Senator North [Paperback]

Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2004

The load of care had lifted itself and gone. She had done the right thing, the momentous question was settled for the present, and Betty Madison had merely to shake her shoulders and enjoy life again. She threw open the window and let in the sun. There had been a rain-storm in the night and then a severe frost. The ice glistened on the naked trees, encasing and jewelling them. A park near by looked as if the crystal age of the world had come. The bronze equestrian statue within that little wood of radiant trees alone defied the ice-storm, as if the dignity of the death it represented rebuked the lavish hand of Nature.

Product Details

• Paperback: 260 pages
• Publisher: Kessinger Publishing (June 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 141914667X
• ISBN-13: 978-1419146671
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A novel about a Washington romance, March 9, 2006

By 

Bomojaz (South Central PA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Senator North (Paperback)

Using Washington society and the dealings of Congress around the time of the Spanish-American War as her backdrop, Gertrude Atherton has written a love story involving the young Betty Madison and the elderly (and married) Senator North. Mrs. North is an invalid and Betty and Senator North spend a good deal of time alone together and in the halls of Congress as their love blossoms. In the meantime, another senator, Robert Burleigh, also falls in love with her. Assuming things are hopeless between her and North, she accepts Burleigh's proposal of marriage. But, of course, does anyone doubt what happens next? Mrs. North dies, leaving the door open for North and Betty to love honorably and marry, which they do. Atherton is good enough a writer to keep the romance between North and Betty from becoming sordid (Betty's having a very sensible and trusting mother helps greatly). Some scenes are a bit hard to swallow, as, for instance, the life-like dream North has where he encounters Alexander Hamilton and they debate the fate of the republic. But Atherton also has some very clever things to say about the workings of Congress: how Senators are endlessly "tormented by lobbyists" and tempted by bribes is particularly apt. Her dialogue is her strong suit, and the novel as a whole is not bad at all.