Customer Reviews

The Hearth and Eagle

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

 

 

Marblehead today is a yuppie heaven; shiny SUVs ply the tree-lined streets, and over-ample pseudo-colonial mansions crowd their small lots. North of Boston, "Marblehead" has become a synonym for "posh" and "snotty". This is ironic, for I remember it in my childhood, half a century ago, a rough town of drinkers, cursers, and womanizers who didn't give a damn for any outsider's opinion. Marbleheaders could be recognized anywhere by their accent and by certain `code' words. I still think of it in my imagination, strong as the New England rocks that line the shores, the rain dripping into the narrow lanes off the now long-gone elms, mournful seagull cries over the shingled roofs of odd wooden houses by the harbor. That was the Marblehead I knew, full of fields, woods, ponds, and small farms; wildflowers and butterflies; pale red starfish in the tidal pools. Yeah, it's gone now. It's just a shadow of that raffish self.

But if you want to know what it was, if you want to capture the flavor of this, my beloved home, be sure to read THE HEARTH AND EAGLE, which takes you from early colonial days, when Marblehead was a rowdy offshoot of serious Salem, to the 1920s. I won't advise you that this is the best novel you'll ever read, but for sure it is the best one ever written about this town. If you've read it, you'll practically be able to find your way around the winding streets that always lead down to the sea. The author did her research while living at 30 Franklin Street, which her imagination turned into an inn by the name of the title. She may not have been a local, but she certainly captured the flavor of town and depicted a long stretch of Marblehead history through the lives of her characters. If my description grabs you, get hold of this book. Then come visit the town and see how it's changed.

This book is the story of the Honeyman family of Marblehead, Massachusetts. It follows them from their original trip to Marblehead from England with the Winthrop ships in the 17th century to the early 20th century and their inn, The Hearth and Eagle. I have to admit being confused at first as to whom the story was about, as the book started in the mid 19th century, then flashed back to the 17th century and back again. There were so many references to other Honeymans, that I wasn't sure if there were going to be more flashbacks to tell those stories. There weren't, the main focus of the story is Hesper from her childhood through her marriages and her children, and most importantly about the town of Marblehead and its quirky characters and history.

While Seton's research and writing are impeccable as always, I would only recommend this for die-hard Seton fans or for those interested in reading about the history and characters of Marblehead. Honestly, I just couldn't get that enthralled with Hesper's story; it just wasn't that interesting for me. I recommend you get this from the library first, and then if you love it, buy it. Three stars, but a gorgeous new cover.

Anya Seton outdoes herself. This book is so beautifully written. It takes us from the sixteenth century to the 20th century. Sailing from England and arriving in Marblehead, Massachusetts. The heartaches and the pathos .. the wonderment of a new place. She shows Marblehead as the wonderful place it is and how it survived through fires...how the men were lost at sea and we see the poor families and the wealthy...all interwoven into a book one cannot put down.

Hesper Honeywood's family has lived in Marblehead and run the Hearth and Eagle pub ever since the town's founding around the 1630s, and she has grown up listening to her father extol the family's rich history. Now, at the inception of the Civil War, her simple life is about to change when a local wise woman tells her future for a few coppers: She will have three men in her life, but she will know nothing but heartbreak.

This is definitely not one of Seton's best works. Frankly, I didn't buy into Hester's relationships given the reader's introduction to her personality in initial chapters - especially with Porterman, whose relationship is particularly disturbing with nothing leading up to their marriage (they are just suddenly together). Seton is talented, but this book was not satisfying.

I am only twelve, but I found this book fabulous! Although put into easily read text, The Hearth and Eagle is a complex and extremly enjoyable book. My mother has lived in Marblehead for a good period of her life, and it has always been to me a funky kind of town. However, after reading this book, I realised how spirited 'Headers have always been. While reading it during school, the people sitting near me would continually roll their eyes as I proceeded to make endless faces and gasps, totally absorbed in the book!

This book captures all the details of Marblehead's unique history in memorable characterizations. Reading Hearth and Eagle will make those not blessed with an address in Marblehead long to visit and experience this unique stetting for themselves. A wonderful read. I could not put it down. My copy has been passed through half of Marblehead's residents!

This book is the story of the Honeyman family of Marblehead, Massachusetts. It follows them from their original trip to Marblehead from England with the Winthrop ships in the 17th century to the early 20th century and their inn, The Hearth and Eagle. I have to admit being confused at first as to whom the story was about, as the book started in the mid 19th century, then flashed back to the 17th century and back again. There were so many references to other Honeymans, that I wasn't sure if there were going to be more flashbacks to tell those stories. There weren't, the main focus of the story is Hesper from her childhood through her marriages and her children, and most importantly about the town of Marblehead and its quirky characters and history.

While Seton's research and writing are impeccable as always, I would only recommend this for die-hard Seton fans or for those interested in reading about the history and characters of Marblehead. Honestly, I just couldn't get that enthralled with Hesper's story; it just wasn't that interesting for me. I recommend you get this from the library first, and then if you love it, buy it. Three stars.

I first read The Hearth and the Eagle in 1965. I was already familiar with Marblehead, as a major attraction for Northshore teenagers in the early sixties was King's Rook Coffeehouse.

The Hearth and the Eagle was the first Historic Fiction I read...the precursor of many, many hours spent in other times and places.

Visiting the town, after reading the book, and climbing up to the cemetery with the monument to fishermen lost to the Grand Banks, I found familiar names, as Seton used many Marblehead family names in her novel. I wonder if the cemetery still has that eerie quality about it, as if all that history, all those brave men, are still there, overlooking the sea which provided their livelihood.

I visited Marblehead, last summer, for the first time in more than thirty years. Where is the Marblehead I remember? This town is only remotely familiar. It's changed from a genuine Yankee seashore town to a Disneyesque version of one.

I just ordered a copy of The Hearth and the Eagle...as I need to reinforce the memory of what had always been one of my favorite places. Times change...but, fortunately, not the written word.

I recommend this book to anyone looking for history and romance all wrapped up in the bow of a unique, remarkable Massachusetts town.

'The Hearth and Eagle' is a story about a house in a Maine fishing village that is handed down from generation to generation, from the first settlers of the Winthrop expedition through the mid 1800's when the story begins. The story is written about the family that built and lived in the house, the life and death struggles that they faced there, and how those struggles imbued the house with character and gave it strength. Anya Seton uses the main character, Hesper, to personify this conflict and put it in the context of one lifetime. We meet Hesper when she is a child and a storm takes the life of her two brothers who are fishing off the Grand Banks, but she and the rest of her family are safe in the house. The story then takes kind of an odd turn and goes back to tell the story of Phebe and Mark Honeywood and details the building of the house, and how it came to be used as an inn. We then return to the story of Hesper when she is 16 and follow her life from that point until the end of the book and the end of her life.
I am never sure what I am going to get when I pick up one of Anya Seton's books. I loved 'Katherine' and 'Green Darknes', 'My Theodosia' and 'The Winthrop Woman' were also very good, but she didn't always develop her characters enough and sometimes the stories are too disjointed to follow. The Hearth and Eagle is a good read, but there are a lot of seemingly random segueways into the past or into another character that either don't belong to the story or weren't followed far enough to weave them into the fabric of Hesper's life. One example of a random backstory is the sea voyage of Mark and Phebe, it doesn't add anything to the story or really give the reader much insight into those characters. Those pages could have been dedicated to better establishing the relationship between Hesper and Johnnie, you never get any real understanding of her feelings for him or his for her, or even why they were drawn to each other in the first place.
All in all, I liked the book. There are certain writer's who despite any technical flaws, have a beautiful written voice and Anya Seton is one of those. At the end of The hearth and Eagle, the story does come together somewhat and you can feel Hesper's strength and the love of her heritage.

I absolutely loved Anya Seton's "The Winthrop Woman," so I had high hopes for this novel, which takes place in 19th century Marblehead, MA. Today, Marblehead is a wealthy Boston suburb, but in former days it was a gritty fishing village.

Alas, "The Hearth and Eagle" was a pretty blah book. For some reason, Hesper never really seemed to come alive for me; her character seemed just sort of strange and annoying. I was much more drawn in by the flashback to her 17th century ancestors, who were among Marblehead's first colonists. Seton would have done better to simply write their story instead.