Amarantha

Rating:
Summary: A weaving of a haunting romantic tale under a skillful hand!
Review: As a child I love Patrick McGoohan as the Scarecrow of Romney Marsh, then later Oliver Reed and Peter Cushing in the the retelling of Dr. Syn in Hammer's Night Creatures. So the tales of smugglers early on caught my vivid imagination.

And that is precisely what Melanie Jackson does with Amarantha. Thoroughly bored of London and the stale games of the ton, Amarantha heads to the country to visit her uncle. She is a lively, intelligent creature, so it is no wonder Tamlin the Vicker is attracted to her. But Tamlane Adair, is not all he says he is, and Amarantha is determined to find out his dark secrets. though it may put her very life in permil.

So think of a moon that was a ghostly galleon tossed upon cloudy seas....and revel in the sheer haunting beauty of this newest effort from Jackson, quickly proving to be one of the strongest historical writers in the Romance Field, written with wit, charm and lovely romance!!

WISE Writers and Readers Book of the Month for August 2001 and Book of the Year 2001

Rating:
Summary: Exciting historical romance
Review: In the first half of the eighteenth century, gripped by illness impacting the poor and the aristocracy, the aftermath of the Jacobite Rebellion, and a long winter, London is not a city of joy this season. On top of that, the unwanted suit of Mister Delderfield sends wealthy but depressed Amarantha Stanhope scurrying on a visit to her odd, but scholarly Uncle Cyril, an expert on Celtic mythology and history in Cornwall.

Cyril tells Amarantha many stories about King Arthur and other Celtic legends that begin to perk up the sad and lonely Amarantha. However, meeting the rector of Bodmin Moor, Tamlane Adair is the real catalyst that draws Amarantha out of her despondency. There are secrets about him that make him even more interesting to Amarantha, who vows to learn what they are though she suspects simple smuggling to be the answer. What she finds out is inside her heart.

AMARANTHA is an exciting historical romance starring two strong lead protagonists and a cast of eccentrics, especially the heroine's uncle. The story line enthralls the audience with love's power to heal redeeming two lost, but for quite different reasons, souls. Fans will delight with Melanie Jackson's pleasant tale.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: A bit of a clunker
Review: The premise behind this book was interesting. It is set in Cornwall in the mid-18th century (a time too little explored by most novelists) and tells the tale of Amarantha, a lady who has come to stay with her uncle in the aftermath of the debacle at Culloden. While there, she absorbs a great deal of Cornish lore and meets a vicar named Tamlane Adair. All of these characters (the lady who has lost her beloved, the folklorist uncle, the wild vicar/possible smuggler)should be very interesting.

Unfortunately, this author seems unwilling to dip into the depths that would inherently lie in such a story. Amarantha and Tamlane fall for each other and begin a torrid affair in a manner that seems disjointed. The story just does not flow smoothly.

In addition, the conflicts that burn within the main characters seem to resolve without the reader really being let in on the struggle. Everything is kept at rather a surface level. This gives the story a curiously detached and melodramtic feel and robs the plot of the power that it should have.