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Résumé
Résumé
New York Times bestselling authors Karen White, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig present a masterful collaboration--a rich, multigenerational novel of love and loss that spans half a century....
1945 : When critically wounded Captain Cooper Ravenel is brought to a private hospital on Manhattan's Upper East Side, young Dr. Kate Schuyler is drawn into a complex mystery that connects three generations of women in her family to a single extraordinary room in a Gilded Age mansion.
Who is the woman in Captain Ravenel's miniature portrait who looks so much like Kate? And why is she wearing the ruby pendant handed down to Kate by her mother? In their pursuit of answers, they find themselves drawn into the turbulent stories of Olive Van Alan, driven in the Gilded Age from riches to rags, who hired out as a servant in the very house her father designed, and Lucy Young, who in the Jazz Age came from Brooklyn to Manhattan seeking the father she had never known. But are Kate and Cooper ready for the secrets that will be revealed in the Forgotten Room?
READERS GUIDE INCLUDED
Critiques (3)
Critique de Kirkus
Three generations of women find themselves on the cusp of love in a collaboration among bestselling authors White (The Sound of Glass, 2015, etc.), Williams (Tiny Little Thing, 2015, etc.), and Willig (The Lure of the Moonflower, 2015, etc.). Kate Schuyler is one of the only female doctors at Stornaway Hospital in Manhattan during World War II when she meets the seriously wounded Capt. Cooper Ravenel. In the midst of his fever, he calls her by the name Victorine and inexplicably seems to recognize her. When she goes digging through the captain's personal effects, she's shocked to discover a small portrait that bears a striking resemblance to her. The novel goes on to unspool a half-century of history through a particular place and precious objects in the lives of Kate and two other narrators. Fifty years earlier, Stornaway Hospital was the Pratt family mansion and then, later, a women's boardinghouse. That small portrait is not of Kate but of her grandmother. Alternating with Kate's narrative are the first-person stories of Olive Van Alan, set in the 1890s, and Lucy Young, set in the 1920s. Olive is working as a maid for the Pratts in order to find justice for her father, the spurned architect of the Pratt mansion. She's used to keeping secrets, both to accomplish her goal of finding evidence that her father was cheated out of his payment and then later to hide her budding relationship with the Pratts' son, Harry. Years later, Lucy too is drawn to the Pratts, hoping to learn if she is actually one of them. With all three stories taking place in the same location, the novel is filled with both coincidences and parallels, the past finding ways to repeat itself until it reaches a satisfying conclusion. Even with three authors, the story is seamless, and the transitions between narrators are smooth. Focusing on both a family and a single location throughout time makes for a compelling and emotionally worthwhile novel. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Critique de Booklist
*Starred Review* Three authors (Karen White, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig) each take a character in this tale of three generations of women who find their destinies wrapped up in a secret room found at the top of the Pratt mansion, a Manhattan Gilded Age home. In 1892, Olive, the daughter of the architect who built the house, disguises herself as a servant in order to infiltrate the family and avenge her father's suicide; her daughter, Lucy, comes to the house under false pretense as well in 1920, determined to unlock the secret of her birth. Finally, in 1944, Lucy's daughter, Kate, is a doctor working in the house, which has been converted to a war hospital, when a wounded soldier arrives, carrying a miniature portrait of a woman who looks exactly like Kate. As the stories unfold and intertwine, it's clear that each of the women must work to uncover the truth about the family secrets that haunt them. The men who come into their lives are inexplicably bound to them by destiny, and the authors do a wonderful job of slowly teasing out the details while keeping the different story lines moving along. Strong female characters, swoon-worthy romance, and red herrings abound in this marvelous genre blend of romance, historical fiction, and family saga.--Vnuk, Rebecca Copyright 2015 Booklist
Critique du Library Journal
Three best-selling authors (White, Beatriz Williams, and Lauren Willig) join forces to tell the story of Olive, Lucy, and Kate, three women who, though generations apart, are connected by a secret room in an elegant Manhattan Gilded Age mansion. In 1892, Olive, the daughter of the architect who built the Pratt mansion, takes a job as a housemaid to understand and, perhaps, avenge her father's suicide. Lucy, secretary in a New York law firm, comes to the mansion under false pretenses in 1920, attempting to learn more about her mother. Kate is a young doctor working in the mansion when it was converted to a hospital during World War II. Narrators Morgan Hallett and Susan Bennett draw listeners in with their compelling portrayals of these strong, likable characters, but the alternating story lines do create a disconnect at times. -VERDICT The authors' legions of fans will likely delight in this romantic multigenerational historical novel. ["Engaging, complex characters and an intriguingly twisty plot of false leads will help readers justify a weekend spent reading, without interruption please!": LJ Xpress Review 1/8/16 starred review of the NAL hc.]-Beth Farrell, Cleveland State Univ. Law Lib. © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.