From Publishers Weekly
Adler ( Fortune Is a Woman ) keeps her latest, ingeniously plotted saga fairly racing toward its conclusion. In 1883, Lily Molyneux, daughter of a noble Irish family, is raped by the scion of an equally prominent family. Pregnant and afraid that she will be forced to marry her molester, she names as the father the lowly stableboy Finn O'Keeffe, hoping that she will then be allowed to remain unwed. But her plan backfires: Lily is banished and Finn and his brother Daniel must flee for their lives. All three find themselves on the same boat to America. Their heady and romantic adventures unfold against a panorama of Irish country estates, squalid Boston slums and the New York City bustle of Broadway and Wall Street. The author brackets this turn-of-the-century drama with a present-day mystery: real-estate tycoon Bob Keeffe, Finn's descendant, has died of a gunshot wound and been ruled a suicide. His daughter, however, is sure that he was murdered, and she reaches back into the past for clues. Spiced with betrayal, revenge, lust and scandal, this is an intoxicating brew, served with panache. Literary Guild and Doub le day Book Club selections.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
From Kirkus Reviews
In a narrative that purrs like a Rolls, Adler (Fortune is a Woman, The Property of a Lady, etc.) once again weaves and spins her story threads so skillfully that the aged pop-dynasty staples- -dust to diamonds, coincidental meetings, one-shot pregnancies-- meld into the relentlessly charming surrounds. The wildly tangled fortunes of the doughty O'Keeffe boys, Dan and Finn, and exquisite Lily of the titled Molyneux family are revealed--Arabian Nights-fashion--by ancient Maudie Molyneux in the fine old family house (``Ardnavarna'') in Connemara, Ireland. Maudie's audience is composed of two young people new to her- -orphaned Shannon O'Keeffe, who's certain that her father, Bob, a rich American powerbroker, has been murdered; and Eddie Sheridan, who's also from the States and eager for connection. The clues that both found in old cottages in Nantucket have brought them to Ardnavarna. Maudie, who dresses for dinner every evening in her 1920's-30's-style Schiaparellis and Diors, slowly reveals the personality of the beautiful Lily Molyneux, Maudie's late aunt. In Ireland, Lily's hasty cruelties mean banishment for Dan, as well as for Finn, whom she has begun to love, and her reckless pursuit of a rotter causes a pregnancy and a never-darken-this-door-again edict from Lord Molyneux. It's off to America then, where the brothers eventually float upward--to the top in Boston business and politics--and where Lily is rescued by adoring actor Ned Sheridan, has a baby, suffers, marries twice, produces another child--and, meanwhile, guess who lives just around the corner? While three men deal with Lily's lure, the Molyneux family--back in the auld country--disintegrates. Thanks to Maudie in the present, the family trees are espaliered for plain viewing--before she and an ancient housekeeper travel to the States to to confront a killer. A peppering of teasing secrets in a mix of favorite pop gimmicks--by one of the more accomplished plotsters and tellers of tales. (Literary Guild Dual Selection for October) --
Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
