Gilded Summers. Donna
Russo Martin. Creativia - Amazon Digital Services. Copyright June 2018. E-Book.
323 pp.; ASIN: B07BYTVSWJ.
Pearl
is the daughter of wealthy parents in the world of the Astor and the Vanderbilt
families. Her father is kind,
intelligent and artistically inclined.
Pearl’s first encounter with the art of Mary Cassatt changes Pearl’s
vision of the future, inclining her to become an artist like the woman who has
challenged the world of the Gilded Era.
Pearl’s mother is only interested in aspiring to be as well-loved,
respected and inspired as the wealthy, surrounding neighbors who live in gilded
castles filled with the finest paintings, architecture and furniture. But she tries too hard and is scorned for her
over-exertive efforts. The reader is
enthralled with this world but gradually grows to dislike the snooty airs and
disdaining dialogue and gossip that fill the days of these women who could have
done so much more with their influence.
Ginevra
and her father are immigrants from Italy.
Her father has been hired by Pearl’s father to build elegant European
furniture and create the best violins to play European classical music. Ginevra is hired as a maid and eventually
will rise to become Pearl’s lady’s maid.
However, Ginevra is embraced by Pearl and they gradually become best
friends. Ginevra is an extremely
talented seamstress. Together these two
friends become confidants to handle the demands of their generation and social
positions. They then plan to become
artists who will create their own houses of beautiful creations in art and
fashion.
Both
will fall in love with the same men which the reader will discover in
unimaginable scenes of violence and lies.
The outcome is sheer stunning fiction!
What
is most notable about this novel that glorifies and satirizes the well known
Gilded Age of America focuses on the narrative voices of Pearl and
Ginevra. Their inner thoughts and
external conversations are intimate and gradually revealing, including
questions, dreams, visions and plans that flow seamlessly and naturally, with
no sense of contrivance. They alternate
between mundane and revolutionary ideas, foreshadowing the future that will
emerge to surpass the glory of the Gilded Age into an individual sense of worth
and social responsibility. They will
become the foundations of new artistic perspectives. They will literally change the world and the
way persons perceive wealth, poverty, art and design! They will become glorious rather than gilded!
This
is remarkable historical fiction that this reviewer highly recommends. Donna Russo Martin’s writing has evolved into
something more meaningful, serious but joyfully engaging, and memorable in a
creative, new style sure to endear readers of all ages! Wonder-full!
