Play Book Tag discussion

If you know anything about me by now, it is that I have drank of the Beatriz Williams Kool-Aid. Williams has a magical way of transporting you to the defining times of our nation's history by creating characters that deftly tell a story that not only encompasses the culture of that era, but also subtly reveals what it meant to be a woman at that point in history.

A Certain Age takes us to the roaring 1920s Manhattan. The times, they are a-changin'. Women are becoming bolder, clothes are becoming scantier, jazz is being born, and booze is (supposedly) becoming scarcer. It is a city on the verge of cultural change. At least among the 5th Avenue elite.

Mrs. Theresa Marshall is the queen of the elite. Appearances are everything and she maintains them with her husband even while falling quite desperately in love -- or at least in infatuation -- with the much younger war hero, Octavian Rofrano. But, she unwittingly changes the entire trajectory of her entire happiness when she sends her lover to serve as the cavalier for her brother Ox, to present Ox's proposal to the almost scandalously young and certainly scandalously wealthy Miss Sophie Fortescue.

Family secrets. Unsolved murders. Discreet affairs. Steamy romanaces. Women challenging the role into which society has pigeonholed them. All leading up to the murder trial of the century.

A Certain Age is told from the alternating perspectives of Theresa and Sophie. The former being a woman of a certain age, jaded by life, eyes open to the realities of social standing and the associated expectations. The latter a doe-eyed and sheltered young woman, who still bows to the expectations of her father and lacks the life experience to question if she wants more. If she deserves more.

Without a doubt, Theresa was my preferred point of view. She had a self-confidence edged with just a touch of insecurity, and she had no delusions of what was expected of her in society. Stand by her husband, keep her lover discrete. She was smart, more than a little manipulative, and completely unapologetic. I adored her. Sophie's naiveté wore a bit thin at times for me, but she ended up being the one who cast off the mantel of 1920s woman and stepped into the future. These two women were two sides of the same coin: one who despite her best efforts could not break free of the mold and the other who seemed born to leave it behind.

The one aspect that fell short of Ms. Williams's other books was the entwined mystery. There is a trial that is alluded to in flash-forward news columns and Sophie has a mysterious childhood and recluse father, but I was not drawn into that storyline. It was interesting, and I realized we were being led toward the resolution, but I was way more interested in reading about Theresa and Octavian. The general outlines of the mystery were not shrouded in obscurity and the big twist was not as shocking as I know Ms. Williams is capable of. Intriguing at best.

Finally, we see some of familiar faces and names as are woven throughout Ms. Williams's other books: the Schuylers (particularly Julie), the van der Wahls. At this point, I would love a friend/family tree to see how all of these novels piece together to tell an epic story of the Schuylers.

Overall, another solid novel by Beatriz Williams full of glitz, glamour, and romance.

Thank you to Edelweiss for providing an advanced copy of A Certain Age in exchange for my honest review.

This sounds like something I would enjoy. You mention seeing some characters from other books. Is this part of a series that should be read in order?

It is not really part of a series of something that needs to be read in order. It is more that some of the main characters in one book will pop up as minor supporting characters in another. I can't think of anything too spoilerish at the moment.

If you want to go in the order she published them, then I believe that A Hundred Summers would be first.

Jealous! This doesn't come out until June I think. Looks like another good one from Williams. Can't wait.

Seems like I should check out Williams as we seem to have similar tastes (except for NR --- I know blasphemy ;-)

Do you recommend A Hundred Summers as a place to start? I just looked it up and I have it sitting on my kindle!

JoLene wrote:
Do you recommend A Hundred Summers as a place to start? I just looked it up and I h..."


All of her books are good, Nicole and I discovered her a few years ago and have been faithful readers ever since. It really doesn't matter which book you start with, but One Hundred Summers was the first book, although we both read Overseas first. It's not a 'series' in the traditional way.

Linda wrote: "we both read Overseas first..."

Overseas is still my favorite. I just adored that book! The time-travel romance genre wins me over every time.

JoLene wrote: Do you recommend A Hundred Summers as a place to start?"

One Hundred Summers is a great place to start and it is based in Rhode Island during the Hurricane of 1938. It remains a defining storm for Little Rhody and I highly recommend you do a little googling of pictures from "Napatree Point Hurricane 1938"

I picked up One Hundred Summers because one of my best friends moved from CA to RI a couple of years ago. I've been out to visit her twice and once we went to Newport so I'm pretty sure that's what caught my eye for that book.

JoLene wrote: "I picked up One Hundred Summers because one of my best friends moved from CA to RI a couple of years ago. I've been out to visit her twice and once we went to Newport so I'm pretty sure that's what..."

I live in Rhode Island! I actually do my field work on Napatree Point where all of the big houses used to be and now it is a conservation area.

Napatree Point/Watch Hill is in Westerley, RI, so if you ever go back, make a trip. You can walk around the point, which is beautiful, and if you want to splurge you can have lunch at The Ocean House which is one of the few pre-hurricane hotels left.

Then there is a great downtown area in Westerley included my favorite local watering hold, the Malted Barley :)

Nicole wrote: "Linda wrote: "we both read Overseas first..."

Overseas is still my favorite. I just adored that book! The time-travel romance genre wins me over every time."

It's still my favorite too.