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17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A poignant, beautifully-written story, August 24, 2009
This review is from: The Turquoise (Rediscovered Classics) (Paperback)
I first read The Turquoise several years ago, and just read it again. Luckily I didn't remember much about it from the first time around (except the vague notion that it was a really good story), so I was able to enjoy it anew.
The story traces the life of Santa Fe Cameron Dillon Tower and, unlike many of Anya Seton's works, none of the main characters were actual people --except perhaps, as she explains in her forward, Santa Fe herself. The story is wonderfully crafted, full, rich with detail, and showcases Seton's wonderful imagination and ability to build an entire life story around a little scrap of legend she once heard. The first part of the book is beautiful, as Seton paints such a vivid picture of the old city of Santa Fe and the western trails during the mid-19th century. Her writing is nearly flawless; there were many times when I stopped and re-read a passage slowly in order to capture each word and savor Seton's talent for painting a full picture with so few brushstrokes.
If you like lighthearted stories or those with happy endings, then you probably won't like this book. Again and again the reader watches Fey make bad, even devastating, choices, overriding the advise of those who love her and even her own sharp conscience. Although in the end she does eventually face the truth and find redemption, even then it is less than a full healing. She -- and the reader -- fully understands what her life COULD have been, but she bravely shuts the door on that opportunity forever, and does all she can to make amends to those she has damaged, living out the rest of her life with the consequences of her selfish and short-sighted choices.
The only flaw I could find in the book were some aspects of Simeon Tower's personality and behavior. I found it hard to believe that Fey could have won him over so easily. And I found it even harder to believe that such a man, even one as troubled and insecure as Simeon obviously was, would so blatantly and plainly - almost like a child -- express his desire to become part of the "in-crowd". However, I don't feel that this took away from the overall story, and so I am still giving the book a "5".
If you like bittersweet stories that are full and well-written but that don't always end with people living happily ever after, then you will love this book. It is too bad that it has been largely overlooked in the shadow of Green Darkness and Katherine.
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16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
(3.5) Not Seton's best work, but still an interesting read, March 20, 2009
This review is from: The Turquoise (Rediscovered Classics) (Paperback)
Not sure why my old review didn't carry over to this new edition, I'm sure it will as soon as I repost.
This is the story of Santa Fe (Fey) Cameron, named after the town she was born in, Santa Fe New Mexico. Her high born spanish mother died in childbirth, and her father (the disinherited younger son of a highland laird) died when she was a young girl, leaving her to be raised by a lower class mexican family. When Fey turns 17 she meets Terry Dillon, a handsome, charming but ever so unscrupulous medicine man who is headed back east to make his fortune in New York after having run afoul of something in San Francisco. At this same time, a distant cousin of Fey's travels to Santa Fe in search of her on behalf of her grandfather, who is now sorry for the estrangement between himself and his (now dead) son, and wants them brought home to Scotland. Ewen just misses Fey, and his trail turns cold.
Once they reach New York, Terry leaves a pregnant Fey to her own resources as he leaves for brighter pastures. Fey takes work where she can, and sets her sights on the very wealthy and powerful Simeon Tower. Fey's cousin Ewen just misses her once again prior to her marriage to Simeon. The story slows down a bit after this point, as the author describes the opulent lifestyles of the very rich in 1870's New York as Simeon and Fey try to crack the upper circle of New York society.
The story picks up again as a surprise return from the past threatens Fey and Simeon, and Fey finally comes to realize that she has only herself to blame for the choices she made in life and that she is not a victim of circumstance, and that she will have to atone for those bad choices.
All in all a pleasant read, but certainly not up to the high standards Seton set with Katherine, Devil Water and the Winthrop Woman. I enjoyed the first part of the book the most, the author did a lovely job of describing old Santa Fe and New Mexico, along with the trip east on the Santa Fe Trail. Recommended for die-hard Seton fans (and I am one). 3.5/5 stars.
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12 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not her best work, but worth reading for Seton fans, February 17, 2008
Born of Scots/Spanish parents in 1850s New Mexico and orphaned at a n early age, Fey is raised by poor neighbors. At 17, she hitches a ride out of town with Terry Dillon, a "special-elixir"-selling quack. While traveling the Santa Fe Trail, they marry and eventually arrive in Kansas with enough money for train fares to New York City. Predictably, Terry abandons Fey within days, just before Fey realizes she is pregnant. Alone, pregnant and without a source of income in the 19th-century metropolis, Fey must make some important decisions quickly.
I consider Seton to be one of my favorite authors, but I didn't care much for this book. Seton's prose is as usual superb, but there is something lacking in the appeal of the story itself. Fey's financial aspirations didn't ring true to me. I didn't understand why she wanted money so badly, and then why she didn't seem to care much about it when she did have it. This aspect of her personality felt like merely a plot device.
I recommend nearly all of Seton's other works, especially 'Katherine.'
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