Customer Reviews

Vanished Glory: A Family In America

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4 star:		(1)
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From Reviewer Jane McCaffrey

Vanished Glory was an overwhelming experience for me. For a few days, I was left speechless. But I wanted to put my thoughts together, so I could tell others how important this book is and what it meant to me.

Vanished Glory was a jolting reminder of the sacrifices that were made and the blood that was spilled and what it took to build this country. Our freedom was hard fought and came at an awful price. I'm glad I was reminded of this sacrifice.

Vanished Glory is also the story of a family and how they responded when called. The Dougans were real people with flaws and failings like the rest of us. I could relate to this family. It was also the heartbreaking story of a young girl and her mother and the blows life dealt them and how they overcame them, together. When I finished Vanished Glory, I counted the many blessings that I have received in my life and thanked God for them.

Vanished Glory was also one of the most descriptive novels I have ever read. I could see everything, smell everything, experience everything. I felt like I had taken a trip back in time and indeed I had.

Thank you, Connie Lynne Smith, for introducing me to this family and the times they lived in. They will not soon be forgotten by me or anyone else who is lucky enough to read this thrilling, spellbinding story.

This is a wonderful book. It held my interest from the first page to the last. By the time I finished it, I felt as though I knew some of the characters.

I hope Connie Lynne Smith continues to write. I enjoyed her warm, down to earth style. Since I read the book I have recommended it to my friends.

Definitely a winner!!!

Beginning in the 1700's, and spanning eras up through the World Wars, Vanished Glory: A Family In America by Connie Lynne Smith is a impressively written historical novel that traces the roots, struggles, victories, and heartbreak of a family with roots in American soil since its colonial days when the Irish patriarch escaped English tyranny for life in the New World. A resounding tale of legacies handed through the generations and challenges defining each new decade, Vanished Glory is a wonderful and highly commended reading experience which documents Connie Lynne Smith as storyteller of talented originality.

I've recently started researching my family's genealogy and discovered that I'm a direct descendant of Thomas Hill Dougan. A google search of his name turned up this book so I ordered it. It was fascinating to learn more about the lives of my ancestors and the courage they displayed leaving all they knew behind to start a new life in a foreign, unsettled country. My line branched off fairly early from the one the book covers but it was an enjoyable read nonetheless.

Review from: CURLED UP WITH A GOOD BOOK:

Tom Dougan, the scion of the clan, left his beloved Ireland in 1737 shortly after the British rulers hanged his best friend. He survived a two-month boat trip to America as well as attacks by Pennsylvania Native Americans to marry his love, Mary Kerr, and raise six children. Thus begins the reader's interesting and often moving trip through the lives, loves and low points of this family's existence.

Based on true tales from author Connie Lynne Smith's own family history, Vanished Glory is a poignant portrayal of how each of the six generations of Dougans met and dealt with the particular challenges of their specific time.

Smith deftly weaves the multiple stories together to provide a fascinating tapestry of hard-learned lessons from the past from which the reader can benefit. She briefly synopsizes periods with a gentle touch and imparts the knowledge gleaned from them in historical perspective. It is a sweeping, well-paced saga traversing the past from the Revolutionary War to World War II to form the heart-warming tale of the quintessential American family.

FROM: CURLED UP WITH A GOOD BOOK

FROM JOANNE ELLER KANSAS CITY,MO.

Normally, I do not get enthused enough about a book to actually look forward to writing about it. But for VANISHED GLORY, this is a joy. I thoroughly and completely enjoyed this book from cover to cover.

From first page to last, it captures your heart and you fall in love with this family. The characters are unforgettable and you are soon invested in every joy and suffering that happens to them.

When the family arrived here in my home town of Kansas City, it was so riveting, I literally could not put it down, and you won't be able to either.
FROM: JOANNE ELLER KANSAS CITY, MO.

FROM REVIEWER KEITH HALL, GARDEN CITY, MO., USA.
What a powerful wallop this novel packs! It has everything you want in an exciting book: action, adventure, drama, emotion, suspense, and, an education in American history. If military catches your fancy, this thing covers all the major wars in the United States, up close and personal, through this gallant family of Dougans, who suffered through them. If family drama is your thing, it doesn't get any more dramatic or emotional than this. This Irish-American author has done herself proud. I think there must be a whole lot of these Dougans, looking down from somewhere, very pleased with themselves, and saying... well done!...it's about time!

REVIEWER:TONI CRACRAFT BRANSON, MO.

This book just blew me away! When I finished the last page and closed the book, I just sat for a few moments, dumbfounded at what I had just experienced. I travel a lot and read a lot of really bad books, wondering, how in the world they ever got published. So, you can imagine my shock and amazement at being sent this jewel. I cried buckets and laughed out loud, something a book hasn't done for me in years!

What a story! Every single American should read this book! It will give you a renewed sense of the sacrifices and hardships it took to establish and settle this land. Sacrifices that many have, sadly, forgotten. It also does not ignore our shameful history and treatment of Native-Americans and African-American slaves. It pulls no punches and, with wonderful characterizations, makes you wish we could get in a time machine, go back, and get it right next time.

It is the story of every American immigrant family, the Irish in particular. It should be required reading in every high school American history class! What the students do not learn from the often dry and boring history books, they will experience through full, dimensional characters, who will take them on this trip through time.

Now, I only have one problem. I am dying to read the next installment of the Dougan saga! But right now, America, just sit back, put up your feet, and relish in this riveting, heartbreaking, joyful and triumphant tale.

In this post 9/11 world, VANISHED GLORY is just the gift we need right now to make it through these trying times. And if this book doesn't make it to the movies or television, I'll quit watching! This will be bigger than Roots!

FROM REVIEWER A.J. CARRILLO

WARNING! This book is action-packed! It is not like any other family saga you may have read. When I was given an advance copy, I had no idea what I was in for.

IF YOU ARE IRISH-AMERICAN, THIS IS YOUR STORY!! Buy it with true Irish pride!! The story begins in 1737 with a harrowing ride across an endless sea, by a young Irishman escaping brutality and oppression in Ireland. He leaves his family and his homeland behind, to settle a new land in a new world.

What follows are years of bondage as an indentured servant, Indian massacres, the Revolutionary War, pioneering in wagon trains, settling virgin land, homesteading on the prairie, slavery, the Civil War, and founding a rowdy, pioneer town called Kansas City.

Then, the Irish Famine brings death and ruination for the Dougans, left back home in Ireland. And finally, the family is torn apart by the great wars of the 20th century. They also love, marry, have babies, lose babies, and deal with all the sorrow and happiness that everyday life brings to all of us. A beautiful editing job ties up all this activity in a clean, tidy, wonderfully written package with sincere, realistic characters.

Inspired by a true story about real family, each chapter holds a different adventure for the Dougans of Donegal. Each generation endures hardships, lynchings, massacres, wars, murders, brush fires, tornadoes, poverty, famine, and disease, flavored with a generous sprinkling of emotion, joy and glory. You name it, and it happens to this family.

VANISHED GLORY is not for the faint of heart! You better fasten your seat belt for a wild, thrilling and exhilarating ride through America. Once you get on the VANISHED GLORY train, there is no getting off.

REVIEWER: B.L.WOODWARD, INDEPENDENCE,KS.

VANISHED GLORY is a riveting page turner, that kept me up all night. I was lucky enough to receive an advance copy of this novel and the intriguing title sparked my curiosity. Where was this "vanished glory" that the author wrote of?

As a book lover and lifelong reader, I enjoy historical fiction, but this novel, by far, is the best historical novel I have ever read. The author did a great job of humanizing history and making her characters come to life. I could relate to them. They seemed human, like my own family. The characters are unforgettable and stay with you long after you have turned the last page.

The author's fluid style held my interest into the wee hours of the morning. I felt like I was on a rollercoaster ride through history and could not jump off, nor did I want to, waiting breathlessly to see what happened in the following chapters.

Her historical research was impeccable and never a boring dissertation of fact, but the drama of history, as it happened to this ordinary family. The book is beautifully put together. The vibrant cover, editing, layout and printing are top notch.

It is no surprise to me that VANISHED GLORY is receiving so many rave reviews. They are well deserved. When part two of this story is published, concentrating on the modern Dougans, and their thrill ride through history, I will be one of the first lined up to purchase it. VANISHED GLORY has "best seller" written all over it. It is a book for the ages. It is the story of America.