Customer Reviews

Always And Forever (Zebra Debut)

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Always and Forever is about two sisters: one whose mother is a slave and the other whose mother is the plantation owner's wife. The book starts in 1823 Louisiana and travels through a generation of family life.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The author remains true to the period's language and is rich in detail. Always and Forever is a story about America and the history that shaped us.

The characters are flawed, some of them with major deficiencies, which make them real. The heroines' character arcs are believable and I loved them for being true to their core values.

If you enjoy historical novels, you will enjoy Always and Forever. I give it my highest ranking. The best book I've read this year.

Sarah Gross
New England reader

If you are looking for a powerful story with a great historical background, this is your book. Josie is the daughter of the plantation owner and Cleo is her slave. They grow up loving each other. But they always know that their places in society are very different. Their stories will captivate you as you watch their lives develop along unexpected lines. This is more than a romance and you will not be able to predict the outcome of the book after reading the first fifteen pages. This is a story with heart and passion. I highly recommend it.

The story is old, but the writing in this one makes the read, not only worthwhile, but uplifting. Gretchen Craig has done a masterful job blending the auras of GONE WITH THE WIND, UNCLE TOM'S CABIN and WUTHERING HEIGHTS and setting it in and around New Orleans. It's a nice romance without today's usual sexual exploits. ALWAYS AND FOREVER leaves a pleasant aftertaste.

I got caught up in the humidity of 1800s Louisiana, the tensions of Cleo's life split between the big house and slave quarters, and Josie's struggles to become an adult with the difficult models of her mother and grandmother looming around her.

Craig's use of language let me discover the distinctions between Creole, Cajun, Yankee, and Southern slave. Each character's voice is as unique as her/his personality.

The plot kept me reading--up late to finish it--because I wanted to know what would become of Josie, Cleo, and the men in their lives. I like that the ending is not a universally happy one: the time period, the constraints of lives in a society bounded by rules and served by slavery, and the choices of the characters made for a satisfying ending. My satisfaction comes from Craig's ability to leave some of the social and personal issues of the novel unresolved enough to feel the tension between historical romance genre expectations and my own experiences of life.

I enjoyed this book so much I've passed it on to friends and family to read!

Louisiana in the 1800's. Slavery. Love. Cruelty. Passion. Society. Oppressive heat. Sickness. Birth. Death. Growing up. Friendship. All of these are elements of an engrossing story with compelling characters. This book is written with such rich descriptions that I was transported to another time, another place. Always and Forever was an absolute pleasure to read.

A different kind of love story! Set over a hundred years ago in New Orleans, the prejudice, class structure, and natural disasters had such power that love had no room to sprout. The characters struggle and finally dare to embrace love. Love enables one to confront mighty problems and clears the way to happiness. Katina victims can read this book and still believe in the power of love. A very good read.

Always and Forever reminds me of Gone With the Wind because of the depth of the story's characters and its trueness to the time period. The people in the story are believable, with enough imperfections to make me relate to their humanness. The heroine begins as a shallow and selfish girl, and I watched her develop into a woman I both loved and admired.

I've read so many disappointing historical romances lately that I was about to give up the whole genre, but Grechen Craig has restored my faith.

Tops marks for this one, it's a MUST READ!

"Always and Forever" captured me from the very beginning, transporting me to another place and time. I could almost feel the heavy humid air of Southern Louisiana and smell the odors so familiar to that river region. The characters were distinct and believable. They became real to me as I read and I found myself emotionally involved with Josie and Cleo and intrigued by a wonderful array of supporting characters. The action and tension kept me turning pages late into the wee hours. The love story was thick with both heartbreak and elation. I highly recommend this book and look forward with great anticipation to this author's next book.

Author Gretchen Craig writes with the passion of a true storyteller. This juciy story resonates with the author's affection for her characters and the time period. Enjoy the feast!

Co-author of Chik~Lit for Foxy Hens

I found Always and Forever an engrossing read, one that skillfully portrays the things - race, money, love -- that connect and divide the characters in this vivid era and locale. We see how two women with the same father but different mothers and skin colors can grow up in the same home, yet are separated by the inequality of their birth. Yet neither finds the path to true love easy. The setting, 1830s Louisiana, is seamlessly interwoven so that it doesn't shout "research!" but rather the flavor and color of that time and place. This is the first story I've read in the antebellum Louisiana setting, and I found Craig's descriptions and plotting made me want to read more stories in this period.

The two main characters, Josie and Cleo, are subtly held in contrast to each other. Cleo's story of her struggle to survive the life forced upon her and still find love is especially gripping, and Josie's journey to overcome her privileged birth to become a mature and responsible woman keeps you interested throughout. Both have their own compelling love stories which are separate and yet interwoven. I found myself rooting not only for each in their individual stories, but for the two women to eventually find their friendship again, just as when they were young girls.

This is Ms. Craig's debut novel, and I'll be eagerly looking for more from her in the future.