- Mass Market Paperback
- Publisher: Bantam Books (Mm); Reissue edition (Oct 1987)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0553272608
- ISBN-13: 978-0553272604
- Product Dimensions: 17.8 x 10.7 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,278,969 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Wild Swan begins in 1813 as thirteen year old Alexandria (Alex) Thaine's grandmother sends her to live with distant relatives on the west coast of England to get her away from her hateful mother. In Devon she thrives with the Falconer family and especially forming a lifelong bond with the younger son Rane. Rane decides to wait until Alex is old enough before he asks for her, but in the meantime Alex's sister dies and her mother calls her back to help raise her two infant twins. The twin's parent St. John (pronounced sinjon) returns badly wounded from the Napoleonic wars, Alex nurses him back to health and a bond is formed between them and the children that leads to a marriage (albeit not sanctioned by the Church of England), unbeknownst to Rane who waits until Alex is 16 and arrives too late to propose marriage to the already "wed" Alex. Wah!
Alex eventually makes a good marriage with St. John and to get away from family influences they make their way to Maryland to strike their fortune at horseraising/racing. Alex faces quite a surprise when she finds herself face to face again with Rane who also left England to find a new life away from memories of his love for Alex. At this point the story take up with Alex and St. John's efforts to purchase land (named Wild Swan) and start raising thoroughbred horses and life on the racing circuit, that eventually leads to the aquisition of a mad horse that has dreadful consquences on St. John, Alex and their children. More than that, I'm not telling.
All in all a highly enjoyable read and I had a hard time putting it down and lost more than an hour or two of sleep (always a good sign??). Despite being typed as a romance, this novel was packed with plenty of historical details to place it a step or two above the norm, especially as the author dealt quite nicely with the slavery issue and the St. John's opposition to same. My only minor quibbles are that unless you are a "horsey" person (which I'm not) there are some spots that become a bit slow (but you can skip them) and the sex scenes, while not gratuitous, were a bit...well...ahem....just a bit too detailed for my tastes (especially one scene - you'll know when you get there). If it had been a "true" bodice ripper than I wouldn't have minded, but eventually enough is enough. Outside of that, it was a pretty darned good read and there are two books that complete the story, Swan's Chance and A Season of Swans.
Alex eventually makes a good marriage with St. John and to get away from family influences they make their way to Maryland to strike their fortune at horseraising/racing. Alex faces quite a surprise when she finds herself face to face again with Rane who also left England to find a new life away from memories of his love for Alex. At this point the story take up with Alex and St. John's efforts to purchase land (named Wild Swan) and start raising thoroughbred horses and life on the racing circuit, that eventually leads to the aquisition of a mad horse that has dreadful consquences on St. John, Alex and their children. More than that, I'm not telling.
All in all a highly enjoyable read and I had a hard time putting it down and lost more than an hour or two of sleep (always a good sign??). Despite being typed as a romance, this novel was packed with plenty of historical details to place it a step or two above the norm, especially as the author dealt quite nicely with the slavery issue and the St. John's opposition to same. My only minor quibbles are that unless you are a "horsey" person (which I'm not) there are some spots that become a bit slow (but you can skip them) and the sex scenes, while not gratuitous, were a bit...well...ahem....just a bit too detailed for my tastes (especially one scene - you'll know when you get there). If it had been a "true" bodice ripper than I wouldn't have minded, but eventually enough is enough. Outside of that, it was a pretty darned good read and there are two books that complete the story, Swan's Chance and A Season of Swans.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
31 reviews
16 of 18 people found the following review helpful
an absolute must for Romance/Fiction readers
23 Jan 2003
Format:Mass Market Paperback
I read Wild Swan, originally when I was 17. I'm now 32 and have read all of Ms. DeBlasis' books - I'm on my third copy. Wild Swan is the first in a series of three. Another of her books, 'The Proud Breed' is a must if you want to get a feel for her storytelling without committing yourself to three books.
"wild Swan" is the opening of a trilogy which spans close to 100 years in a family involved with smuggling, horsebreeding and racing and ship building. No one is perfect, everyone has faults and fears. From the coast of Cornwall to Maryland horse country and from the infancy of the 19th century to its near conclusion in 1892, we see portions of 6 generations of Thaines/Carringtons/Falconers and the hope of the 7th in the near future.
All of Ms. DeBlasis characters are real to the reader and generate emotional links as if we could reach out and touch them.
A definite must for anyone
12 of 14 people found the following review helpful
INCREDIBLEY POWERFUL WRITING ! ! !
21 July 2000
Format:Hardcover
I took "Wild Swan" and some of the author's other books with me on a vacation to Europe. Big mistake! I hardly saw anything except for the hotel room - all because I could not put her marvelous books down! I just loved the "Wild Swan" trilogy so much that I included a swan as part of my ranch logo. Her other books are just as compelling. Hopefully, there are more of this author's writings "in the works". These books will fill your heart :) THANK YOU CELESTE!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Wild Swan is a hidden treasure just waiting to be discovered
6 Mar 1998
Format:Hardcover
Wild Swan is the first book of a fantastic trilogy by Celeste DeBlasis. This book is the infinitely touching story of two people destined to be together, who must first stumble a bit on their road to each other. We see these two grow up together, form their own lives, and eventually reunite for a love affair so amazing, you'll want to fall in love all over again. The other two books go on to form a delicately woven picture of the family these two make together. You'll become so intrigued by the story of these strong, proud people, you'll race to read all three books in this amazing trilogy. It is truly a shame these books are no longer being produced, but they are still obtainable, and well worth the effort!!!
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