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A Certain Age

Tekijä: Beatriz Williams

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Jäseniä	Kirja-arvosteluja	Suosituimmuussija	Keskimääräinen arvio	Maininnat
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Fiction. Literature. Romance. Historical Fiction. HTML: The bestselling author of A Hundred Summers brings the Roaring Twenties brilliantly to life in this enchanting and compulsively readable tale of intrigue, romance, and scandal in New York Society, brimming with lush atmosphere, striking characters, and irresistible charm. As the freedom of the Jazz Age transforms New York City, the iridescent Mrs. Theresa Marshall of Fifth Avenue and Southampton, Long Island, has done the unthinkable: she's fallen in love with her young paramour, Captain Octavian Rofrano, a handsome aviator and hero of the Great War. An intense and deeply honorable man, Octavian is devoted to the beautiful socialite of a certain age and wants to marry her. While times are changing and she does adore the Boy, divorce for a woman of Theresa's wealth and social standing is out of the question, and there is no need; she has an understanding with Sylvo, her generous and well-respected philanderer husband. But their relationship subtly shifts when her bachelor brother, Ox, decides to tie the knot with the sweet younger daughter of a newly wealthy inventor. Engaging a longstanding family tradition, Theresa enlists the Boy to act as her brother's cavalier, presenting the family's diamond rose ring to Ox's intended, Miss Sophie Fortescue�??and to check into the background of the little-known Fortescue family. When Octavian meets Sophie, he falls under the spell of the pretty ingénue, even as he uncovers a shocking family secret. As the love triangle of Theresa, Octavian, and Sophie progresses, it transforms into a saga of divided loyalties, dangerous revelations, and surprising twists that will lead to a shocking transgression . . . and eventually force Theresa to make a bittersweet choice. Full of the glamour, wit and delicious twists that are the hallmarks of Beatriz Williams' fiction and alternating between Sophie's spirited voice and Theresa's vibrant timbre, A Certain Age is a beguiling reinterpretation of Richard Strauss's comic opera Der Rosenkavalier, set against the sweeping decadence of Gatsby's New York.… (lisätietoja)

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päivämäärä ▼ | äänet

Näyttää 1-5 (yhteensä 35) (seuraava | näytä kaikki)

Did not finish. Second chapter in the f word was prevalent. Not my cup of tea. (

)

Sassyjd32 | Dec 22, 2023 |

Certain Age is fabulous historical fiction with the setting placed in the glamours 1920s. The story is inspired by Der Rosenkavalier and I was totally charmed with this interpretation. For me, was this book extra interesting to read since I have read the other two books that come after A Certain Age, and now I get the full background story to Sophie Fortescue and here sister Virginias life before we once again met Virginia in Cocoa Beach. One thing I really enjoyed about this book is the way Theresa Marshall is written. It was pretty obvious that her young lover, Octavian, become madly in love with Sophie after meeting her, but Theresa who obviously tried to keep her lover never become a villain in this story. To be honest, I liked her. She was the character whose POV I loved the most in the book. I had nothing against Sophie, her POV was also good, but I never truly enjoyed here storyline as much as I enjoyed Theresa's.

The ending is bittersweet and perfect. I truly enjoyed reading this book and it made me eager to someday re-read Cocoa Beach now when I have read this book. (

)

MaraBlaise | Jul 23, 2022 |

)

MaraBlaise | Jul 23, 2022 |

As a historical fiction fan, and based on the proverbial judging of this book by its beautiful cover, I expected to completely fall in love with this book. I have to say, though, that I did have a bit of trouble getting through it. I’ve thought about the reason why this is the case, in the weeks since I finished the novel, and I’ve concluded that the author simply did TOO good of a job with her characters.

The writing style was excellent, and I’m encouraged to read some others of Ms. Williams’ novels, yet I found I didn’t really care for the main character, Teresa. That said, though, I can’t argue with Williams’ portrayal of this woman of “a certain age” as a bit world-weary and cynical, living a life where her husband has cheated on her from the very outset of their marriage. She can’t help but have a dim outlook on life and relationships, and her submerged bitterness is what got to me and why I didn’t enjoy the novel more. But that’s a case of faulting the book for being excellently written, no?

I also was surprised to find out, in the very first chapter, that a murder mystery is woven throughout the story. This is told through a series of articles in a gossip column called “Tit and Tattle” written by the spunky Patty Cake. It was THESE stories I felt myself drawn to and wanted to know more about, which is ironic, because in the Author’s Note, Williams explains that she added this storyline to give more bulk to the book, as the comedic opera on which the novel was based, “Der Rosenkavalier” did not contain enough material to fill-out a modern style novel.

“A Certain Age” is indeed comedic, or ironic, at its heart. Teresa is interrupted in a tryst with her lover Octavian when her brother Ox bursts in on her to announce his plans to propose marriage to the beautiful “patent princess” Sophie. A man of the old school, Ox wants to send a cavalier to propose Sophie in his place. Teresa, with Octavian on her mind, suggests him as the cavalier. Thus, starts an unexpected chain of events, as Octavian and Sophie hit it off right away, with the resulting love triangle, or quadrangle if you will, in play.

All in all, I did enjoy the book, despite my flagging interest. I may normally give this kind of book four stars for “I really liked it”, but feel compelled, in light of my struggling engagement with the storyline, to give it three stars for “I liked it”.

If you like well-crafted verbiage, believable characters, and especially if you’re a fan of the prohibition-era 1920’s, then you’ll love this book, as Williams is certainly a talented author.

#ACertainAge
#BeatrizWilliams
#WilliamMorrowPublishers (

)

Desiree_Reads | Jul 9, 2021 |

A Certain Age by Beatriz Williams is set during the 1920s Jazz Age in New York. It’s High society amusing itself, with lots of secrets and scandal to spice up the story. It opens with a newspaper article giving details about a murder trial. We don’t know who was murdered or why, but as the story develops we are occasionally given more information via the newspaper. The main characters of this story consist of Theresa, a 44 year old Fifth Avenue socialite, her 22 year old lover, Octavian, Theresa’s brother Jay “Ox” Ochsner and his fiancee, 19 year old Sophie Fortescue, youngest daughter of the Patent King, an inventor who recently made his fortune. Unfortunately, Sophie and the young man, Octavian, find themselves attracted to each other which doesn’t please either Theresa or her brother. The Fortescue millions are the main attraction for Ox as he requires a cash input to uphold his society lifestyle. Theresa simply craves Octavian and doesn’t want to lose him.

The story unfolds through the two women’s viewpoints and these, along with the newspaper tidbits work well to keep the reader’s interest. Getting this inside view of their thoughts kept me sympathetic to both women and rounded out the characters, giving them both good and bad qualities. The language, settings, styles and customs brought the 1920s vividly to life.

A Certain Age gives us glimpses of the conflict many women were having with wanting more from their lives than what tradition dictated but in the long run this was a love story to which the author added family secrets, unsolved murders, and steamy affairs which kept the read entertaining. (

)

DeltaQueen50 | Jun 25, 2021 |

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Näyttää 1-5 (yhteensä 35) (seuraava | näytä kaikki)

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Tekijän nimi	Rooli	Tekijän tyyppi	Koskeeko teosta?	Tila
Beatriz Williams	—	ensisijainen tekijä	kaikki painokset	laskettu
Barron, Mia	Kertoja	muu tekijä	eräät painokset	vahvistettu
Goodson, Barbara	Kertoja	muu tekijä	eräät painokset	vahvistettu
Rusk, Adrienne	Kertoja	muu tekijä	eräät painokset	vahvistettu

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Distinctions

Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year (Popular Fiction – 2016)

katso historia

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Katso lisäohjeita Common Knowledge -sivuilta (englanniksi).

Teoksen kanoninen nimi

Tiedot englanninkielisestä Yhteisestä tiedosta. Muokkaa kotoistaaksesi se omalle kielellesi.

A Certain Age

Alkuteoksen nimi

Teoksen muut nimet

Alkuperäinen julkaisuvuosi

2016-06-28

Henkilöt/hahmot

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Theresa Marshall

Octavian Rofrano ('The Boy')

Sylvester Marshall ('Sylvo')

Edmund Jay Ochsner ('Ox')

Sophie Fortescue

Tärkeät paikat

Tiedot englanninkielisestä Yhteisestä tiedosta. Muokkaa kotoistaaksesi se omalle kielellesi.

New York, New York, USA

Long Island, New York, USA

Tärkeät tapahtumat

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Jazz Age

Prohibition in the USA

Kirjaan liittyvät elokuvat

Epigrafi (motto tai mietelause kirjan alussa)

Omistuskirjoitus

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To Greenwich, Connecticut, and its marvelous cast of
characters
for sheltering our dreams for ten years
(and keeping us stuck in traffic for at least one of them)...

Keep striving.

Ensimmäiset sanat

Tiedot englanninkielisestä Yhteisestä tiedosta. Muokkaa kotoistaaksesi se omalle kielellesi.

During the night, I dream that my husband arrives unexpectedly from Manhattan, in a plume of sultry exhaust from the engine of his Buick Battistini speedster, and let me tell you, the intrusion is most unwelcome.

Sitaatit

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During the summer months, we shack up here in the old carriage house, because while Sylvester and I have always occupied separate bedrooms here at the estate on Long Island, we do maintain a certain informal code about receiving lovers directly under the matrimonial roof. Mutual respect is the foundation of a solid marriage, after all.

Someone told me he flew airplanes in France, had only just returned, the sole man in his squadron to survive, but then they always say that, don't they? The only man in his squadron to come home alive! He's never one of three survivors, or ten. All the other poor sons of bitches have to die, in order to render the cocktail conversation more breathless, the chitchat, tip-top, the midsummer ennui less oppressive.

The smile that curls the perfect bow of her mouth proclaims such an extraordinary volume of youthful self-satisfaction you're inclined to smack her.

I hand him the cigarette—he looks as if he needs a smoke more than I do—and he sucks it in like oxygen.

Human beings can get used to anything, he told me. It's how we survive.

(näytä kaikki 14)

The maid, closing the oven door, sweeps a curious glance across the two of them. Sophie can see the girl from the corner of her eye. She can't quite get used to this new intrusion in their lives, the way Virginia and their father can: the remorseless omnipresence of servants, every waking moment, every sleeping one, too. Gives her the creeps.

"You shouldn't smoke, Mrs. Marshall."
"Why not?"
"My uncle was a doctor. He said they were coffin nails."
"My doctor says they're good for my nerves."
"To each his own doctor, I guess."

"Theresa," he says, and this time he's grinning, and his grins are so rare that I want to bottle them in vinegar and keep them forever. "When have you ever cared about letting me get some sleep?"

I felt all shameful and electric, like a radio crackling with static.

That was how I like it. I don't go in for soul-searching, for this modern passion for psycho-analysis. Examining every last detail of your childhood, every last itch in your subconscious. Generally speaking, the less I know about the contents of a person's soul, the better I like him.

They're wearing smart clothes, cheap but upto-date—you've seen them around, haven't you, those new coats with the dropped waists, the straight mannish silhouettes?—and their heads are bent together, all sharp and smiling beneath a pair of identical small hats. Twenty-two, twenty-three. About the Boy's age, I suppose. Secretaries? Typing pool? There's a shimmer of business around them, an industrious energy. They're going to conquer the world, one typewriter key at a time.

He needs a wife, the way a lawn needs a gardener.

The door is already unlocked, and when I push it open and peek around the corner, he's standing in his shirtsleeves by the window, looking over the jagged Himalayan range of rooftops as if contemplating a possible crossing.

Afterward, in the silver quiet, I knew regret, the way you feel when you walk across a field of snow and ravage its immaculate surface, and yet your regret cannot quite swallow your primitive pleasure in the act of desecration.

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Fiction. Literature. Romance. Historical Fiction. HTML:

The bestselling author of A Hundred Summers brings the Roaring Twenties brilliantly to life in this enchanting and compulsively readable tale of intrigue, romance, and scandal in New York Society, brimming with lush atmosphere, striking characters, and irresistible charm.

As the freedom of the Jazz Age transforms New York City, the iridescent Mrs. Theresa Marshall of Fifth Avenue and Southampton, Long Island, has done the unthinkable: she's fallen in love with her young paramour, Captain Octavian Rofrano, a handsome aviator and hero of the Great War. An intense and deeply honorable man, Octavian is devoted to the beautiful socialite of a certain age and wants to marry her. While times are changing and she does adore the Boy, divorce for a woman of Theresa's wealth and social standing is out of the question, and there is no need; she has an understanding with Sylvo, her generous and well-respected philanderer husband.

But their relationship subtly shifts when her bachelor brother, Ox, decides to tie the knot with the sweet younger daughter of a newly wealthy inventor. Engaging a longstanding family tradition, Theresa enlists the Boy to act as her brother's cavalier, presenting the family's diamond rose ring to Ox's intended, Miss Sophie Fortescue�??and to check into the background of the little-known Fortescue family. When Octavian meets Sophie, he falls under the spell of the pretty ingénue, even as he uncovers a shocking family secret. As the love triangle of Theresa, Octavian, and Sophie progresses, it transforms into a saga of divided loyalties, dangerous revelations, and surprising twists that will lead to a shocking transgression . . . and eventually force Theresa to make a bittersweet choice.

Full of the glamour, wit and delicious twists that are the hallmarks of Beatriz Williams' fiction and alternating between Sophie's spirited voice and Theresa's vibrant timbre, A Certain Age is a beguiling reinterpretation of Richard Strauss's comic opera Der Rosenkavalier, set against the sweeping decadence of Gatsby's New York.

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