Dreaming In Color [Paperback]

Charlotte Vale Allen (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2001

When Bobby Salton runs away from her violently abusive husband, Joe, taking her six-year-old daughter Penny with her, she knows she is fleeing for her life but has no idea where she is going. Her wish to see the ocean leads her to the Connecticut shore, and a help-wanted ad takes her to the home of Eva Rule and her aunt, Alma Ogilvie.

Bobby bears both the mental and physical scars of her beatings and Eva, independent and self-possessed, is both fascinated and repelled by the victim she sees before her. Ultimately, it is the ebullient, precocious Penny who gains them a place in the household by winning the heart of Alma, a stern but loving retired teacher who has been incapacitated by a stroke.

The unexpected--and sometimes unwanted--emotions aroused by Bobby's entrance into the household haunts the women's dreams and private thoughts. But whereas Eva and Alma are stalked by the past, Bobby is pursued by fears of Joe, an unseen but ever-present danger. Penny, finally, is the catalyst who breaks down the barriers each of the three has built around herself.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Writing with conviction and clarity, prolific novelist Allen ( Leftover Dreams ) offers a highly competent treatment of a topical theme. When her sadistic husband Joe begins menacing their six-year-old daughter Penny, abused and battered Bobby Salton finally flees their upstate New York home. She finds sanctuary in a well-appointed Connecticut house where she is hired to nurse stroke victim Alma Ogilvie, formerly the independent-minded director of a girls school. But Bobby's presence brings out the worst in Alma's sharp-tongued, judgmental niece, Eva Rule, a novelist who disdains Bobby and--blaming the victim--thinks the woman is perhaps responsible for her own abuse. It becomes apparent, though, that Bobby revives painful memories in Eva of her old friend Deborah; gradually, Allen seamlessly weaves Deborah's tragic story into that of the three women's burgeoning relationship. Hovering (far too melodramatically) in the background is the psychopathic Joe, ever on Bobby's trail. Complex and sharply delineated characters merge with often compelling prose as Allen portrays three uncertain women finding some degree of resolve. In addition to her adroit integration of information about the battered wife syndrome, Allen includes a list of North American organizations that aid victims of domestic violence.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Kirkus Reviews

Veteran novelist Allen (Leftover Dreams, 1992, etc.) now offers an ultimately feel-good tale about the successful rehabilitation of a severely battered woman who, with her child, is aided by three generations of women. Bobby knows she must escape vicious husband Joe before he kills their six-year-old daughter, Penny. With her bruised and swollen face, she drives frantically from their upstate New York home to a well-to-do Connecticut enclave--and providentially is taken on as a nurse/companion to elderly stroke victim Alma. (Alma is intrigued by bright Penny, but the child's chatter may be wearying to the reader--and Bobby, who regularly uses ``real'' as an adverb but who admits to reading all of Dickens, shifts in and out of focus.) Both Alma and her novelist daughter Eva have doubts about the two, but Bobby is remarkably able, and it's soon obvious that both Bobby and Penny are essential to Alma's health and spirits. Eva, meanwhile, in disturbing reveries (all characters tip the cards of personal histories at one point) comes to grips with traumatic memories of the death of a dear friend, by her husband, and with internal battles concerning the claims of art vs. moola for commercial fiction. Eva tends to be curt with Bobby, but then her college-age daughter, Melissa, arrives for Christmas, and before long all the women are intensely important to one another. And there are good men--good, good men--around. Just when the happy household seems solidified, however, in comes Joe--armed, dangerous, and lunatic.... A cautionary tale, but with a cheerful domestic overcast as a victim is given back her life, and there's plenty of information concerning the battered-wife syndrome. Topical and, oddly, commercially comfy. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Mira (April 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1551668564
• ISBN-13: 978-1551668567
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,431,000 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Charlotte Vale-Allen was born in Toronto and lived in England from 1961 to 1964 where she worked as a television actress and singer. She returned to Toronto briefly, performing as a singer until she emigrated to the US in 1966. She sold her first novel Love Life in 1974. Prior to this book's publication she contracted to do a series of paperback originals, with the result that in 1976 three of her books appeared in print. Her autobiography, the acclaimed Daddy's Girl, was actually the first book she wrote but it wasn't until 1980, after she'd gained success as a novelist, that the groundbreaking book was finally published. One of Canada's most successful novelists, with over seven million copies sold of her 39 books, Ms. Allen's work has been published in all English-speaking countries, in Braille, and have been translated into more than 20 languages. The mother of an adult daughter and grandmother of twins, since 1970 she has made her home in Connecticut.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Inspiring Read, September 1, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Dreaming In Color (Paperback)

I really enjoyed reading this book from the first page to the last. Not only did it capture my attention immediately,but I connected with the characters as though they were my friends. I couldn't put it down!
I'm really tired of reading trivia. I don't feel justified in taking the time to read a book if I don't learn something. Charlotte Vale Allen set the stage in "Dreaming in Color" so we could identify the atrocities of abuse from the perspective of each character (including the child, Penny).
Kudos to the author. Not only did I learn something, but I will be more understanding of abused women in the future.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Incredible book, August 5, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Dreaming In Color (Paperback)

I read this book in two days. It was well-written with execellent character development. I highly recommend it, but don't start it unless you have plenty of time to read, you won't want to put it down!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Thought Provoking, September 9, 2001

By 

Mo Addams "Mo Addams" (Terra Firma - USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dreaming In Color (Paperback)

Although Charlotte Vale Allen's books all seem to be marketed as romance novels, I find them to be deeper and more thought provoking than that. Her characters are interesting, and once she gives you a sense of who her characters are, they remain consistent throughout. That doesn't make them predictable; that makes them genuinely interesting people. The details of the plot have already been discussed, and I have nothing to add to what's been said. I do, however, want to applaud Charlotte Vale Allen for consistently providing credible stories with diverse and interesting characters. I particularly liked DREAMING IN COLOR because of its focus on women who are very different people but who come to care very much for each other. Allen's unrelated women form a family that serves to bond them together in a special way.