Low Country

From Publishers Weekly A Siddons heroine of a familiar stripe, Caroline Aubrey Venable battles adversity and despair to save her South Carolina island in a somewhat unwieldy novel that again shows us a woman maturing under pressure. The death of her daughter five years earlier still shadows Caroline's life, and her occasional overindulgence in alcohol is something neither she nor her husband of 25 years will discussAso long as Caroline continues dutifully to play "mother superior" to the junior partners of her husband Clay's land-developing empire. When rumor comes to light that Clay's company plans to turn their low country home into a theme parkAthreatening the wild ponies that Caroline loves, not to mention the Gullahs who have lived there for centuriesACaroline is roused from her stupor. The leisurely pace and evocative atmospheric background of Siddons's fiction are in evidence here, and the confiding tone of this first-person narrative of betrayal and redemption offers few surprises. Some readers, however, may find Caroline annoyingly self-absorbed; may question why she doesn't object more strenuously when Luis CassellsAone of the islandersAcharacterizes Clay as "Mengele"; may find Siddons's depiction of Luis as a Cuban-Jewish Don Quixote improbable; may take umbrage at Caroline's patronization of the Gullahs; and may agree that the climax, while surprising, makes for a pat denouement. $250,000 ad/promo; U.K. rights to Little, Brown; first serial and dramatic rights: Virginia Barber; audio rights: HarperAudio; translation rights: HarperCollins; author tour. Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From Library Journal This abridged version of Siddons's (Fault Lines, Audio Reviews, LJ 3/15/96) romance novel will please those in search of an emotionally satisfying human drama. The production perfectly conveys the mysterious mood of a Gullah island of the South Carolina low country. Actor Debra Monk's bag of tricks includes a broad Cuban accent and over-the-top voices for the Southern folkAvoices that really do sound like they are native to the region. The story involves a tug of war between Caro Venable and her husband, Clay, over the fate of the island and its people; Caro's flirtation with their Cuban visitor; and the couple's coming to grips with the death of their young daughter. It is full of engaging characters and has a winding plot that leads to the only possible resolution. Recommended.AMark Pumphrey, Polk Cty. P.L., Columbus, NCCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.