About the Book:
• Publisher: Viking Adult (August 16, 2012)
About the Author:
My Opinion:
Desdemona Hart is the daughter of the owner of a Shakespearean Playhouse. He is facing bankruptcy so Dez leaves the freedom of the art world she loves to come home and marry staid, solid Asa Spaulding who takes her father in just as he falls ill. Dez is expected to be a model housewife and produce little Asas and Desdemonas as soon as possible but she feels constricted by small town life and by marriage. Her father passes a mere two months after she weds and she finds that he signed the playhouse over to her husband and all he leaves her is a prop from one of the plays – Portia’s casket ( a small jewelry box like item) to be opened when the playhouse re – opens. The only light in her life is the time spent with a traveling salesman, Jacob. He is also an artist and he understands her in a way that her husband does not.
The town where she lives is under consideration to be destroyed and flooded to provide a water source for Boston and Asa is fighting hard against it but Dez has mixed feelings – it might free her from Cascade. And possibly from Asa. As the town waits for the news so does Dez wait to decide exactly what to do.
I had a hard time with this book despite the excellent writing because I had a very hard time liking Dez. Nothing made her happy; even when she finally found a touch of success with her art she was still whining. I suppose it was the time; women of that time period were not particularly aggressive or self supporting but Dez sometimes had the hardest time making the simplest decisions and this drove me to distraction. She wanted to be free but she couldn’t let go of her father’s legacy. She wanted to be free but she still needed a man. I just didn’t get her.
The historical aspects of the book and period details were fascinating and were written in seamlessly. The reader gets a true feel for what the times must have been like. The details surrounding the artistic process are well described and were very interesting as well.
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Disclosure: I received a copy of Cascade gratis from TLC Book Tours. Any opinions expressed are my honest opinions and were not impacted by my receipt of the free book. I received no monetary compensation for this post.
