Bittersweet Summer
Grade : C+

Bittersweet Summer is a book featuring a castle, a ghost, a mystery, and a family feud all set in the small town of Bittersweet, New York in 1895. The main characters are a wonderful pair, the secondary characters are an engaging bunch of small town eccentrics, the mystery was interesting enough, but the ghost was terribly annoying and made me want to skip the parts where she appeared.

The Crowfoot and Rakes families have been on the outs for over 100 years. The founder of the Crowfoot family had built a lavish castle in the town of Bittersweet, but the family fortunes had not continued to subsequent generations. The castle is very run-down and as the story begins, Tobias Rakes buys it.

Tobias is wealthy from a legacy from his grandmother and wants to live in the castle - both to annoy his father, and because it's time he settled down. Tobias also needs rest to recover from a bad leg wound sustained in the Indian Wars. Genevieve Crowfoot and her aunt have been living in the castle, and Tobias keeps her on as a housekeeper. Genevieve is a sunny natured and sweet young woman who cares nothing for the feud and rather likes Tobias, but Granny Crowfoot, the castle ghost, is not happy when a member of the "enemy" camp takes up residence.

Soon there are accidents happening in the castle. Genevieve blames Granny, who protests her innocence. Then Genevieve is poisoned when she takes some of Tobias's headache powders. Granny could not have done that and the "accidents" continue. Someone is trying to kill Tobias - but who?

The mystery sub-plot was interesting enough, but it was not there to advance the story. What captured my heart in this book were the main characters. Tobias Rakes and Genevieve Crowfoot were a thoroughly wonderful pair of lovers. Tobias had suffered great physical and mental pain as the son of a demanding and unloving father. He could have been brooding and cruel, but he was not. He had his spells of bad temper, but he was determined to give his children the kindness and understanding that he never got. When he gets to know Genevieve, he thinks of family and children and love - feud be hanged!

Genevieve was downright lovable. She was kind and loving and did not dwell on the family feud. She was immediately attracted to Tobias Rakes and simply refused to believe he was bad because of something that happened generations ago. The lovemaking scenes in the book are some of the best I've read in a long time. They are sweet and tender ones with no throbbing or purple prose. These love scenes are marked by laughter as well as passion and sheer joy as well.

There were a few things in the book that jarred me out of my reading reverie - at one point Tobias uses the word, "parenting," a term that was not used in 1895. Also, the more I saw of the ghost of Granny Crowfoot, the more annoying she became. I kept wishing she would just go away but she never did. It's the truly lovable couple, Tobias and Genevieve, that saved this book for me. I would have loved to have seen them in a straight romance set in turn of the century small-town America. If Wilson had kept Tobias and Genevieve, the castle, and the setting, but called in an exorcist for the ghost, I know I would have liked this book much more.

Reviewed by Ellen Micheletti
Grade : C+
Book Type:

Sensuality: Warm

Review Date : May 18, 1999

Publication Date: 1999

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Ellen Micheletti

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