From Publishers Weekly
Set in 19th-century Philadelphia, this complex historical romance follows three generations of women in the Main Line Armstrong family as they are propelled into independence by the men, good and bad, in their lives. Emily, the mother of two girls, is abandoned when the marriage for which she defied her social class collapses. Learning working-class survival skills, she becomes a respectable boarding-house proprietor, but still must cope with her daughters' coming-of-age. Patsy is determined to wed wealthily whatever the cost, and pays a high price; Lilly finds male support for her entrepreneurial undertaking, the building of a luxury hotel. Reconciled with her wealthy mother, Emily deals with the willfulness of her daughters, and with her own sexual awakening. Carr ( Tempted ) evokes a city brimming with the rich and famous, who are often cruel and greedy, as she depicts interesting women, survivors of the various rebellions that shaped their lives.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Set in late-19th-century Philadelphia, Women's Own is a departure from Carr's medieval historical novels ( By Right of Arms, LJ 5/1/86; The Troubadour's Romance, LJ 7/85). It is the story of three generations of Armstrong women, all strong, stubborn, and seemingly cursed when it comes to men: Amanda, married and widowed three times; her daughter Emily, married to a man who abused her and abandoned her to poverty; and Emily's daughters, Patricia, repelled by the physical aspects of love, who forces herself to marry a man she abhors, and Lilly, who loves a man she cannot have. This is also the story of four women who try to live their lives on their own terms. Though the plot is predictable at times and the romantic scenes cliched, the characters are strongly drawn and engage the reader's interest and emotions.
- Susan K. Cohen, Westfield Memorial Lib., N.J.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Susan K. Cohen, Westfield Memorial Lib., N.J.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
