The Wyndham Legacy [Hardcover]

Catherine Coulter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 4, 1994

Childhood foes Josephina Cochrane and her cousin Marcus Wyndham find their fates inextricably linked when Josephina's father, the Earl of Chase, leaves Marcus his fortune but places Marcus's future in Josephina's hands. 100,000 first printing. $60,000 ad/promo.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Unexpected plot twists, witty dialogue and an engaging cast of secondary characters contribute to the charm of a new Regency romance by the author of The Heiress Bride . The Earl of Chase's illegitimate daughter Josephina Cochrain, nicknamed "the Duchess" by her antagonistic cousin Marcus Wyndham because of her precocious self-possession, unexpectedly becomes both legitimate and an heiress upon her father's death. His nephew Marcus receives the title but little else; Josephina inherits most of the money but will lose it all unless she weds her obnoxious cousin. The two protagonists are quite predictable, although Josephina at one point embarks on a course of action completely out of character, but Coulter surrounds them with memorable eccentrics, and the action never slows. Attempted murders, hidden treasure and a special secret of Josephina's known only to her faithful manservant Badger all ensure that this first volume in a planned trilogy creates plenty of situations for subsequent novels to explore. Doubleday Book Club main selection; Literary Guild alternate.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The earl of Chase finds a way, despite the strictures of entailment and primogeniture, to leave nearly his entire inheritance to his illegitimate daughter, Josephina. The will leaves his nephew Marcus all of the entailed lands and residences with an allowance of only 200 pounds per year; Josephina inherits almost everything else. If the two marry, the estate can run smoothly. However, the earl's will also stipulates that if the pair do not marry, the estate will be passed on to distant American relations. The "colonials" hear the news and dash over; meanwhile, Josephina has traveled to Paris (where the earl is helping to restore a monarchy to France) and maneuvers her cousin Marcus into marriage. Their return home is tumultuous because of the interloping Americans, who wish to break up the marriage and search for buried treasure--the Wyndham legacy. Lots of wordplay and other frolicking fill the pages of Coulter's pleasant, sure-to-be-popular historical fiction. Denise Perry Donavin

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult (January 4, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399138781
• ISBN-13: 978-0399138782
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (40 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,113,362 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Catherine Coulter is the author of the New York Times-bestselling FBI thrillers The Cove, The Maze, The Target, The Edge, Riptide, Hemlock Bay, Eleventh House, Blindside, Blowout, Point Blank, Double Take and TailSpin. She lives in northern California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars This Can't Be Love, January 7, 2001

By 

KMWalker "KMWalker" - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wyndham Legacy (Legacy series) (Mass Market Paperback)

I try to avoid the kind of "romances" where abuse is supposed to pass for frustrated love. Unfortunately, I didn't avoid _Wyndham Legacy_. There's no need to mince words. I hated this book. Marcus was a spiteful, childish jerk, and the "Duchess" had the backbone of wet spaghetti. I hate watching people allow themselves to be abused, and this chick was just such a dishrag. I couldn't finish this book and will never read another Catherine Coulter "romance."

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Ugh!, June 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Wyndham Legacy (Legacy series) (Mass Market Paperback)

I cannot believe I actually finished this book! I struggled through it. Marcus, Earl of Chase, is demeaning in character. He is cruel and say the most hurtful things to someone who does not deserve to be hurt in such a manner. Duchess, an independent woman (and made to be believed an intelligent person)accepts this form of verbal abuse. She keeps the hurtful words within herself until she's fed up and resorts to physical violence. (Oh, that's rich for a romance novel). This story was so disappointing that the mystery of the "legacy" is lost within the plot. Three-quarters into the book is when the romance (if one could call it that) begins. But lets not forget a forced marriage, a marriage to a first cousin, a man who HATES his wife, and a man who hates that his wife is pregnant to his child. But the man does get his way when his wife miscarries. Nothing is mentioned in the book if she conceives again, but even if its mentioned in the other books, I don't think I'd really care. This book does not strike me as romantic...I believe it struck me more of a book of depression or hatred. Oh and to think I bought the complete trilogy. Dare I start on the next book?

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Silly, Mean and Rather Stupid, September 19, 2000

By 

marye (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Wyndham Legacy (Legacy series) (Mass Market Paperback)

I have read this book twice. The first time I thought it was ok but on the second reading, I wondered why my standards had slipped so on the first reading. Marcus is cruel and says studid things -- repeatedly. His dignity crashes completely under what could be considered a justifiably outrageous situation with the will. But the things he says are so very outrageous and mean spirited. He was not an admirable character. However, I did understand his frustration with the Duchess, whom I also came pretty much to dislike. If I read one more time about how still she became and then became even stiller, I think I would have screamed, actually, I did scream. What was there about her to fall in love with much less like unless it was the physical (which is what drew in Marcus). She never talked to Marcus, never shared a bloody thing with him about herself and this was supposed to make her a sympathetic character? We were supposed to feel for her because she "saved" him? Mostly I found them both to be idiotic.

My main conclusion was that this was a "thin" book that was transformed into a novel with the use of verbose (and completely out-of-character for the time) servants, redundant description (why say it once if you could say it twice) and inane analogies.

I could just hear Ms. Coulter's editor in the background "make it longer so we can charge more." "Filler, filler and more filler. This is going to be a hard back and it has to be a certain length!"

This is definely not a recommend. Read the modern books, they are far more believable.