Publication Date: September 2, 2011
Genre: Historical/Adventure
Series: The Fitzpatrick Saga
List Price: $4.95
Sensuality Rating: PG
Stars: 4/5
Synopsis:
The
Promise of America chronicles the tumultuous adventures of an Irish
immigrant from his narrow escape from British tyranny to his marriage in
1895. Blessed with grit and good luck, William Fitzpatrick claws and
sleeps his way to wealth and power, beginning as a Tammany Hall bagman
the New York’s infamous Tenderloin. His assignation with the sensuous
Molly Dunn leads to friendship with the Park Avenue Barneys; plain,
passionate Anne and her gay husband Harvey. His adventures include a
rendezvous with quirky Scottish peers as the scene shifts across America
in William’s quest to claim his share of America’s promise.
My Opinion
The
Promise of America follows William Fitzpatrick from the death of his
father in Ireland to America. It's heartbreaking, reading about how poor
William, at the age of 10, watches his father being beaten and taken
away for defending his mother's honor. All of a sudden he is the man of
the house. Responsible for the welfare of his mother and his younger
siblings, he takes them to America where he works his way up from bagman
to self-made millionaire. Along the way he makes some very interesting
friends who help him realize his potential.
To
say I was surprised at the amount of sexual exploits William got into
is to say the very least. His character seemed to work his way up the
social ladder one bed at a time. The author does not go into explicit
detail, however, you do get to know every one of William's sexual
conquests, and trust me when I say there are plenty of them. William is
not the least bit discriminating when it comes to sex. Young... Old...
Heavy... Thin... He loves them all and loves them well until it's time
to move on to his next conquest.
I
took exception to a couple of things in this novel. The fact that
people married and had children young back then does not make it any
less disturbing to read about William's sexual exploits with much older
women. And let's not even go into the entire situation with Celeste.
She's 12 and I believe at the time he was in his early 20s! And
everyone's feeling (especially her own mother), that Celeste should be
proud that such a wonderful young man wants a future with her is just
wrong and disturbing in more ways than one.
This
is not to say that this novel did not have good points. So I will end
on a positive note. It was an entertaining story. The novel allowed us
to follow William as he went
from poor Irish immigrant to an important, educated man of great
wealth. We don't get a rose colored version of William's life as you
would in most novels. We see his troubles, the violence he witnesses,
the injustice... Everything. But we also get to see a young boy meet
some wonderful people who give him the opportunity and confidence to
grow up to be a man of means who never once forgets his roots or the
struggles his people back home are still facing and does everything in
his power to help. With the exception of the fact that technically he's a
child molester by today's standards, William is the kind of person we
would all be lucky to know.
Recommendations??
Fans of period novels would enjoy this.
REVIEW BY IRIS
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