All This and Heaven Too

Rating:
Summary: All This And Heaven Too
Review: 'All This And Heaven Too' is based on the true crime story of Henriette Deluzy-Desportes. An ingenue who found herself abruptly the most despised, infamous woman in France circa 1850. Rachel Field here delineates and colors a classic story that's intense and unforgettable. 'All This And Heaven Too' is the bizarre account of the gruesome murder of the Duchess de Praslin. A bloody crime that shocked the European continent and was instrumental in precipitating the downfall of Louis Phillipe. This somewhat pathetic and delicately nuanced narrative tells of a lonely girl joining the imposing Ducal house of Choisel-Praslin, in Paris. Where Henriette soon wins the love of the affection-starved children. Also the admiration of their father, the dashing Duc de Praslin. All eager for distance and solace from their tyrannical and ruthless Duchess de Praslin. A capricious, doomed Corsican heiress with a smoldering temperament. All too prompt Henriette realizes she's fallen into a gnarled web. Of prohibited love, and desperation, and, ultimately, evil. This powerful and heartfelt drama has all the ingredients of a fairy tale, the appalling Wicked Mother, the Duchess, as antagonist. Vis-a-vis an opulent and exquisite ambiance, wistful mise-en-scenes of tenderness, and forbidden Romance. 'All This And Heaven Too' was made a film by Warner Brothers in 1940 with a screenplay by Casey Robinson, in a memorable cinematic production. 'All This..." is a story so vibrant, so filled with sentiment, that it should be brought back to the screen today. Deluzy-Deportes-Field's (Rachel Field the author, is her great grand niece)later years in America are not as interesting but are still good fodder for reading. How much of this historical account is fictionalized, I don't know. Throughout Henriette's inner life rings real and is always finely depicted. I received the book promptly sometime ago, and was happy to read Rachel Field's haunting novel, which I give 5 stars.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting read
Review: I, too, remember the Bette Davis/Charles Boyer film fondly and was glad to find this novel so many years later. I have to agree with others that the second half of the book lacks the compelling interest of the first; Rachel Field was writing about her own family in the latter, and she would naturally be just as interested in it as she was Henriette's life in Paris. I enjoyed the look at New York in the mid-nineteenth century, but the second half of the book just wasn't as compelling. If it had been, I would have given this one five stars. Still, anyone who enjoys historical fiction laced with a bit of romance (not much romance, and somewhat old-fashioned, but sweet) will find much to appreciate in this book.

Rating:
Summary: A beautifully written and fascinating book
Review: If you've seen the movie (Bette Davis/Charles Boyer, 1940), read this book! Rachel Field is an adept and atmospheric writer who well-captures the subtle emotional tones of her characters. The book is infinitely more complex in its characterisations than the movie, and delves much more deeply into Henriette's childhood and the history of Henry Field's family. Rachel Field has done her homework: There is a fascinating account of the Field family involvement in the laying of the first transatlantic cable, and we also get a very digestible "short-course" in mid-1800's French politics. We in fact follow Henriette up until she dies in her 50's on her homestead in America. The book is a great read and one which I really didn't want to end. If you like this book, get your hands on her volume, "Time Out of Mind," a hard-to-find book about a fictional woman's retrospective of her relationship with a New England shipbuilding family. It is imaginative enough to have been made into an interesting movie and sadly, never was.

Rating:
Summary: a new generation of readers will be pleased
Review: Rachel Field's "All This, and Heaven Too" is a delicately nuanced, richly imagined novel from start to finish. Published in 1938 and re-issued in library binding in 1981, it will entrance readers of this generation who are fortunate enough to encounter the book.

Based on the life of Field's great-aunt, Henriette Field, the story will carry the reader along effortlessly. Field's superb description of the inner life and thoughts of Henriette feels authentic; we come to know her very well. We also become well acquainted with the people surrounding her in the household of the French duke where she serves as governess.

Henriette's fate was inextricably linked with a tragic crime which became as well known in her day as the Simpson case in ours. Her later life, in the United States, brought her an extremely happy marriage and a fulfilling intellectual life. She mingled with many of the influential thinkers and political activists of her day.

Field's depiction of the American days does not come alive quite as much as the first part of the book, Henriette's life as a governess. Despite this unevenness, the novel is a work by a master author who is a match for Daphne Du Maurier any day. Highly recommended, richly satisfying!

Rating:
Summary: a new generation of readers will be pleased
Review: Rachel Field's "All This, and Heaven Too" is a delicately nuanced, richly imagined novel from start to finish. Published in 1938 and re-issued in library binding in 1981, it will entrance readers of this generation who are fortunate enough to encounter the book.

Based on the life of Field's great-aunt, Henriette Field, the story will carry the reader along effortlessly. Field's superb description of the inner life and thoughts of Henriette feels authentic; we come to know her very well. We also become well acquainted with the people surrounding her in the household of the French duke where she serves as governess.

Henriette's fate was inextricably linked with a tragic crime which became as well known in her day as the Simpson case in ours. Her later life, in the United States, brought her an extremely happy marriage and a fulfilling intellectual life. She mingled with many of the influential thinkers and political activists of her day.

Field's depiction of the American days does not come alive quite as much as the first part of the book, Henriette's life as a governess. Despite this unevenness, the novel is a work by a master author who is a match for Daphne Du Maurier any day. Highly recommended, richly satisfying!

Rating:
Summary: Excellent first half; disappointing second
Review: This 600 page volume neatly divides exactly in two. The first half covers steps leading up to and away from the Praslin murder in Paris of the late 1840s. The second half follows Henriette as she settles in New York and becomes a happily married woman and the center of a prominent social circle of literati.

The first half is a very good read, although historically one would have liked to know the fate of the children. The second half was only mildly interesting and occasionally became plodding.

The famous Warner Bros. film of 1940 was based solely on the first half of the book, the meat of a classically tragic romance. Happy endings for heroines did not sell as well in those days as unrequited or forbidden love stories. The film earned three Academy Award nominations including one for Best Production.

Field is a good writer, but not an outstanding one. We are given insight into Henriette's character but none into that of any of the others. This is a novel that is half good, half mediocre.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent first half; disappointing second
Review: This 600 page volume neatly divides exactly in two. The first half covers steps leading up to and away from the Praslin murder in Paris of the late 1840s. The second half follows Henriette as she settles in New York and becomes a happily married woman and the center of a prominent social circle of literati.

The first half is a very good read, although historically one would have liked to know the fate of the children. The second half was only mildly interesting and occasionally became plodding.

The famous Warner Bros. film of 1940 was based solely on the first half of the book, the meat of a classically tragic romance. Happy endings for heroines did not sell as well in those days as unrequited or forbidden love stories. The film earned three Academy Award nominations including one for Best Production.

Field is a good writer, but not an outstanding one. We are given insight into Henriette's character but none into that of any of the others. This is a novel that is half good, half mediocre.

Rating:
Summary: AN AMAZING STORY ABOUT A WOMAN WHO ROCKED A NATION...
Review: This is a well written fictionalization of the life of Henriette Deluzy-Desportes, who happens to be the author's great aunt by marriage. In her day, Ms. Deluzy-Desportes was the most notorious woman in France. This is her story, the story of a notorious governess who would leave France under a cloud and emerge triumphant in America.

The author recounts a drama and scandal that beset France in the midst of the nineteenth century. It revolved around the household of the Duc and Duchesse de Praslin, the family who had engaged the services of Ms. Deluzy-Desportes as governess to their young children. Once esconced in the household, she quickly realized that there was a problem between the Duc and Duchesse de Praslin. The Duchess, an impetuous and passionate woman of Corsican descent, was slightly unhinged, perhaps by madness and her passion for the Duc, who clearly was no longer interested in her in the way in which she wished.

Ms. Deluzy-Desportes and the Duc developed a close, though platonic, relationship, because of their mutual interest in the Praslin children, an interest which the Duchesse did not seem to share. She perceived their closeness as a threat and her jealousy knew no bounds. The Duc and Ms. Deluzy-Desportes did not, however, always act circumspectly, and the gossips of France had a field day, attributing to them an affair that had no basis, in fact. This gossip added to the already existing tension in the Praslin household, which was a seething cauldron of emotions, until the day would come when Ms. Deluzy-Desportes would be dismissed with a promise of a letter of recommendation from the Duchesse. When the promised letter never came, the Duc was outraged by the perfidy of the Duchesse. Shortly thereafter, the Duchesse met with a tragic end, and the Duc and governess were under suspicion of murder.

What happens to each of them makes for a gripping narrative. The tragic circumstances with which Ms. Deluzy-Deportes met made her one of the most hated women in France. When her life in France became impossible, like many others she sought refuge in the new world. What was to happen to her in America had the makings of a fairytale. Her life would never be the same. This is a beautifully written story about a woman beset by the vicissitudes of life, but who emerged triumphant when all was said and done. It makes for a marvelous and fascinating story that will keep the reader riveted to the pages.