From Fields of Gold [Audiobook] [Audio Cassette]

Ripley (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 1994

The stories of an enigmatic tycoon's pursuit of success and a woman who harbors torrid secrets are combined to create a breathtaking tale of scandal. 2 cassettes.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In her first novel since the blockbuster Scarlett, Ripley offers a lively historical about Southern romance and robber barony. As the 19th century draws to a close, Francesca (Chess) Standish, the drab daughter of an old, once wealthy Virginia family, meets handsome Nathaniel (Nate) Richardson, a struggling North Carolina tobacco farmer with lofty dreams. Though Nate is seven years her junior, Chess thinks he's her only opportunity for happiness. So she persuades him to marry her in exchange for the patent on her grandfather's cigarette manufacturing machine-an invention certain to revolutionize the tobacco industry and make its owner rich. Nate, who values ambition over emotion, agrees and, taking Chess home to his hardscrabble family farm and disapproving mother, sets about transforming himself into a cigarette tycoon. Although Chess is passionately in love with her new husband, he believes that "ladies only put up with" sex, so, while his sexual relations with her remain cold and mechanical, he indulges himself with a series of mistresses, including his brother's scheming wife. Only after Chess is long married and on a visit to England does she prove her husband wrong-in the arms of her cousin, the rakish Lord Randall "Mephisto" Standish. Despite a labored start and the lack of development of several pivotal characters and plot lines, Ripley's feisty heroine and vivid re-creation of the era (there are glimpses of contemporary celebrities including Lillie Langtry and Oscar Wilde) should prove irresistible to readers-or at least to those not put off by protagonists who make their fortunes by nearly singlehandedly creating the cigarette industry. 200,000 first printing; Literary Guild main selection; Doubleday Book Club Super Release; major ad/promo.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

From the writer who was brave-or foolish-enough to attempt a sequel to Margaret Mitchell's Gone with the Wind (Scarlett, 1990) comes this tale of a wealthy, "ethically challenged" tobacco baron and the woman he loves.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Audio Cassette
• Publisher: Audioworks (December 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671505521
• ISBN-13: 978-0671505523
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #7,188,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Golden!, July 13, 2001

By 

"lmarmarmar" - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Fields of Gold (Mass Market Paperback)

Alexandra Ripley is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. From Scarlett, to On Leaving Charleston, and now From Fields of Gold, Mrs. Ripley has certainly gotten my attention. If you love an author who can mix drama, passion, humor, and reality with broad strokes of historical detail and intriguing dialogue then you'll love her novels. This one in particular tells the story of a lonely woman, Chess, from the post-Civil War ruins of tidewater Virginia who is so desperate for companionship that she agrees to give her grandfather's patent on a cigarette machine to a man that will agree to marry her and give her children. Boyishly handsome and crudely competitive Nate is the man that takes the deal and leads Chess into a life of triumph and turmoil. Follow Chess as she fails and succeeds in the attempt at finding her true spirit among all of her trials and tribulations. Ripley gives you a character with the strength and passion of Scarlett O'Hara, but the honor and heart of Melanie Wilkes.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Good Book About the South, April 25, 2000

By 

Martha - See all my reviews

This review is from: From Fields of Gold (Mass Market Paperback)

This was a very good historical novel with likable characters and for the most part an intriguing plot. I never knew that Southerners and the English could be so scandalous! Chess is one of my favorites heroines ever, and Nate was interesting as well. I was so pleased with the ending, and any reader will be as well. I was a little displeased with Chess's behavior with Randall, not because she was having an affair, but with the utter consumption it had over her. And that Lily, wow, typical religious child gone wrong. Personally, I thought Ripley's Scarlett was superior, but I plan on reading her novels in the future.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lively read, September 21, 2004

By 

Busy Mom (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: From Fields of Gold (Mass Market Paperback)

I have read all of Ripley's books ~~ Charleston, Leaving Charleston, Scarlett and so on ~~ and while this book is a good read, it isn't her best book. I do miss her historical in-depth of her characters and where they reside. I love history and miss it in this novel. However, this is an exciting book based on exciting times after the Civil War and just before the end of the 1800s. Nate Richardson has dreams ~~ big dreams of getting out of the tobacco fields in North Carolina and manufacture cigarettes and strike it rich. Chess (Francesa) Standish's grandfather has a machine that isn't patented and agreed to give it to Nate ~~ and Chess offered herself as part of the bargain ~~ as his partner and wife. Chess is thirty years old and fears she'd never get married. Nate was her only chance.

Together, they created an empire that builds a town and builds their name across the Alantic to London where they eventually traveled to. In spite of Nate's affairs, the couple are happy together but it takes another man for Chess' affections to get Nate to come around and fall in love with his wife.

It's an interesting novel ~~ very glittery and stylish. It does lack substance in some ways, but it's still a good read. It's not my favorite read of the year but it's enjoyable enough that I will recommend it to others.

9-21-04