travel & Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, and scores of other publications. She has contributed to American Heritage, Preservation Magazine, AARP The Magazine and The American Scholar.
Her travel essays have been featured on National Public Radio's Savvy Traveler.
She is the recipient of the Society of Magazine Writer's Award for Excellence; the National Council for the Advancement of Education Writing award; she was cited by The Educational Press Association of America for "superlative achievement in features."
Streshinsky is a graduate of the University of Illinois. She was married to the late Ted Streshinsky, a photojournalist with whom she often collaborated. They have three grown children. She lives in Kensington, California, not far from the Oppenheimer's home at 1 Eagle Hill.
I read this one 25 years ago, but still remember the immense joy it gave me. I must find my copy and reread it. I recall a beautifully written novel of a strong woman, a great romance and that the story stayed with me long after I finished reading it.