I love all of Jude Deveraux's work, and _The Awakening_ was no exception. I was at first a little dissapointed with the begining though. Amanda is really too stiff, and Hank was not sympathetic enough. He just automatically put her in the catagorie of a prig who couldn't feel anything. Amanda took a little too long to wake up and see the world. She's run raged by her fiance, yet she still clings to the notion that she loves him. This was very exasperating to read about. Both characters were being strange and stubborn. It was like they were both looking at their lives through a screne door. They could see part of it, but most of it was shady. But, towards the second half of the book, the door opened, and _The Awakening_ became wonderful. Amanda became more of a real character, and Hank acted with much more compassion then he origionally showed. His way of courting Amanda was knee weakening. Jude Deveraux has a gift with words. She makes all of her books come alive! I loved the time change. I've never really encountered books that took place in the early nineteen hundreds, and it works really well. The setting of a California hop ranch was delightful, and Jude Deveraux's research efforts shine as this book is rich with detail about the hop riots that happened around that time. I enjoyed reading about the trails of the workers, however, it was very heartbreaking. Jude Deveraux captured the essence of the hop fields, and her book made me want to research it more. Although _The Awakening_ started strangly and it was rather annoying in the begining, grit your teeth and get past the first couple chapters. From then on, the story picks up steam, and you will get involved in the characters' plots and lives. This book is definitely worth your time. I'd recomend it to anyone.