Customer Reviews

The Tory Widow

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This novel was a fascinating portrait of a widow fighting to maintain her independence and also an in depth portrait of one of the Colonies greatest ports (New York City)during the Revolutionary War.

The story of Anne has been described already. I would just say that I found Jack to be a rather unsympathetic hero. He came across as being very inconsiderate at times to the point of being shallow. The author never gave a clear reason why Jack left Anne and Sally alone for eight months in New York City when it was occupied by the British. But for me that was unconscienable. I liked both Anne and Sally and felt that their characters were well-written and very believable. I even felt sorry for the British Captain who fell in love with Anne.

The indepth picture of New York City as it was passed from Patriot hands into Loyalist occupation fascinated me the most. This novel is a rich historical giving a vivid and emotional picture of the plight of this great city and its inhabitants during the Revolution. The story is filled with interesting characters from both sides of the war. I was especially pleased to read in the Epilogues that so many of these characters in the book were taken from real life. This author did her research well and thus produced a novel that will stay with you long after you finish reading it.

I will definitely be looking for her next novel with great anticipation. if you are looking for a vivid and accurate portrayal of New York City during The Revolutionay War this is the book to buy.

If you like a little romance mixed in with your historical fiction, you will enjoy this book.

The setting is Colonial US in the 1700's. Our heroine is plucky survivor. She has survived marriage to an older husband and the death of a child. She runs her own business and despite changes in the poltical climate manages to adapt to her circumstances.

Having said that there are a few cliches:

1.Determined plucky heroine

2.Prostitute with heart of gold who also loves the hero and dies, thus leaving the path clear for our heroine

3.Red haired Scottish girl friend with a brogue and a heart of gold

4.Freed slave with a heart of gold

5.Ugly,older first husband with hair in his ear!

6.Dark haired, devil may care hero

7.Mean father who wants to sell his daughter to the highest bidder for his personal gain

Despite, the above cliches, the prose is well written and the story will suck you in, so be warned to start reading it when you have plenty of time on your hands.

My only complaint was that I actually like the English soldier(villain), Blankenship, better than the hero. He was a gentleman throughout. He evens quotes poetry to her when he asks her to sleep with him! I did not think he deserved the end he received. Also I wonder if the ending leaves open a possible sequel.

Overall an enjoyable book. I enjoyed it more than the author's other novel Midwife of the Blue Ridge.

The Tory Widow, the second book by Christine Blevins, is quite simply an excellent read. Following the story of a young, widowed, woman who is running a printing press in revolutionary New York. The book weaves a intriguing tale of adventure and romance in the most troubled of times.

In my opinion one of the most interesting themes in the book is that Anne and Jack. Although these two characters are pivotal in the fact that theirs is the central love story I found it refreshing that their story was not so cut and dry, as love rarely is. Personal goals complicate things, betrayal and misplaced loyalty scar the relationship and these elementals, while not always making the story a pretty one, definitely add substance to the overall message of the book.

when it comes down to it The Tory Widow is a supremely exciting read, the author on every page demonstrates a strong commitment to historical accuracy through what must have been months, if not years, of diligent research. The characters are flawed in most human of ways making it easy for readers to sympathize with. And for this new author ( Her first book being Midwife of the Blueridge) it is apparent that she is finding a truly enjoyable writing style and direction of her own, I cannot wait to see what she produces next.

The Tory Widow is a great summer read

and to the author; well done

Anne Peabody is married off to Mr. Merrick, a man twice her age, by her greedy father. On her wedding day, a young printer named Jack Hampton impulsively kisses her, carried away by the revolutionary spirit inspired by the repeal of the Stamp Act. It's her best memory of that otherwise dismal day. Jump forward ten years. It's 1776. Anne is now a widow and working to make ends meet in New York with her loyal friends Sally, a Scottish indentured servant, and Titus, a free black man. She encounters Jack again, this time a more somber Son of Liberty. As the events of the Revolutionary War unfold, so does Anne and Jack's romantic adventure.

The Tory Widow is a historical novel with a very healthy dose of romance. The plot is compelling. The writing is unobtrusive. And the research appears to me to be impeccable. And the characters! I really liked Anne, Jack, and the rest of the cast of characters. And yet, I just wasn't as invested in their fates as I felt I should be. Also, there was a fair amount of bawdiness. The language, in particular, made me pause a couple of times. And, I know this is a romance, but sometimes it was hard to suspend disbelief that a widow in revolutionary times would be so . . . free with her virtue. If you know what I mean. All of that aside, though, this is a well researched, well-written, well-paced historical romance.

it really kept me interested- i docked it a star ONLY because once again an author cut a story- to me- mid story and didnt even tie up loose ends on that epilouge. because of that i'm hoping there will be a continuing story/novel finishing the war and Anne's story. i do highly recommend this book.

I enjoyed "The Tory Widow" so much that I had to see if there was going to be a second installment in Anne and Jack's adventures and there will be! I am so excited to see the story continue.

This is a great story with inspiring characters that you really care about. If you enjoy historical fiction then this is a book for you.

I'll let the other reviewers summarize the plot of "The Tory Widow" much better than I could and stick to critique.

"The Tory Widow" boasts a largely satisfying, sufficiently complex plot that keeps the reader turning pages (despite a slightly-too-long description of the British flanking maneuvers during the Battle of Long Island). Readers will feel the growing tension as the main characters dive deeper and deeper into danger in Revolutionary War New York City.

The characters, however, left me rather cold. Yes, Jack and Ann are passionately devoted to the cause of freedom--but why? There is one mention that Ann sees America's struggle to be free as a larger version of her own struggle to maintain her independence as a widow, but that idea is never fully developed. And we never understand why Jack became and remains a Son of Liberty. If they're going to risk their lives for a cause, we should understand their motivations in order to care more.

Similarly treated is Jack and Ann's attraction. Yes, he saves her life at one point, but why else would they fall in love (besides mere proximity)? The same can be said for the other lovers, Ann's servant and her brother. And even the British officer who falls in love with Ann while a boarder in her home. What are the roots of the passions that drive these people?

But it's a good (not great) read. The intrigue is exciting, the romance is slightly less tepid than the one in "The Midwife of the Blue Ridge", and the historical detail is very interesting (despite one clanging anachronism in which a turncoat is described as a "quisling"--a word coined during World War II).

Also, the Kindle version was very poorly laid out. Paragraphs were separated by a double space--at first I thought the double space signalled a scene change, and it took quite a while to get used to the distracting format.

New York, 1766. Anne Peabody suffers the fate of most daughters - married off by her father, to an old prosperous printer for some print type, printer press parts and 10 reams of paper. The day of her wedding happens to be the day the Stamp Act was repealed and the bells are ringing in the streets and people are rejoicing! All Anne could do is try to forget the day before it's even ended...and she would have, had it not been for the kiss of a stranger.

Jump ahead seven years and we find Anne a widow, running her late husband's printing shop. The American Revolution is heating up and pretty soon the British will be invading. Anne is doing what she can to persevere, staying neutral and quietly carrying on with her business. One night, the Sons of Liberty destroy her printing press and she is forced to revamp her business into a coffee house. Anne is quite clever and as the winds of leadership change around her, she and her coffee house must acclimate.

Anne stays out of politics for the most part, although she is on the side of the Patriots. All this changes when she meets up again with the stranger who kissed her on her wedding day, Jack Hampton, a member of the Sons of Liberty. She is soon caught up in his cause for independence, even trying her hand at a little espionage. Blevins creates some really great characters that you instantly take a liking to - Sally being my favorite!

Oddly enough, for being an American, I don't find American history all that interesting, but The Tory Widow has proved me wrong! The story has great flow and keeps the readers' attention throughout - there's a little romance, a little fighting, a few prostitutes and some great friendships. The Tory Widow is definitely a novel that I enthusiastically recommend to all of you! And here's the good news - the ending suggests the story of The Tory Widow is not quite over yet!

In 1766 in New York Jack Hampton, excited to hear of the appeal of the Stamp Act, kisses Anne Peabody. Although she enjoyed the kiss, nothing can come of it. She has no say as her father Amos saves his failing Peabody Printshop and keeps his son from becoming someone else's apprentice by selling her. He negotiates a deal with NYC based super printer to the carriage crowd Peter Merrick forcing his daughter to marry his friend, a man his age.

Living in New York, when he dies, Widow Merrick finds herself in dire straits. She takes over her late spouse's printing business, which spouts support to Tory causes in an attempt to make a living. However, in 1775, the Sons of Liberty destroy her press. Anne reopens as the Liberty Coffeehouse with one of the rebels who devastated her previous store Jack Hampton as her best customer. Having never been in love, Anne is stunned by her attraction to Jack; he believes he is falling for her based on the amount of coffee he consumes.

This is a refreshing look at the early days of the American Revolution from the eyes of a young widow eking out a living. Anna owns the insightful story line with her courage to survive regardless of who controlled the city. Jack is a super patriot, but allows his zeal at times to hurt innocent people like Anna though he insists collateral damage is part of any freedom fight. Christine Blevins provides an engaging American Revolution romance that sub-genre fans who especially value historical tidbits and strong characterizations will relish.

Harriet Klausner

I really wanted to like this book, and it certainly had its moments, but overall I just couldn't get into the story. The best parts were the insights into life in Colonial New York, but the aggravating characters, insipid dialogue, and implausible coincidences made finishing this book a chore. The author's occasional efforts at period speech were stiff and added nothing to this already struggling narrative. The book was way too long, and then ended by setting up the obvious sequel, a tactic I generally find irritating as it undermines any sense of completion in the work. In this case, I was so glad to get to the last page, I didn't even care that much about the foreshadowing, especially as I have no plans to read more about these characters.

All in all, the interactions between Jack and Anne read more like a teenaged romance than a serious work of historical fiction, and I couldn't see any real basis for their "relationship". I can see how this book would translate into a movie script because I suspect the big action scenes would play better on the screen than on the page. A disappointing read about an interesting period in U.S. history, one that is often ignored in fiction.