An Important Family by Dorothy Eden

First Line: When she arrived on the doorstep, Kate couldn't bring herself to ring the doorbell.

There have been too many tragedies in young Kate O'Connor's life, and she relishes the chance to start over by immigrating to New Zealand as companion to Sir John Devenish's wife and daughter. Once the long sea journey has been endured, the wild landscape of Kate's new home exhilarates her, but her job becomes much harder. Sir John's womenfolk were not happy with the move from their comfortable, privileged life in London, and nothing they see in New Zealand makes them change their minds. The more recalcitrant the two women become, the more Kate learns about the Devenish family secrets.

I have to say that this is the first book by Dorothy Eden with which I've been disappointed. The story was saved only by the descriptions of the New Zealand landscape and weather and by how some of the other settlers had carved out lives for themselves. 

What withered my enthusiasm for this book on its tender young vine was the cast of characters. To be blunt, too many of the cast were either completely unlikable or thought solely with their reproductive organs... or both. Definitely not my kind of cast! Of course, since no two people ever read the same book, your mileage may vary-- and I certainly hope it does.

An Important Family by Dorothy Eden

eISBN: 9781480430105

Open Road Integrated Media © 2013

Originally published 1982

eBook, 288 pages

Historical Fiction, Standalone

Rating: C-

Source: Purchased from Amazon

The American Heiress by Dorothy Eden

First Line: The morning Mrs. Jervis, her daughter Clemency, and Harriet Brown (known as Hetty to her friends) were to leave, New York was beautiful.

Spoiled heiress Clemency Jervis is to marry Lord Hugo Hazzard of Loburn in England, so in the spring of 1915, Clemency, her mother, her maid Hetty Brown, and trunks of fine gowns and jewels are taken aboard the Lusitania. When the ship is torpedoed by the Germans off the coast of Ireland, one of the few survivors is young Hetty, who greatly resembles Clemency.

Hetty is quite surprised to be taken for her mistress, but decides to carry out a daring deception that makes her a nobleman's wife and the mistress of a large country estate-- although there is a doubt or two among certain members of her new family.

When I was barely into my teens, I read a lot of Gothic novels by writers like Victoria Holt, Anya Seton, and Mary Stewart to name a few. I think my favorite author was New Zealander Dorothy Eden, and when I saw a Kindle version of her book The American Heiress, I was reminded of all her books that I had read. Upon further inspection, I found this book to have been published well past the time I'd been reading that type of book. Would I still enjoy Dorothy Eden? I had to find out. 

I'm happy to report that the experiment was a complete success. The plot may be a bit predictable, but it's what Eden does with the ordinary to turn it into the extraordinary that counts. There is a wonderful World War I period flavor in The American Heiress. Eden did her homework well, and of course there is a magnificent old house (which is a must for Gothic novels) with dozens of rooms I wanted to explore.

But it is the characterization that brings the entire story to life. Clemency and her mother are not nice people, but Eden shows them to be the spoiled, entitled people of their time, not as evil beings, which would certainly be easy to do. Hetty is a young woman readers can care about and worry about. Yes, Hetty is dishonest, but Eden gives her some interesting reasons for her behavior as well as a guilty conscience that makes readers wonder if she's going to be able to go through with her deception. Add to that the cat-and-mouse game played by Hetty's mother-in-law and her companion, and you've got a story whose pages almost turn themselves in your hurry to find out what happens next.

Good writing is good writing, and I'm so happy to see that Dorothy Eden and the Gothic novel genre itself stand the test of time well.
  

The American Heiress by Dorothy Eden

eISBN: 9781480430099

Open Road Media © 2013

Originally published in 1980.

eBook, 251 pages

Romantic Suspense, Standalone

Rating: A

Source: Purchased from Amazon.