"An exciting historical romance"
In 1893 Georgia Peach Rowena Belle Monroe realizes how poor
her upper crust family has become. Having no choice,
Rowena Belle becomes the first Monroe to leave Georgia
except for those who fought for the South a few decades ago
in the Civil War. She accepts employment as a nanny in New
York City. When her employer George Richmond takes his
wife and two children, to the Chicago World's Fair, Rowena
accompanies them as befitting her job to care for the kids. At the Fair, photographer Win Asher notices the beautiful
Belle and tries to convince her to pose for his
photographs, but she refuses feeling this is indecent
behavior. As Belle and Win see one another while attending
the Fair, they fall in love, but she feels he is
the "paragon" of everything she believes is wrong with
Yankees. Alice Duncan's second Chicago Fair tale is an exciting
historical romance that readers will enjoy as fans obtain a
taste of a bygone era. The period is so well described
that the audience will be surprised by Belle's
authentic "puritanical" attitude towards items that we take
for granted as normal. The characters are warm and
amusing, but as with the previous novel, COMING UP ROSES,
the history is as important if not more so than the
romance, not that the latter is shortchanged, but the
former is so picturesque. Harriet Klausner
Reviewed by PNR Group Member
Posted April 18, 2002
|
