Status Updates From Another Eden

Delicious book…

Why are there so many reviews of this book calling the heroine, who is in an abusive relationship, "spineless"?

I've been hoarding my unread HRs by Patricia Gaffney, since the thought of being without some in my to-read pile breaks my heart. But I can't resist, so...

Just one chapter in, and I'm reminded why she's one of my favorite authors. Her writing is so assured, elegant, and envy-inducing, and her stories always feel like they were written to please me and my tastes. I have a slight case of hero worship, honestly.

I liked it well enough, but by the mid-point, I was feeling irritated with the whole situation. I don't like a woman living a life that is not truly her, "sacrificing" her joy and fulfillment for the sake of her child (in her mind), even when the child knows something is "off" with his parents. It does nobody, incl. the child, any favours and stymies everyone's growth.

Ben was incredibly wealthy by the time he was twenty-five. He started out in the Chicago stockyards, prodding cattle along a chute to their deaths. Sometime you must ask him to tell you about the skull-smashing device he invented to speed things along.

For a whole bunch of reasons, I hope Ben gets bumped off in a most dramatic fashion.

For once, though, he could see a distinction between lovemaking and seduction.

Because he was a forceful, bullish speaker and because he was powerful and filthy rich, people agreed with him. He managed to make ethnic hatred sound patriotic.

Hmm. Earlier than that, I guess. More like Turn of the Century.

Hmm. The year in which this takes place isn't stated straight out, but there are clues pointing to the Edwardian era, around 1914 or '15. Anyway, I'm really enjoying this so far.