When The Splendor Falls [Hardcover]

Laurie McBain (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Avon Publishers (1985)
• ASIN: B000SDWTVM
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,268,879 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars As always, a joy to read, June 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: When the Splendor Falls (Paperback)

It saddens me that Laurie McBain's books are no longer in print. I HAVE THEM ALL, but I'm always checking to see if there is another I've missed. The characters in "When The Splendor Falls", touch your heart, make you laugh, make you cry. Leigh and Neil are "soul mates", that will make you believe in the endurance of love. With the exception of the "Moonstruck Madness" Series, this was my favorite!!!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Six stars for a great American story..., November 29, 2004

By 

skisno "skisno" (Hollis, NH USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: When the Splendor Falls (Paperback)

Don't let the cheesy cover and generic title fool you. (Although, given the time when it was published, the cover is actually quite tasteful.) This is not your average bodice-ripper, this is a great story. It is a standout in the romance genre. There's action, adventure, history, romance, and a little mystery. Like Forest Gump in the 18th century, our characters experience the civil war and the resulting migration to the west. There are plenty of soldiers, cowboys, Indians, and horses. "When Splendor Falls" has all the ingredients of a great American story. No one writes this type of romance anymore, certainly not as well as Ms. McBain. It's historically accurate and the characters are believable for the period in which they live.

The story is about Neil Braedon, who is a great non-hero destined for Miss Leigh Travers of Travers Hill. Before he can claim Leigh, he must serve in the Civil War, on the opposite side of Leigh Traver's brothers and his own cousins while Leigh struggles to hold her family's plantation and surviving members together. Neil and Leigh meet before and during the last stages of the Civil War and through Neil; Leigh embarks on a journey to a ranch in New Mexico and once there finds the freedom she was denied as a young woman in the old South. The story is skillfully plotted and the characters and historical events evolve naturally. The background description of the southern plantations and Mexican influence on western ranches make the story rich and colorful.

Some compare Laurie McBain with Kathleen Woodiwiss, but I would compare her to Diana Gabaldon, who wrote the Outlander series or Penelope Williamson, who wrote "Hearts of the West." I recommend this book and also "Tears of Gold" by Laurie McBain. Both books chronicle--so well-- the American legends and history that we've grown up with through the eyes of young women.

I hesitate to write glowingly about a book that is out of print, but maybe this will stimulate interest and the publisher will reprint.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars not trashy romance, May 12, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: When the Splendor Falls (Paperback)

I 1st read this book a long time ago and I think it's one of the better ones out there that people may not know about because it's no longer in print. There's not a lot of sex in it, but there's definitely a very sweet romance and strong characters. In other words, the heroine is not some ditzy girl. She has spirit, dignity, but she is portrayed as beautiful inside as well as outside. Another aspect that makes this a good story is the sense of history; it is set in to civil war, but not just the history of the time, but also the continuity of the families in the book, all the siblings, etc. of the Travers and the Braedons. The bottom line is, it is a well-written, sweet story, without all the sordid trashy stuff in a lot of modern novels, which I personally do not like.