In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden: A Novel

Amazon.com

From the very start, we know that many of the characters in Kathleen Cambor's haunting first novel will die before it's over. This lends a sepia-toned dignity to what is already a fairly somber tale. In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden tells the story of the Johnstown flood of 1889, in which over 2,000 people--mostly working folk, who had no say in the erection of the ill-considered South Fork dam--lost their lives. The author has enlisted a large cast, including real-life plutocrats Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Carnegie. But her focus remains on such fictional characters as Frank Fallon, a Civil War veteran enjoying a brief, platonic affair with the town librarian; his son Daniel, a labor organizer; and Nora Talbot, the science-minded daughter of a middle-class lawyer who comes to believe that the dam, built to create an upper-crust aquatic playground, is in danger of flooding the town below.

Cambor excels at depicting both the minor joys and the major tragedies in her characters' lives. Frank Fallon and his wife Julia, for example, have lost both of their children to diphtheria:

It meant something to Julia to be the one to wash the bodies before the undertaker came. To leave Caroline's sickbed long enough to tend to her two younger children. To fill the basin with water warmed by the wood stove, to smooth the hair, to touch and trace their flesh one last time, memorizing them again, as she had right after she had birthed them. Touching toes, chin, the curled cusp of ear, the rounded mound of cheek, the dips and promontories of their supple spines. Frank couldn't bring himself to watch.

Devotees of the historical novel will warm to Cambor's judicious use of period detail and her exacting prose, but may wish she had placed less emphasis on foreshadowing. We are told one too many times that the privileged men who built the dam had no interest in its structure or safety: "Someone should have been watching." On the other hand, Cambor has the good narrative sense to confine the flood itself and its horrific aftermath to the final pages of the book. There we are also given a glimpse of Nora Talbot in later life, marked by her youthful love affair with Daniel and by the waters that were--in every sense of the phrase--to part them. --Regina Marler

Book Description

In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden is the story of a bittersweet romance set against the backdrop of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania, flood -- a tragedy that cost some 2,200 lives when the South Fork Dam burst on Memorial Day weekend, 1889. The dam was the site of a gentlemen's club that attracted some of the wealthiest industrialists of the day -- Henry Clay Frick, Andrew Mellon, and Andrew Carnegie -- and served as a summertime idyll for the families of the rich. In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden imagines the lives that were lived, lost, and irreparably changed by a tragedy that could have been averted.

Customer Reviews:

a great historical novel.......2006-05-05

When I bought this book, I thought I would become more knowledgable about the Johnstown flood, the damage it caused, the nationwide horror such a huge disaster brought about. Instead, the story reminded me of my own area, how class and money still affect both our personal life and the structure and function of the community today, just as in 1889. The community I live in is very similar to the socially stratified area Ms Cambor wrote about in the book. The rich, newly arrived in the last 20 years and drawn by the natural beauty of our area, live in expensive condos or McMansions built on land once occupied by farms or modest homes. They have (and want) no connection to the existing social structure, yet their dollars and political influence seem to rule every facet of our existance, the inflated cost of housing and goods, driving out of industry in the name of beautification at the expense of the decent paying jobs which existed a few decades ago, raising property taxes to pay for amenities not desired by the locals, and which locals cannot afford to pay for. On the site of a large concrete plant which had operated for a hundred years, a developer recently created a huge development of homes for the super-rich, built on LOTS that started at $1 mil. It is fenced, gated, and patrolled to keep out the riff-raff. Locals can only come in to perform services. Seduced by big money, local government allowed the development to be pushed though without abating the toxic effects of displaced concrete byproducts (ph levels the same as houshold bleach) on the beautiful surrounding waterways. Now the rich and famous own multi-million dollar properties on waterfront which is vitually unusable, while plumes of contaminated water extend into Lake Michigan. I am sure that every person who reads this book will be struck by a different aspect, because it is a very multi-faceted work. If you are looking for romance, social conscience, and a very humanistic introduction to the late 1800s, this book will appeal to you. If you enjoyed this book, you might also like "Vindication" by Frances Sherwood, another very well written novelized history.

Just OK.......2004-05-17

As a history prof, I see lots of other historical novels that put this one to shame.

Tragedy.......2003-10-28

The attention of many of the professionals of the state of Johnstown is being attracted to the Dam of Johnstown, near a very large lake. One of the professionals of the state, a lawyer, James Talbot, tells his business manager that the dam is very weak and should be closed down until it undergoes restructuring, for the safety of the people. However, his business manager disagrees with him, justifying himself with the point that, under the Dam are the town's most wealthy people, vacationing in the Clubhouse. He did not want to inconvenience those people due to their wealth and power. Thus, the Dam remained open, to James' disgust.
In Boston, this drew the attention of one young engineer, Mr. Morris, and he began professionally restructuring the dam, strengthening it. Yet, there was a danger and risk involved. If the water reached a certain level inside the dam, it would flood and burst, endangering the lives of the people of Johnstown. After about fifty years, in 1879, the Dam once again began failing, and fell, once again, into very poor condition. Many contractors bought the Dam, to the delight of the Dam's previous owners. All the previous owners wanted most was to get the Dam out of their hands, to be free from responsibility of it, they saw it as a bother. Therefore, when one man went to buy it off of another owner, that owner would be very happy to be free of it. Unfortunately, though contractors bought the Dam, none ever took the responsibility of maintaining it. Instead, they poured out all their energies and money into providing more comfort for the already wealthy environment of the Clubhouse, for the enjoyment of the people. That money could have been invested into repairing the dangerous Dam that was in very faulty condition. No one knew what dangers this Dam could have brought to the people below, monumental dangers.
In the times of the rains, all of Johnstown was flooding. The lake underneath the Dam was flooding as well. Therefore, there was not enough room for the water released from the Dam to fall into, and instead, it would flood into the rest of the town. This is exactly what happened. In 1889, the Dam reached its maximum height, and burst, throwing millions of tons of water into Johnstown, and washing the town away, covering it with water. Everything was lost, and this was the end of Johnstown, due to the flooding of the neglected Dam.
None of the main characters that were described in the novel had a specific role in the plot of the story. Instead, they were all submerged into equal roles in the plot. There was a love story surrounding the main event of the bursting of the Dam and flooding of Johnstown. And the novel described many of the relationships the people of Johnstown had with each other. They seemed to be all united into one family. Every one knew each other. I think this bond within the people contributed greatly to the tragedy of the event. For we felt like we were a part of that union, and to see it completely diminished by the flooding is very emotional. Especially regarding the story of the young love between Nora Talbot, a scientist, and daughter of the lawyer who first took part in the Dam, James Talbot, and Daniel Fallon, a son of one of the characters, a veteran, Frank Fallon.
This novel is more like the telling of a historical event. Although it involves tragedy and romance, the story is centered on the historical event of the flooding of Johnstown due to a neglected Dam, because Nora and Daniel's romance was just beginning to flourish after many years of shy and distant encounters, when their lives were unexpectedly ended due to this flooding. Yet, it is good, because it is the combination of a regular novel, because it includes romance, yet involves historical facts, such as this event of the Dam of Johnstown. Therefore, I could recommend it to anyone who likes reading novels, specifically to a more mature audience, since it also has educational aspects to it. It is a novel centered on a historical event. Yet, if one is easily depressed, reading this book may not be a good idea, for it is very tragic to be sentimentally bonded to a relationship in the book, and then see it all diminish so rapidly. Yet, this was to be expected since the beginning of the novel.

Life before an epic catastrophe..........2002-12-15

At the end of the 19th Century, America is a nation of vast opportunity and evolving values, certainly obsessed with the vast fortunes amassed by the likes of Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick and Andrew Mellon. Their private resort above the industrialized town of Johnstown, PA, is a jewel in the crown of the vast wealth of these Robber Barons. The South Fork Fishing and Hunting Lodge features a man-made lake braced by an ill-repaired dam that ultimately imperils the town resting at its valley floor.

Using personal detail to humanize this disaster, Cambor introduces complex characters from Johnstown as well as one family who summers for a brief two weeks each year at South Fork, albeit a family not of the highest level of that very particular pecking order. In Johnstown we meet Julia of the broken spirit and her husband Frank, helpless against life's random cruelties, their proud son Daniel, and Grace, a runaway from an unbearably lonely life. Representing South Fork is the idealistic Nora, a child of fortune who reaches beyond her personal limitations before everything changes forever.

The novel actually ends with the flood, a vast surge of water from the ruptured dam, unleashing death and devastation that Memorial Day, May 30, 1889, obliterating Johnstown in minutes. I confess I wanted more detail about the actual flood and its physical consequences, who survived and who took responsibility. This is but a small complaint in a rich novel of American life on the cusp of a new century, a time when the American Dream still twinkles in the eye of the working man and when hard work promises a guarantee, security for a man's family after a life of labor. Detail is crafted into every page, days lived in hope and reason, pride and dignity. But, lest I wax too nostalgic, their time is cut short by nature's wrath and the enormous cost of privilege for the few. The novel opens with this quote, setting the tone for the quiet unfolding of catastrophe: "I have been watching you; you were there, unconcerned perhaps, but with the strange distraught air of someone forever expecting a great misfortune, in sunlight, in a beautiful garden" (Maurice Maeterlinck). Indeed, such disasters do create a sense of vigilance, of dreams discarded and the sad loss of innocence.

Money begets tragedy, and gets away with it.......2002-09-17

On Memorial Day in 1889, above the town of Johnstown, Pa, the South Fork dam burst nearly wiping out the town itself and many smaller towns downriver. Thousands were killed, livestock decimated and the township's buildings, homes and infrastructure were literally wiped off the face of the earth. Those that survived the initial assault were tested furthur as the cold night bore down on them. Shivering, injured, separated from loved ones, thirsty from the lack of potable water, left without food, desperate for medicine, bandages and clothes, they huddled together praying to make it until morning. While waters swirled around them, the structures they managed to seek refuge in threatened to collapse, casting off the survivors into black, raging waters. Even worse were those trapped inside structures and wedged downstream against the low bridge. Fires had ignited from the still burning stoves of homes knocked off their foundations. Massed in a huge jam, people burned to death and their screams could be heard throughout what was remaining of the town. This was a tragedy of immense proportions.

The real tragedy is that the wealthy men who were ultimately responsible for the maintainance of the dam failed to make the dam safe. The luxury of having a recreational and fishing lake were granted only to those rich enough to afford to vacation at the "club", and the area was strictly denied to any trespassers not registered with the fishing and hunting club. Little to no consideration was given to the THOUSANDS of people below the dam, nor their homes, their animals and their livlihoods. It is inconceivable that such callous disregard existed and that these "important" men got away with such transgressions!!

I guess I should not be surprised, as the foundation was set, and the same kind of disregard exists today as the corporate rich rob and plunder their companies at the expense of the working people.

Skillfully revealed, the author makes no mistake as to who is responsible. Delightfully entertaining, there are intriguing characters to lighten the impact of such a horrific event.

Amazon.com

Inspector Morse, the slightly cantankerous Oxford detective of BBC (& PBS) fame returns in Colin Dexter's intellectual thriller Death is Now My Neighbor. When the Master of Lonsdale College retires, two senior dons are left competing for the single spot that will be the penultimate position of their academic careers. A seemingly unrelated murder takes Morse and his partner Lewis from the strip clubs of Soho on a case that leads unexpectedly back to the manicured grounds of the Oxford college. This puzzling, stimulating, and thoroughly enjoyable British mystery, is chock full of antiquarian clues and literate allusions, making it a rewarding, stimulating read.

Book Description

Why would a sniper shoot suburban physiotherapist Rachel James as she sips her morning coffee? Inspector Morse's hunt for answers kicks off with a tabloid journalist, winds through the strip clubs of Soho, then returns to Oxford, where two senior dons and their wives battle for a plum promotion. Then, on the personal front, Inspector Morse receives intimations of his own mortality.

And while Morse muses on life, he reveals his first name at last. . . .

Customer Reviews:

"There were passages of conversation which [s/he] shouldn't have heard, or having heard, should have forgotten.".......2006-03-23

When Sir Clicksby Breen, at age 69, decides to retire as Master of Lonsdale College, Oxford, two in-house candidates become the frontrunners to succeed him. In both cases, their wives are at least as interested in acquiring the title of "Lady," which comes with the appointment, as their husbands are in becoming Master, and in both cases the wives have something in their backgrounds to hide.

In this somewhat fragmented mystery in which the action evolves on parallel tracks, Inspector Morse is called to investigate the murder of a young woman, Rachel James, in what appears to have been a case of mistaken identity. She is the next door neighbor of Geoffrey Owens, a reporter who dabbles in blackmail, and many people have reason to want him dead, including both of the Oxford dons and/or their wives.

Filled with red herrings and digressions, the mystery follows the life of the dons, the Master, their wives, reporter/blackmailer Geoffrey Owens, a neighbor who may be providing Owens with an alibi, and even the madam of a house of ill repute. The finicky and grammatically precise Inspector Morse, accompanied by his more relaxed and less educated assistant, Sgt. Lewis, play off each other to provide some moments of good humor, and the reader comes to know Morse in new ways--in his increasing fondness for drink and in his new diagnosis of diabetes. He also becomes attracted to a new woman.

Though the mystery is entertaining, it is less polished than some others in this series. With a large cast of characters to develop, Dexter sometimes allows the overlaps and complexities of the characters' relationships to obscure the issue of who murdered Rachel James in her home and why, and when a second murder occurs later in the novel, the case becomes particularly complex, since the murdered person has been one of the suspects in Rachel's murder. The ending, which ties up all the loose ends, comes abruptly, and the motivation of the murderer is not as strong as it is in some of Morse's other cases. An excellent mystery, but not one of Morse's best. n Mary Whipple

Dexter writes with an enchanted pen..........2006-03-22

Oh how I miss Morse! I have never read all the Dexter books, nor have I seen all of the Morse videos. So when I pick one up again that I have not been through, it is such a treat of fine writing. And of course, I will continue to see John Thaw in my mind as the very fallible Inspector Morse, who is so difficult to work and live with, but who somehow has people who care about him. It's like loving a prickly pear cactus...

This book is another fine example of mystery writing in the maze of Oxford. Morse has to deal with the deaths of two people in the same housing area, and first determine if they are related, and if they are, how and why? Morse sends poor Lewis to do a lot of the leg work, while he drinks his way through the neighboring pubs and getting gems of information from those who knew the victims.

In the midst of this, is another tale of professorially competition. It's alive and well in Britain, just as well as it is here in the U.S. In this case, only two men are up for the coveted position, and they both want the position...and both their wives want the position for their husbands...to the point of doing things most people wouldn't even consider doing.

Morse finally recognizes as the intelligent person he is, that his body is trying to tell him something, and that if he doesn't do something soon, he may not live. He winds up in the hospital with severe diabetes...and promises to change his lifestyle, kind of...

Those like Lewis who care about Morse, know this scare is not going to be enough to change Morse's heavy drinking habits...but continue to work with and for him. Lewis continues to try to nag Morse into healthy change, realizing it's probably a lost cause. Morse in the meantime, continues to tease apart the pieces of the puzzles to these collegial murders, even as he deals with his own health and his own mortality. This time he is so busy with this stuff, he doesn't have a chance to fall somewhat in love with someone...

Karen SAdler

Good read all told.......2003-03-19

Again, Dexter gives the goods. A tad slow in places, but Morse gets through well. I foudn myself wanting a pint often in this one.

A great read about a cop who is a cut above the rest........2002-02-03

Morse and Lewis are made for each other. Morse's crankyness shows that he is every bit all too human. Lewis is too much the company man and can't always see beyond the obvious. If anything the two complement each other. Together they have solved yet another baffling crime that would have stumped lesser minds.

A mystery with wit, suspense and humanity........2001-11-08

Colin Dexter is a masterful writer who has done a magnificent job in developing the characters of Chief Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis. I have truly enjoyed watching them develop in his novels over the years and have marveled at the friendship that has developed in these characters of such opposite demeanor.

In this most fascinating mystery, Morse faces his own mortality in some rather surprising ways while trying to resolve a murder that appears to have been a mistake. Blackmail, tabloid journalism and the secrets of Oxford dons all weave together in ways that ultimately reveal a devious but logical solution. One of the author's finest novels -- highly recommended.

Average customer rating:
Death Is Now My Neighbor
Colin Dexter
Manufacturer: Crown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GLIDXE

Average customer rating:
Death is Now My Neighbor
Colin Dexter
Manufacturer: Crown Publishers, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JM94X8

Average customer rating:
Death is Now My Neighbor
Colin Dexter
Manufacturer: Random House Value Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Dexter, Colin | ( D ) | Authors, A-Z | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0517361388
Release Date: 1999-02-16

Average customer rating:
Death Is Now My Neighbor - Inspector Morse Novel
Colin Dexter
Manufacturer: Crown Publishers, Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KIPCWS

Average customer rating:
Mystery and Intrigue (Twenty Blue Devils, Margin of Error, Death is now my Neighbor, vol. 3)
Edna Buchanan, Colin Dexter Aaron Elkins
Manufacturer: Readers Digest
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Elkins, Aaron | ( E ) | Authors, A-Z | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000PH4KBS

Average customer rating:
Death is Now My Neighbor
Colin Dexter
Manufacturer: Random House Value Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0517455994
Release Date: 1999-06-22

Average customer rating:
Death is Now My Neighbor
Colin Dexter
Manufacturer: Random House Value Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Dexter, Colin | ( D ) | Authors, A-Z | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0517383837
Release Date: 1999-04-12

Average customer rating:
DEATH Is NOW My NEIGHBOR.
Colin. Dexter
Manufacturer: Macmillan,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NYBWIM

Average customer rating:

I went out and looked for more of Gilliland. Immediately.

A fantasy, but gritty and fascinating.

Wizenbeak
Alexis A. Gilliland
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

General | Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0345361164
Release Date: 1989-08-13

Customer Reviews:

I went out and looked for more of Gilliland. Immediately........1998-08-25

This was a real gem. It was a fantasy that created characters worth my time, plot that held together and a fine humor.

A fantasy, but gritty and fascinating........1998-03-27

This little-known book is a gem. While technically a fantasy, it's very definitely not the kind with fairies and unicorns. The plot involves sorcery and the fall of a dynasty. The main character, Wizenbeak, is a water wizard, that is, he specializes in dealings with aquifirs, flow rates, purification, etc. He's like a civil engineer, only he uses magic instead of bulldozers. Wizenbeak ends up as protector of the heirs to the throne, and is forced to gather an army to protect them. The characters are good, the dialogue is witty, people you like die. I highly recommend all of Gilliland's books and hopes he writes more.

Average customer rating:

Wizenbeak
Alexis A. Gilliland
Manufacturer: Bluejay Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OP55SS

Average customer rating:

Wizenbeak
Alexis A Gilliland
Manufacturer: A Del Rey Book/ Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000NPV7OA

Average customer rating:

Wizenbeak
Alexis A. Gilliland
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OV8VBK

Average customer rating:

Wizenbeak
Alexis Gilliand
Manufacturer: New York: Blue Jay Books,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OVAIQQ

WIZENBEAK SEQUENCE: Book (1) One: Wizenbeak; Book (2) Two: The Shadow Shaia; Book (3) Three: Lord of the Troll Bats

Average customer rating:

WIZENBEAK SEQUENCE: Book (1) One: Wizenbeak; Book (2) Two: The Shadow Shaia; Book (3) Three: Lord of the Troll Bats
Alexis A. Gilliland
Manufacturer: Del Rey - Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000NRV8BA

Product Description

Statistics about child abuse and neglect can overwhelm, yet somehow still fail to impart the very real damage done to children who are then placed in foster and adoptive homes with under-prepared, under-supported families. Emotional damage causes injured children to exhibit "survival behaviors" which can be disturbing and often damage the family environment despite the best intentions and interventions of foster and adoptive parents who wish to help the child heal. The author foresees the influence of these children on foster or adoptive families and offers strategies to transform the upsetting behavior and build positive interaction between the child and family. Also available in Spanish.

Customer Reviews:

Useful food for thought.......2006-04-24

This book contains interesting information regarding the potential of adoptive and foster families to heal children harmed, abused and neglected in the first years of their lives. These children frequently exhibit behavioral problems, and the book discusses therapeutic adoptive and foster family techniques to be used with problem kids.

As with Delaney's other book, Troubled Transplants, the methods suggested here are situation-specific, and all were developed with the advice of therapists working with the families whose situations are (anonymously) described.

Also as in Troubled Transplants, this slight volume (123 pages) discusses therapeutic methods of intervention that aim to achieve four goals: Reduce and manage acting out; assist the child to become aware and conscious of others' expectations; help him/her develop constructive interpersonal skills; and to increase positive interactions between the parent and child.

The authors note frequently that when dealing with these kinds of situations, there is no magic bullet. Therapies and therapeutic parental reactions must be developed in response to each child's needs. But very often, these strategies work and just as often, they include a sense of humor.

In one case, the family discovered that their child, who consistently ran away during meals, was hiding under a neighbor's porch during hiss little "outings." To stop the behavior, they made arrangements with the neighbor to watch their son carefully while they responded to the behavior with a little outing of their own: After he had run away, they all piled into the family mini-van, backed out of their driveway and opened the window shouting loudly as they passed the neighbor's home that they were going out for the boy's favorite food-ice cream. After they had gone home, he came out of his hiding place, according to the neighbor, went home, and when he found the door locked, waited on the front step until his parents and siblings returned. From then on, the family went for ice cream-together-after every dinner, and the little runaway, who ran no more, went with them.

Obviously, not all therapies work in all situations.

Yet, the creative methods described here helped the children and families whose examples are noted, and the kind of contrarian thinking suggested is, as in Troubled Transplants, a useful springboard for other parents and therapists struggling to find ways to modify a child's behavior, when the many other, more conventional behavior modification systems have failed.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

The Healing Power of the Family - An Illustrated Overview of Life with the Disturbed Foster or Adopted Child

Average customer rating:

The Healing Power of the Family - An Illustrated Overview of Life with the Disturbed Foster or Adopted Child

Manufacturer: Journey Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Spiral-bound
ASIN: 0962984930

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books