I was drawn to this book by the lovely cover, but it wasn’t exactly what I thought it was going to be. This is the story of Venice Arial, daughter of high society of New Orleans, whose life has been decided for her in the late 1910’s. Her controlling mother has arranged a marriage for her, but allows her to visit their summer home, Belle-Haven, on Lake Pontchartrain where she meets Etienne Armand, a local boy with few opportunities. They fall deeply in love, but her mother rips them apart and drags Venice back to New Orleans. Venice finds her voice and refuses to accept the marriage her mother has arranged. Etienne has followed her and after a few miscommunications, they meet up again and are eventually married. Unfortunately, he is drafted into the army and sent to Europe. From here things go seriously wrong.
Venice is pregnant when Etienne leaves and waits eagerly for word from him. Etienne waits for word from Venice. Talk about star-crossed lovers. Modern people just cannot understand the difficulties that were had without phones, email, texts, etc. Imagine waiting weeks, months or even years for a message to reach your loved one - it is unimaginable.
Due to miscommunication and male pride the lovers are separated for an exceedingly long time. The story is told by Venice in her later years with much love and bittersweet emotions. I enjoyed this book although I felt frustrated at times with the characters. I gave this book 3 1/2 stars rounded up to 4. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.