A well written story about love and sacrifice in a time over a century ago. The protagonist (John) is a crude self made young man who is a no nonsense hard working brickmason. He works for a benevolent old contractor who befriended him. John's lives in a house with his promiscuous mother, her promiscuous friend and her small neglected niece in a small Georgian town. Love, marriage, annulment, sacrifice, deception, and at the end the ultimate sacrifice.
The author compresses about 20 years of Caribbean history into 10 years in pages. An erotic adventure that explains (obvious: economic/political/physiological) causes of slavery and piracy in the Caribbean; and the lack of English speaking Islands.
The first part of this book I would give 4*. The description of the Indian ambush and escape left me wanting to read more from this author. The plot leads to a climax at the battle of the little big horn. A mix of historical, mystery, adventure and romance. The author portrays Custer as heroic and betrayed by the Coward, Major Reno.
The first part is exceptional with a host of strong complex characters. The stage is the plains,the plot involves a fantastic chase, and a near lynching. But the book goes downhill when the hero follows the heroine to NY.
Dolly (The Desired Woman) is almost too perfect and is desired by two men. One, Mostyn, who is imperfect and her first love. The second, Saunders, a man almost as perfect as Dolly. A good read about Atlanta after the Civil war.
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