Customer Reviews:
Great Book for Learning about our Mothers!.......2007-07-25
I read this book the day I received it in the mail (which was only two days after I had ordered it, by the way)! It was like reading about my life and my dealings with my mother. This book pinpoints the different ways mothers destructively rear their children. There are tons of real-life examples from women the author has interviewed. There is a section that explains why our mothers treat their children so badly. It shows who the children will become when they are adults if they do not fix their own emotional problems. I am going to treasure this book for a long time! I am loaning it to my older sister, who has the same problems with our mother. I think the two most important things I took from this book were: understanding why my mom is the way she is (because of her own childhood), and why my siblings and I do not get along very well (because our mother pitted us against each other, feeding off of our dysfunction and unhappiness). I think that I have a better understanding of how to repair my relationship with my siblings, but I don't know if I ever will repair it with my mother, even though the book does have some good ideas on how to still have at least some kind of a relationship in the end.
GREAT BOOK TO READ!!!!!!!
"Why can't she accept me the way I am?".......2007-05-01
This was an illuminating book that helped me straighten out my perspectives with relation to my mother. No matter that my mother was a very independent woman for her generation (post-Victorian) who worked most of her life, defying many stereotypes, she had real difficulties maneuvering a marriage and a child. A controller-suffocator, martyr, and frequent critic, the impact of these traits subsided when we kept a big distance between each other. But, then came the choice to desert her when she needed long-term assistance, or to try exercise my adult autonomy while I managed her care. I took on the challenge of helping her in her with her needs, as well as to challenge her to finally accept "the real me." We still had heated arguments, but I persisted in being authentic, while understanding more of her motives, thanks to this book. It made me think about my own qualities, too, realize how well I had survived my childhood! Reading this is a good way to see how your own difficulties with your mother relate to others, sometimes better or worse.
E. A. Davis, author, Waiting for Wings: Accompanying a Parent to the Edge of Life
When You and Your Mother Can't Be Friends: Resolving the Most Complicated Relationship of Your Life.......2007-04-03
I found this book invaluable. I read this book as if it were fiction. Each night I couldn't wait to read it. I was so relieved to hear about real life stories of other women with awful relationships with their mothers.
I found this book to be very helpful for sorting out disfunctional childhoods. For me, all the chaos was finally nice and neatly outlined and I could put everything in a box and store it away or even burn the box if I wanted. But the greatest part of all was the classification of the different ways mothers and daughters behave. All the craziness and random bad fellings finally had ownership and names. A great book for sorting every thing out.
I would recommend this book to anybody with issues with their Mothers form light to heavy, this book covers it all. Fabulous!
If you're not a boomer, this may not be for you.......2007-03-20
I am a part of Gen X (or the MTV generation depending on who you ask) and a lot of the information in this book is geared towards having been raised by a woman who considered a woman's place to be in the home. If you, like me, were raised by a woman who taught you to be all you can be, to stay independent, and who otherwise did not meet the stereotypes portrayed in this book, then it may not be for you.
This book is one of the best investments I have made in my life!.......2007-02-14
I have been in therapy for several years now, but this book recaptured for me the key issues in my life and personal growth, and I can truly say that it has immensely speeded up my recovery process! I have read a vast number of self-help books on emotional unavailability, intimacy, etc. over the years, but no other book has ever struck a chord in me like this one did! For anyone with less than a perfect mother (although the author addresses daughters, I think that the book can equally benefit male readers), it is an absolute must-read, a stunning eye-opener. It makes you truly feel that you are an individual adult who has his/her own voice and is capable of standing on his/her own feet no matter how critical, overwhelming or unloving the parents. It not only gives hope but offers highly useful tools for recovering the long-forgotten and deeply buried self inside each one of us! It really gives you a reason to get up from bed every morning!!!
Customer Reviews:
A sympathetic, but great biography!.......2006-08-17
This was a great biography that made you feel the happiness and sadnest moments in Empress Frederick's life time. Although I must admit there were moments in the book, particularly when Kaiser Frederick as well as the Empress herself were on their death beds, that made me want to box the ears of Kaiser Wihelm if he were still alive today!
The Empress Frederick - revealed!.......2006-08-02
Hannah Pakula did it again in another superb biography of one of the last great princesses in the sunset of European royalty. The high-minded, brilliant, passionate, beautiful oldest daughter of Queen Victoria was a woman fit to rule in her own right and yet she was shackled by the narrow, rigid Hohenzollern court. The very liberalism with which her father Prince Albert indoctrinated her ended up working against her ability to influence German political affairs in a positive way. Her great love for her husband and their passionate relationship is captured as well as the tragic dimensions of his death. It is horrible how Vicky dies, and especially the way her awful son treated her. A book that shows that sometimes marrying the handsome prince of your dreams is not enough. Highly recommended!
Excellent Portrait of Empress Frederick and Her Times.......2005-12-27
An Uncommon Woman is an excellent, first rate biography of Vicky, eldest daughter of Queen Victoria who, through marriage, became the Crown Princess of Prussia, and then Princess and later Empress Frederick of the German Empire. She played an influential (and one wishes a much more influential) role in German, and more broadly European, history during the latter 19th to early 20th centuries. Vicky strove to move German politics towards a more liberal, democratic, parliamentary form of government, but was successfully opposed by the autocracy of Chancellor Bismarck and even her son, who eventually became the Kaiser. The author persuasively implies that had this "uncommon woman" been able to prevail, European history may have benefited. The book succeeds as both an intimate, full-fledged account of this remarkable woman, her family members, and the many important historical persons of the times, as well as a comprehensive history of the creation of the German Empire, the rise of autocracy and militarism, and the lead-up to World War I. The writing style is excellent; the author is exceptionally skilled at presenting a thoroughly well-researched life of Vicky and detailed history of the times in a highly readable, well paced narrative. One of the most engaging and informative biographies I have read. Highly recommended.
The Empress Frederick: Remarkable!.......2005-09-16
You will feel great sympathy towards Vicky, the Empress Frederick, who was an unfortunate hostage to the intrigues of the German court. Sympathy will soon give way to awe at her courage and determination to do her best while having to perform the impossible: being all things to all people.
Vicky was seen as the catalyst for change in Germany. Her parents, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert did not like the autocratic, militaristic way in which Emperor Wilhelm I was running Prussia. Instead, they visualized a united German nation with a government much like that of England. Their plan was to sow seeds of liberalism and constitutional monarchy through their daughter and her marriage to Wilhelm's son, Prince Frederick (Fritz). In preparation for the eventual match, Vicky was schooled in politics and German life by Prince Albert. Eventually, she and Fritz would be Emperor and Empress of Prussia, and could bring about German unity.
Little did Vicky know that upon arriving in Berlin, she was at a disadvantage from the start.
As the daughter of Queen Victoria, she was encouraged to retain her Englishness yet was expected to be a Prussian wife and princess. Her efforts to raise her eldest son Willy as Prince Albert had raised her backfired. Her tendency to over-criticize (a trait passed on from Victoria) turned the young Wilhelm away, and he grew up under his thoroughly Prussian grandfather Wilhelm. Otto von Bismarck had seen his own chance to manipulate the future emperor, and along with the groveling royal court, Willy was turned into a bombastic power fanatic.
Her relationship with Fritz was not seen as loving, but as an English princess scheming to Anglicize the House of Hohenzollern. Vicky was painted as "die Englanderin", unfaithful to Germany and a demon on the shoulder of her husband, whom she 'manipulated'.
Hopes that Fritz's mother, Empress Augusta, would watch over Vicky were dashed. Augusta was known to be very liberal and free-thinking, unusual for royal women of the time. In her they thought they had an ally, but both the Queen and Vicky would be sorely disappointed. The once-progressive Augusta had seen her marriage to Emperor Wilhelm unravel over the years, and as a result she became a bitter, self-absorbed woman. She gave Vicky little support in her new role.
When they finally became Emperor and Empress, Vicky and Fritz had precious little time to implement any real changes. Fritz died from cancer of the larynx three months into his reign. Upon his passing, Vicky was left alone and devoid of support or influence. Your heart cries at the unfairness of brilliant minds wasted, while Willy becomes Kaiser Wilhelm II - egotistical, manipulative, and dangerous.
Thankfully, Vicky did not live to see the destruction of the Hohenzollern dynasty when Wilhelm II pulled Germany and England into a devastating world war. After fighting his own relations across Europe, he headed into exile, never to see the throne again. Albert's catalyst did indeed create a change, but not in the way he had expected. Germany would be unified, but the reigning royal house would fall from power, never to recover. -MandysRoyalty.org
Still wondering how WWI started?.......2005-06-26
This is an excellent book- imminently readable despite the plethora of Fritzs, Victorias, etc. It helps explain the atmosphere in Europe before the start of the First World War. At the same time, it paints a vivid picture of the difficult life of the much-maligned Kaiserin. Worthwhile for anyone interested in fin-de-siecle politics.
Amazon.com
Incisive character studies of Queen Victoria's five daughters provide the framework for a lively survey of 19th-century European history. With three brothers securing the English throne, the princesses' royal duty was to further Britain's interests through marriage. Vivacious, intelligent Vicky (1840-1901), the spoiled eldest, had a happy union with Hohenzollern prince Frederick William, though her liberal views were unpopular in Prussia and vehemently resisted by her son Willy, who eventually became the emperor of Germany. Sensitive, altruistic Alice (1843-78); dutiful, dull Lenchen (1846-1923); and shy baby sister Beatrice (1857-1944) all married minor German royalty--though Beatrice, intended to be her domineering mother's spinster companion, didn't marry until she was 28 and continued to live in England at Victoria's beck and call. Centuries-old custom dictated that princesses must not wed subjects, but artistic, rebellious Louise (1848-1939) married a Scottish nobleman anyway and managed to lead a slightly less restricted life than her sisters, particularly as a strong supporter of charitable organizations for women. Jerrold Packard, a veteran historian-biographer with six previous books to his credit, spins an enjoyably old-fashioned narrative emphasizing personal relationships among Europe's royalty and their impact on political developments. --Wendy Smith
Book Description
Five women who shared one of the most extraordinary and privileged sisterhoods of all time....Vicky, Alice, Helena, Louise, and Beatrice were historically unique sisters, born to a sovereign who ruled over a quarter of the earth's people and who gave her name to an era: Queen Victoria. Two of these princesses would themselves produce children of immense consequence. All five would face the social restrictions and familial machinations borne by ninetheenth-century women of far less exalted class.Researched at the houses and palaces of its five subjects-- in London, Scotland, Berlin, Darmstadt, and Ottawa- Victoria's Daughters examines a generation of royal women who were dominated by their mother, married off as much for political advantage as for love, and passed over entirely when their brother Bertie ascended to the throne. Packard, an experienced biographer whose last book chronicled Victoria's final days, provides valuable insights into their complex, oft-tragic lives as scions of Europe's most influential dynasty, and daughters of their own very troubled times.
Customer Reviews:
The Hand that Didn't Rock the Cradle..........2007-03-04
Last year I read the mesmerizing "Born to Rule" about Queen Victoria's granddaughters who became ruling monarchs. That wonderful book, led me to this one.
The book begins, as expected, with the royal childhoods. The Queen would never have her staff spare the rod, nor would she take pains to spare the child any humiliation. She calls them ugly and dumb, and they know where they stand. (No wonder they had so much grief when their father died!)
Victoria's views were transplanted to Germany by her eldest daughter. Vicky's first son's handicap, and the resulting strict regimine should have spurred some maternal empathy, but all little Willy got was structure, punishment and criticism. One could build an argument Queen Victoria's child rearing methods spawned WWI.
Queen Victoria comes off as totally self involved, and like the other royals she's obsessed with monarchy. Marriages, if not based on passion are bargained with it. Rank is the central issue. Fortunately, Victoria allows her daughters/granddaughters veto power, but keeps it for herself as well. For all the care and negotiation surrounding the marriages, not one of them or the life it brought, seemed to yield much happiness.
Since there are 6 key characters (mother + 5 daughters) each worthy of their own biography, it is by nature a once over lightly. It has a good narrative style and is worth reading if you are interested in this period.
Good historical story........2007-01-26
If you like Queen Victoria's stuff, you will love this story about her daughters.
A good book!.......2006-08-17
If you are just starting to study Queen Victoria or royal history in general, this is a good book to read. However, I recomended that you read a biography of Queen Victoria before you read this book in order to understand the influence that the Queen had on her daughters as well as her sons.
My personal recomendation would be Queen Victoria by Christopher Hibbert.
Delectable!.......2006-07-07
This delightful biography of Queen Victoria's daughters was delicious to read for all the love stories, politics and scandals but also for the information about the queen's younger daughters about whom I knew little or nothing. What a fascinating family about whom there is always more to discover! I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys British history and stories about princesses.
Brilliant!.......2006-03-22
Mr. Packard brilliantly recreates the life and times of Queen Victoria reign and the lives of her daughters. Wonderfully written...if you are a fan of English history, this one is not to be missed!
Customer Reviews:
Eye-opening and powerful........1999-06-17
Reading this book was such an eye-opener. It made me identify areas of my life deeply influenced by my relationship with the first man in my life. The truth in its pages was crushing at times, but also a wonderful challenge.
Amazon.com
Those who only think of Vincent Price as the deliciously evil star of numerous horror films are in for an enjoyable surprise with Victoria Price's Vincent Price: A Daughter's Biography. The younger Price, through a dedicated search of clippings, letters, and her father's old journals, paints a beautifully rich portrait of a man with personal grace, intellectual fire, and a kind heart. Price reveals everything from odd little tidbits--Vincent was cast in his first London stage production due to his gum-chewing abilities--to profound depths, such as his lifelong love of art and his serious reputation as a student and collector. Price also had a surprisingly good sense of humor, indulging in genially self-deprecating jokes about his own occasionally abysmal movies.
Though this is definitely a loving memoir of her father, Victoria Price is not blinded by her affection for him. She gives an earnest attempt at presenting the whole man--fact-checking and debunking a few cherished family legends and unflinchingly reporting her father's youthful anti-Semitism. (As Price grew more worldly and met some actual Jews, he reversed his position and became an active supporter of B'nai Brith and the Jewish Anti-Defamation League.) But A Daughter's Autobiography's may best value may be as a handbook for actors: through the numerous ups and downs of his career, Price remained a consummate professional. He never stopped working to improve his skills, deliberately sidestepping romantic-lead parts to take on more challenging roles, and was unfailingly generous to his costars. A truly engrossing look at the noble character of one of the silver screen's greatest villains. --Ali Davis
Book Description
Vincent Price is a true Hollywood legend, whose vast and distinguished career-as the voice of The Saint on the radio, in such unforgettable films as House of Wax and The Fly, and on the Broadway stage-spanned more than a half-century.In addition to being an icon of stage and screen large and small, Price was also an avid art collector, a gourmand, a dashing and relentless charmer, and a loving father.His daughter Victoria was born shortly before Price turned 51, at the height of his popularity.Though the star's busy film schedule took him in and out of his young daughter's life, he was always a larger-than-life presence and, simply, her father.Victoria adored him, and despite his harrowing schedule, their relationship was close.That is, until Price married his third wife, the headstrong and independent actress, Coral Browne.Victoria was a girl of twelve, and her new stepmother resented the strong relationship between father and daughter, and consequently did much to keep the two apart.Late in Price's life, however, he and his daughter were brought together again for some of their most memorable time together.In this elegant biography-cum-memoir, Victoria Price reveals a man both complex and human. An actor of range, he starred in both the film noir milestone Laura and the Biblical classic The Ten Commandments.As a "pre-war anti Nazi sympathizer," he was greylisted during the Red Scare of the 1950s-until, in a desperate gesture, he signed a secret oath that saved his career. And his passion for the arts gave him a second life as an erudite columnist and collector, even as his films graced drive-ins nationwide. Victoria Price's account life of her father is full and candid; both his passionate and charismatic public persona and his conflicted inner life are treated with curiosity and understanding.Vincent Price: A Daughter's Biography is, in short, the thorough-and uniquely intimate-life of a legend.
Customer Reviews:
well, it's a great book but..........2004-03-14
Victoria Price has written a book that i feel is a double edged sword toward her father. i've read it many times and prior to buying the Lucy Chase Williams book on Vincent, i'd pull out Victoria's book as a reference for something obscure or whatever. well, those times are over. it is no secret that Vincent was a liberal politically. his interest in art, conservation, and theatre among other things are stereotypically liberal that we didn't need his daughter to hammer the point home because there's some fans out there, like me, who could care less about their favorite actor or singer's political views and i get offended when it comes across that Republicans like myself shouldn't be a fan of Vincent's because "we're bad and want to destroy public TV and arts programs", which is how i took it from reading this book. politics you might ask? it's true! Victoria at times brings up the liberalism that she and her parents lived and practiced but she intentionally or accidentally makes people who don't live that way or think as her friends do as being strange or abnormal...in addition, Victoria goes into detail about his successful career on the stage in playhouses all over the United States and abroad and to me this was informative because most people focus on his horror career only. but, here comes another problem, the lack of information on his horror career and his movies in general. what we're treated to are her accounts of what critics or her father had to say about the movies...she offers no first-hand knowledge and SHE IS HIS DAUGHTER so she should know things we don't already...and by the time this book arrived she had PLENTY of time to watch his horror films and get an opinion of them. but, Vincent's dramatic films are also given very little discussion. if we're to believe her, none of her father's films are worth watching unless they recieved high praise from a nationally known critic or were box office successes. she paints a picture that her father's films can't be open to anyone's viewpoint once a critic has stamped it a bomb or whatever. i've seen quite a few of his so-called flops and they were GREAT! near the end of the book we're told about his career on TV and in commercials. his 1981-1989 run as the host of the PBS classic show "Mystery!" is also touched upon but once again, Victoria showers the chapters with second and third-hand information that family should already know first-hand. the pictures in the book are great!! i love the one where he's with his peers: Karloff, Lorre, and Rathbone during a photo shoot in the early '60s. there is a segment in the book that details Vincent's artistic flamboyance, and she brings up the silly rumors that Vincent was bi-sexual. first off, Vincent's sexual behavior isn't interesting to me! when i'm watching him stare at someone with that menacing look or if he's laughing at some devious scheme he's cooked up, i'm certainly not thinking about who he's sleeping with or who he finds attractive off-screen and so i find this section of the book silly and uncalled for and a MAJOR distraction to what the book was suppose to be, a biography of her father through HER eyes and NOT through the eyes and opinions of critics and industry insiders, which is basically what it turns out to be as a whole!! the only time i see that she gets personal and really says how she feels is when she talks about Vincent and his life with Coral Browne {near the end of the book since the marriage came in 1974}. now, i don't expect Victoria to drop to her knees and kiss the ground her step-mother walked on because after all Coral wasn't Victoria's mother, but at the same time, Corale couldn't have been that awful or else Victoria would've said something DECADES ago to a tabloid paper!! i give this book 3 stars because Victoria doesn't seem to realize that her father's fans aren't interested in rumor, gossip, and alleged communist involvement that were never proven because the accusations were flimsy and had no weight, so it's baffling as to why she'd plant those kind of thoughts about her father to potential new fans who ONLY know of Vincent through Batman re-runs {Vincent played "Egghead" on a few episodes}.
Almost Daddy Dearest.......2003-06-23
Victoria Price's book was a big disappointment. Price's own autobiography covers his early years, and the films are throroughly and more acurately covered by Lucy Chase Williams' book. Victoria's book is long, but the only "new" information would have been better left unsaid. Much of it is republican bashing from both father and daughter, at times it's hard to tell which is actually speaking. To them, it's heroic to oppose fascism, but those who opposed communism as well are "villains". The conservative bashing extended to trying to prevent the John Wayne Cancer Center from getting money Coral Browne willed them!
Worth buying at a budget.......2003-03-17
As a long time admirer of Vincent Price I found this book quite interesting and entertaining. On the plus side ,it provides a comprehensive overview of the subject's movie career with enough "Behind the Scenes" trivia to satisfy the fans. It certainly opens the door on the various Price households (plural !) and there are a few revelations. The author has a smooth writing style and the book is easy to read.However,far too much space was devoted to "Vinnie's" involvement in the world of art . I found myself skipping over ALOT of pages . Worth buying at a budget "Price" if you're a fan of this uniquely talented actor.
POOR PRICE TO PAY FOR SUCH A GENIUS.......2003-01-17
The price one must pay for being famous -- and a father -- is that one of your kids will write a book about you. There will be the good. And the bad. Victoria Price doesn't do a "Daddy Dearest," nor does she dish too much in this bio of her father, he who continues to scare the bejesus out of filmgoers in such classics as "The Fly," "House on Haunted Hill" and "House of Wax." She does reveal some shockers: As a student, Price was anti-Semitic, writing letters praising Hitler; during the McCarthy witchhunt of the '50s, he condemned his peers who took the Fifth when asked if they were members of the Communist Party. Price's effete quality is also discussed, and though Victoria claims she could not find any evidence Dad was gay or bisexual, he did acknowledge that he once had a relationship with a man that he described as "a love affair without the sex." A small price to pay, indeed.
A renaissance man--they don't make them like this anymore........2002-12-27
What a life! There is one word I can think of to describe Vincent Price--Integrity. This book was a disappointment, however. The author's (Price's daughter) constant rant about evil conservatives detracted from the reason I bought the book in the first place--love of the films. Although I enjoyed reading of his personal political thoughts, I couldn't be sure where his' thoughts left off and her's began.
Customer Reviews:
A True, WWII Love Story.......2006-04-16
This is the true, poignant love story about an American naval officer who is sent to Moscow on a secret mission during WWII. He meets and initiates a forbidden love affair with a prominent and beautiful young Russian actress and when this illicit affair is discovered by the Soviet authorities, he is forced to leave the country without knowing that the woman he loves is expecting his child. This is a beautiful love story which is made even more fascinating because it is was written by the daughter produced by this union. I would highly recommend this book to anyone enjoys love stories, Soviet history or intrigue related to the Cold War.
Book Description
This engaging biography is the first to tell the tragic love story of the royal couple against the changing background of nineteenth century Germany.
Customer Reviews:
Very Sad Story-But Good.......2003-07-24
Dearest Vicky Darling Fritz was a very interesting book and also very informative. When reading it I felt very sad for Vicky and Fritz for all the things they had to go threw, such as children who made trouble for them, a minister who did not like them, Fritz's father who would not give them the respect they diserved, and to top it off Fritz's death of cancer four months after becoming Kaiser Fredrick III.
There are better books out there........2002-06-01
This was fairly interesting and well written, but for a good, thorough biography of Princess Vicky, "An Uncommon Woman" is a far better choice. On the other hand, if you are looking for a fairly brief overview of her life and loves, this book will spare you the extreme detail found in "Uncommon Woman."
Poor Vicky.......2002-01-25
It was a rarity indeed that a royal marriage would be a happy one; that was never the idea of alliances such as the one between Victoria, Princess Royal, and Crown Prince Frederich of Prussia--but a happy marriage is exactly what they had. A partnership between a good man and an exceptionally intelligent, perceptive, loving woman. Vicky was maligned in her adopted country, gossiped about, belittled, and ultimately emotionally abused by her two eldest children, but she remained a remarkable woman nonetheless. This is a fascinating book about a devoted couple.
Average customer rating:
- England/ France of 1860's setting
- Ok I suppose
|
Daughter of Deceit
Victoria Holt
Manufacturer: Doubleday
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 038541949X
Release Date: 1991-08-01 |
Book Description
Noelle Tremaston's charmed yet unconventional life as the daughter of the infamous Desiree, darling of the London stage, comes crashing to a halt when her mother takes in a struggling ingenue and disaster strikes. Noelle flees to Paris where, on the eve of World War I, a bizarre twist of fate will lead her into unsolved mysteries -- and the arms of love.
Customer Reviews:
England/ France of 1860's setting.......1999-07-24
Noelle, daughter of London musical theatre celebrity Desiree, narrates the story. The settings range from England's London, Kent & Cornell, to France's Paris and its countryside. Set in the 1860's, the story does capture the excitement of theatre first nights, discovery of past civilizations (Roman ruins in Kent), and heritage. Deceit and manipulation, and their motives, are woven throughout the plot without judgement by the author, or the narrator. In my opinion, the global theme is that every action, regardless of the decision behind it, impacts others. The characters never come alive for me, but the sounds of the cities, the haunting loneliness of areas outside large cities, and the excitement of discoveries sustained my interest. I found myself wanting to research London theatrical history, France under the Bonapartes, and Roman forays into England. Narrator Noelle, for all her innocence, does have a cynical component to her personality, which she tries to suppress. Characters gain depth (but not life) through Noelle's faithful recounting of conversations with the other characters; everyone she knows has something to say about someone else she knows. In addition to these filtered reports, Noelle adds her own impressions of each character. On the whole, I enjoyed the book, and found myself looking forward to reading it, although I would not classify it a page-turner. Setting and theme were more provocative than character and story.
Ok I suppose.......1999-06-10
It all ends rather nicely, doesn't it? But do two wrongs really make a right, as is implied here?
Amazon.com
Who better to write a mystery novel about the mob than a mobster's daughter? In her first novel, Victoria Gotti, daughter of the Teflon Don, John Gotti, dishes up a heady brew of sex, violence, and murder necessary in the genre. The heroine of The Senator's Daughter, Taylor Brooke, is as beautiful as her name implies, and smart, too. She is an attorney assigned to defend a young African American man accused of making a hit on a union boss and racketeer. Taylor soon finds herself torn between the dead man's shady but undeniably attractive son, Michael Sessio, and her former lover, John Stark, who happens to be the DA assigned to prosecute this case. Before the book's end, Gotti has embroiled her heroine in the ruthless doings of a powerful politician, the mysterious death of her own mother years before, and the murderous activities of her psychotic ex-husband. All this is more than enough to keep both Taylor Brooke and the reader busy for some time to come.
Customer Reviews:
I couldn't put it down!!!.......1999-08-27
This book was so good I could not put it down. I really enjoyed the plot and Taylor Brooke. I really like the book but I would have enjoyed it even more if some of the relationships were more developed.
Gripping.......1998-12-16
I read this book on a sailing vacation last summer. I wound up dropping the anchor,sitting there for five hours and reading it from cover to cover. A compelling tale of greed, lust,money and twisted family ties. Highly recommended. Victoria Gotti has made a name for herself.
Exciting! You keep wanting to read one more page ..........1997-05-12
This book, Victoria Gotti's firt novel, is fast moving, you never get bored and you want to keep on reading even when your eyes are giving up. The charactrers are intersting and believable and the plot too realistic. You have to wonder how many innocent people have been put in situations like this without anyone to help them or anywhere to go
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