Amazon.com: Beneath the Wind (9780671787035): Cordelia Frances Biddle: Books

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1993

When Eugenia Axthelm and her wealthy husband embark on a luxurious cruise away from turn-of-the-century Philadelphia, their marriage suddenly is plagued by betrayal and, ultimately, tragedy. A first novel. 40,000 first printing.

#outer_postBodyPS { display: none; } #psGradient { display: none; } #psPlaceHolder { display: none; } #psExpand { display: none; } When Eugenia Axthelm and her wealthy husband embark on a luxurious cruise away from turn-of-the-century Philadelphia, their marriage suddenly is plagued by betrayal and, ultimately, tragedy. A first novel. 40,000 first printing.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Though slow-moving, contrived and sentimental, this first novel offers a sensitively detailed picture of a vanished class structure and way of life, as well as colorful settings in various exotic countries. In 1889, well-born Eugenia Paine of Philadelphia is engaged to George Axthelm. Her gushing diary entries, accurately reflecting the style of the time, are laced through the third-person narrative, summarizing the action, but often introducing characters whose presence is extraneous to the plot. In 1903, Eugenia and George and their three children embark on an around-the-world voyage on a luxury yacht, a 10th-anniversary gift from George's powerful but corrupt father. Melodrama on the high seas follows, as passion, betrayal and the family's secret criminal involvement in a gun smuggling scheme lead to tragedy. Readers who are not impatient with the leisurely pace will find Biddle often delivers graceful, evocative prose, especially in tracing Eugenia's slow awakening from a narrow-minded, stultified society matron to a strong woman whose self-awareness is gained through physical passion and whose maturity is earned through pain. Biddle robs the narrative of tension, however, by telling too much too soon, by excessively rendering Eugenia's tortured self-consciousness and by succumbing to simplistic melodrama.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Genie Axthelm is unhappily married to George Axthelm, scion of 19th-century Philadelphia's wealthiest family. In the yacht the couple is given as an anniversary present by George's father, they sail for Borneo on business, accompanied by their three children. George has been assigned a mysterious task by his father to be carried out on their arrival; it soon becomes apparent that he is troubled and drinks to excess. Ignored and mistreated by her husband, Genie embarks on an affair. Tragedy is the eventual outcome of events. Though the family begins as five, it finishes as four before book's end. Victorian and romantic in tone, this first novel is easy to read but plodding. Story and character development occur at a snail's pace, and it is difficult to care about the characters. A secondary purchase. --Bettie Spivey Cormier, Charlotte-Mecklenburg P.L., Charlotte, N.C.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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More About the Author

› Visit Amazon's Cordelia Frances Biddle Page

Cordelia Frances Biddle on her Famous Lineage, Love of Research, and the Origins of The Martha Beale Historical Series. For additional insights into Philadelphia's fascinating past, please visit www.CordeliaFrancesBiddle.com

My passion for the early Victorian era that serves as backdrop for the Martha Beale series began with research into my Biddle and Drexel ancestors. Financiers Nicholas Biddle and Francis Martin Drexel were powerful men who shaped the city - and nation's - growth and politics. The 1840s in Philadelphia were tumultuous years. A cultured and educated "elite" confronting grinding poverty, race riots, workers' rights riots and a legal system made obsolete by a rapidly expanding city. Fertile ground for a novelist - especially one with murder on her mind.

Having been raised in a household of strong women, I also needed to make sense of the role of women in the mid-nineteenth century. "Fainting couches" may have been popular articles of furniture, but the women I discovered as I began chronicling my fictional heroine were anything but shrinking violets. Read about Sarah Josepha Hale, the editor of Godey's Lady's Book, if you want an example of a powerful female. In my mind the doughty Sarah was worthy predecessor to Oprah.

As a descendent of the Biddle line historians refer to as "The Romantics" (as opposed to "The Solids"), I see ghosts abounding as I walk our twenty-first century streets. I invite you to journey with me back in time and become a friend of Martha Beale. And do write to me via my website. I love hearing from fans and promise a speedy reply.