Customer Reviews

Gwen Bristow's Plantation Trilogy

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I have re-read Gwen Bristow's books for close to 30 years, and never tire of them. "Plantation Trilogy" combines three separate, yet linked stories. "Deep Summer", "The Handsome Road", and "This Side of Glory". Absolutely wonderful reading, beginning in the 1700's and carrying through to the early 1900's, a tale of families, their relatives, lives, adventure, romance, history, and the best reading you will ever find. When you pick up a Gwen Bristow book, you never want to put it down...no matter how many times you've read it. Exciting, imaginative characters that bring the old south to life! Never pass up a chance to read this lady's books,she brings you into the time, the place, and the characters. This is 812 pages of pure joy, from start to finish.

I first read the three titles that are combined in PLANTATION TRILOGY when I was in high school. I loved the time periods, the location and the stories. After re-reading the books again as an adult, the time periods and the locations were still favorites but the characters now held my interest. Ms.Bristow is able to capture nuances of good and bad that is recognizable in each person. No one is completely wise and pure, motives aren't always the best and evil can come in many forms. Beginning in the 1700s and the settlement of Louisiana, the different ethnic groups that contributed to the society and the different attitudes of those who settled in that country, give the reader a firm foundation of what is to come. The Larnes are the plantation class and the Upjohns are working class but in DEEP SUMMER you understand how they share a common ancestor and the beginnings of the differences in the two parts of Louisiana society. HANDSOME ROAD continues the story into the Civil War and it's aftermath. How each family reacts to the upheaval of the war, not only in economic ways, but in attitudes toward each other. THIS SIDE OF GLORY brings both families into the 20th century where the Larnes and the Upjohns finally come to terms with what has been a 100-year battle to understand each other. The two traditions are keenly explained in the third book when one of the characters thinks that she is doing something nice
by removing the dent in a silver teapot that had been damaged in the Civil War and doesn't understand why others are hurt and angered by the gesture. Understanding comes slowly for both sides. Throughout the three titles, the Mississippi River is a constant reminder of what can and can't be changed. Its influence on the families is a major part of each book. In all of the books, the characters are believable, the conversations sound real and the outcomes of actions ring true. Realizing that the books were first written in the 1940s is startling because the attitudes and comments are contemporary. At the end of the last book, Kester Larne and Eleanor Upjohn blend the two families into a stronger tradition than either could have done individually. It is a long road to get there but you will enjoy riding with them.

i read the triology for the first time when i was a teenager, since then i have read each book many times. it takes the reader back to the 1700 and ends in the early 1900, a story of two very different families who's paths keep crossing for better, for worse and finally for the better again. The story takes place in the old south, is full of southern bells, rich and poor, romance and tragedy. It shows how the people of both families handle what life has prepared for all of them, good and bad. In every page you can feel the warmth of the sun, see the plantation rise,fall and rise again. And you might find yourself fall for this excelent triology and for all the characters in it.