A Wild Yearning [Paperback]

Penelope Williamson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1995

Desperate to escape her father and brutal home, Delia McQuaid responds to an ad for a mail-order bride and is immediately entranced by Dr. Ty Savitch, whose promise to deliver a wife to his neighbor becomes compromised by his own passions.

Product Details

• Paperback: 448 pages
• Publisher: Delta (October 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044061418X
• ISBN-13: 978-0440614180
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,573,925 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb American Historical Romance Set in Maine, February 7, 2011

By 

Regan (San Diego) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Wild Yearning (Paperback)

Penelope Williamson's historicals do not disappoint. This RITA Award winner is another one I couldn't put down and you won't go wrong getting it.

Set in the wilderness of "the Maine" in the 1720's, decades prior to the French and Indian War, it tells of life on the frontier where Indian raids were frequent and the settlers faced great obstacles as they struggled to carve out a life from the rugged land. This is the story of Delia, a beautiful and courageous young girl of 17 who had a loving family in Boston until her mother died and her father became a drunk and began beating her. She worked in a tavern since she was 14, but unlike the other women, she was still a virgin. When she's given the chance to escape her miserable life and become respectable, she takes it and answers the ad placed by Dr. Tyler Savitch for a wife needed for a man in the settlement of Merrymeeting who had lost his wife to sickness and has two little girls to raise. When she meets Ty, she instantly begins to fall in love with him, initially believing him to be the man who is seeking a wife. But when she learns it is another man who Ty represents who is seeking a wife, she still decides to go just to be near Ty--and because she has nothing to lose. Ty is an unusual man. When he was 6 his father was killed and his mother and he were taken captive by Indians and raised as a chief's son until he was 16 when he was sent back to live with his grandfather who taught him the white man's ways and sent him to Edinburgh to be educated. He is a tortured soul, divided between two worlds and unsure if he can love, or if he would want to risk the loss loving would mean.

Williamson paints a vivid picture of life in the wilderness with rich characters and descriptions of the places and nature. She presents a balanced approach to the Indian-white man issues of the time. I learned much from reading this yet I did not feel instructed. I loved this story and believe you will, too.

Some others of hers I recommend (see my other reviews and lists) that are well worth seeking out used (I have a Kindle but do not limit myself to Kindle books):

* Hearts Beguiled (June 1989)
* Keeper of the Dream (April 1992) - Winner of RITA Award
* Once in a Blue Moon (May 1993)
* Heart of the West (April 1995)
* The Outsider (July 1996)
* The Passions of Emma (September 1997) - Nominated for RITA Award

9 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thouroughly WONDERFUL,WONDERFUL book!, October 18, 1999

By 

"[e-mail]" - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Wild Yearning (Mass Market Paperback)

I was captivated by this book. I enjoyed coming home every night from my hectic life to escape into this book. Penelope Williamson is a CLASSIC writer!!!!!! I highly recommend THIS book as well as her others. You can't go wrong opening any one of her books!

12 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!, March 9, 2000

By 

Carrie L. Oglesby (Virginia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Wild Yearning (Mass Market Paperback)

When I picked this book up for the first time I couldn't put it down! This is one of my favorites and I have reread it over and over again. The book actually made me cry and that's a pretty amazing feat considering the fact that I never cry about anything. I liked the main characters immensly and I felt that they had a lot of depth. Delia is one of those heroins that you can identify with. And the hero, Dr. Ty, is all too human, I felt that he had all the human weaknesses that make us who we are, and those weaknesses combined with his strength and courage made me practically fall in love with him myself. The secondary characters also had a lot of depth and were vital to the story. The story was full of adventure,humor, tragedy and heartache, and most importantly: love. The book kept me turning the pages to see what happened next! All in all i would say that this is an excellent read and should definately be kept!