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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Page-turning Historical, January 11, 2006
Zenith, Nebraska. June 1916. A postage stamp costs two cents. Woodrow Wilson is President. The Great War looms in Europe. And the lives of two young people are about to change forever.
Doyle Lawrence is 17 years old, his life already mapped out for him: attend Princeton, learn to be a gentleman, then join his wealthy father's law practice. "And the Miller girl," the elder Lawrence admonishes Doyle one evening, "is not someone you should be seen with."
Zee Miller's father is a strict Baptist preacher whose belief in the evil of motion pictures butts heads with Zee's burning desire to become an actress. When her father finds her copy of Picture Progress, the magazine published by Paramount Studios, he forbids her to read the material or to entertain her foolish notions one moment longer. But the acting bug has bitten Zee harder than her father imagines, and life in small-town Zenith soon becomes a strangling chain around young Zee's neck. "When Joan of Arc was tied to the stake, Zee saw herself in that role. Not only that, she saw herself as Joan of Zenith. She would burn up here into ashes."
At the end-of-the-year high school dance, Doyle asks Zee to marry him, but Zee refuses. Not because she doesn't love Doyle. She does. But she doesn't want to hold him back, and she can't give up her Hollywood dream either--the dream no one else, not even Doyle, believes in. Someday, she will show the world.
When the U.S. declares war on Germany, Doyle drops out of Princeton to enlist and is soon shipped off to Europe. He returns home months later no longer a boy on the verge of great things. He's a broken man whose innocence died on the battlefield. Zee's innocence has also died, but in a different kind of battle. They both eventually find themselves in the City of Angels, each unaware of the other. She's in L.A. to become a movie star, Doyle simply to survive. How far will Zee go in her quest for stardom? Will she find a way to redeem her life even as Doyle falls in love with her best friend?
I don't normally read historical novels, but Glimpses of Paradise held my interest on every page. The scenes clip along at break-neck speed, and historical facts are seamlessly entwined into the story. It's hard to guess who's a real historic figure and who's fictional; they all feel real. With its speakeasies, thugs, and ruthless opportunists who try to ruin Doyle and his friends, Roaring 20s Los Angeles stands up and breathes in this story.
For those familiar with James Scott Bell's contemporary legal thrillers, don't think he's ditched his signature courtroom drama in this one. There's plenty of legal action, it just doesn't take center stage until later in the novel when Zee is accused of murder. Readers of Jim's previous historical series will also be pleasantly surprised at the re-appearance of beloved character Kit Shannon (one of Jim's personal favorites), who plays a small but satisfying role in Glimpses of Paradise.
Particularly intriguing is the inclusion of real historical figure R.A. Torrey, an evangelist who won his first convert after hearing Dwight L. Moody preach in 1878. Slower scenes in Torrey's point-of-view are interspersed throughout the book, detailing his struggle to defend his Christian beliefs against the watered down theology of his day, and it's Torrey's influence that first challenges Doyle's notions about the things of God.
Glimpses of Paradise has it all. War. Romance. Suspense. History. Overall, it's an extremely satisfying read from one of fiction's masters.
--Reviewed by C.J. Darlington for Infuze Magazine
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Glimpses of Paradise, October 13, 2005
I generally read non fiction. Occasionally, I go to the library and pick up a book and have to renew it before I finish it. Not so with Glimpses of Paradise.
I loved how the author weaved the lives of the main characters together. While initially, his references from RA Torrey didn't seem to fit, they pulled together and gave the book a touch of the master plan.
I wanted to read the book because it is set pre-WWI to post WWI in Nebraska and LA, a period and place I am not well read in. Reading for me has to be educational before being entertaining. I got both in Glipses of Paradise.
Now I want to own all of James Scott Bell's books.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
fabulous historical fiction , April 2, 2005
In Nebraska, teenager Zee Miller, a minister's daughter, looks forward to leaving town for Hollywood stardom though her parents object to her dreams. Her friend Doyle Lawrence is being pressured by his wealthy father to follow in his footsteps by studying law though the lad has doubts. However, World War I shatters everyone's thoughts of the future with Doyle dropping out of school to fight overseas while Zee heads to the bright lights of Los Angeles.
After serving in France, Doyle returns burned out with no desire to please his father by studying law. He drifts around until he arrives in Los Angeles; at the same time Zee remains below the Hollywood food chain. When these former idealistic high school pals meet, Zee is climbing the ladder using the alias of Taylor Layne while Doyle has met his beloved Molly. However, a murder with Taylor on trial and more will devastate their world, but a glimmer of hope radiates between them that faith and love can bring miracles even when sacrifice and tragedy occur.
GLIMPSES OF PARADISE is a fabulous historical fiction novel that brings to life the aftereffect of World War I on a former GI and on someone so removed from the fighting mindful of those like this reviewer "sacrificing" nothing while soldiers fight in Iraq. The story line is action-packed yet driven by Doyle and Zee. Readers will understand his disillusionment with everything until Molly comes along. Zee also loses her idealism as she is grinded by the Hollywood beat. Yet through all this darkness, a light of hope begins to twinkle as James Scott Bell provides a fine 1920s tale that feels so relevant today.
Harriet Klausner
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