October Wind [Paperback]

Susan Wiggs (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 576 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (June 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812516818
• ISBN-13: 978-0812516814
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,280,708 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Susan Wiggs's life is all about family, friends...and fiction. She lives at the water's edge on an island in Puget Sound, and she commutes to her writers' group in a 17-foot motorboat. She's been featured in the national media, including NPR's "Talk of the Nation," and is a popular speaker locally and nationally.

When her recent novel, FIRESIDE, hit #1 on the New York Times, the author reportedly reacted to the news by "putting on my lipstick and sweeping the patio." Why? Because she knew that within a matter of minutes, her girlfriends would show up to pop the bubbly and help her celebrate. [Update: FIRESIDE has been chosen of one of Amazon.com's Top Ten Romances of 2009.]

According to Publishers Weekly, Wiggs writes with "refreshingly honest emotion," and the Salem Statesman Journal adds that she is "one of our best observers of stories of the heart [who] knows how to capture emotion on virtually every page of every book." Booklist characterizes her books as "real and true and unforgettable." She is the recipient of three RITA (sm) awards and four starred reviews from Publishers Weekly for her books. Her books make frequent appearances on Amazon's "best of" lists. Several of her novels have been listed as Indie Next picks and optioned as feature films. Her novels have been translated into more than two dozen languages and have made national bestseller lists, including the USA Today, Washington Post and New York Times lists.

The author is a former teacher, a Harvard graduate, an avid hiker, an amateur photographer, a good skier and terrible golfer, yet her favorite form of exercise is curling up with a good book.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Should be classifed as historical fiction, not historical romance, March 22, 2006

By 

Gemma "bookworm" (Alberta, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: October Wind (Paperback)

From the back cover:

A sweeping, unforgettable story of romance, intrigue--and the greatest voyage ever made.

The dreamer...
He believed he could reach the fabulous Indies by sailing West.

The queen...
She ruled a kingdom--but he offered her a new world.

The grandee...
His guilty secret made him a target for the Spanish Inquisition--and lost him the woman he loved.

Together, they planned a voyage of discovery that many said was impossible. After heartbreaking years of intrigue and perseverance, beset by scheming courtiers and haunted by the specter of the Spanish Inquisition, Columbus and his band of adventurers finally set sail in three tiny ships, borne on an October Wind...

And my review:

I bought this book simply because it had Susan Wiggs' name on the cover. But it is a far different kind of book when compared to her newer works, like "The Firebrand" or "The Mistress."

I give this book three stars, as I recognize just how much work must have gone into it. The research she has done is amazing. But I do not think that this should be classified as a historical romance. It should be called historical fiction, as the romance part of it sits on the back burner for most of the book.

I greatly enjoy history, but do not consider myself an expert on the subject, so I cannot attest as to how accurate this book is. If this had been a movie, I probably would have been glued to the screen. But as a book, it was a bit too daunting for me. I wanted a romance, and this just wasn't what I was looking for.

This is a book for history buffs, not avid romance readers. I recommend it for the former group, but not for the latter one.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining novel!, October 24, 2003

By 

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

This review is from: October Wind (Paperback)

I am not quite so sure how historically accurate this book is ~~ but I don't care! The lavish descriptions of life inside Queen Isabella's court, the crusades against the Moors, the Inquisitions, true love found and lost, dreams broken and renewed ~~ this is the stuff made of dreams ~~ that comes true and sometimes, lost.

It is not only a story about Christopher Columbus and his pursuit to find a new way to the Indies; it is also a story about a Grandee who finds out a secret that would damn him in the Inquisitions courts and as a result, he loses his true love. It is also a story about a gypsy, a mapmaker/scribe, the woman they both love; it is a story about Christopher Columbus' love and family ~~ it is a story about life.

Wiggs writes with a lavish detail of the Spanish life and of Isabella's dream that she shares with Columbus. It tells of Columbus cooling his heels at the court for 7 long years. It tells of his despair that his dreams will never be realized. It talks of Santiago, the gypsy roamer and his best friend, Rafael. It tells of their love for Catalina, a doctor.

It is a wonderful book to escape into ~~ but while it is entertaining like most historical fictions are ~~ I am dubious to all the facts being accurate. But other than that, it's a great read to while away a long wintery afternoon!

10-23-03

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars fact and supposition blend for a good story, March 18, 2002

By 

Sandra L Myrick (Denver, Colorado United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: October Wind (Paperback)

Anyone who is interested in Christopher Columbus will find this a fun and interesting story. It takes the reader on a journey before CC sailed for the Americas. With fictional characters to add spice and life the author shows the unwavering determination of CC to fullfill his vision of sailing to a new land. If you believe as many that CC knew he was not setting sail to find a new west indies route but rather a completely yet undiscovered land, this story will give you some food for thought into the mind set of CC.