Galveston 1900: Swept Away By Linda Crist
I love a good disaster novel, especially if it is lesfic. I'm thinking K G MacGregor Without Warning or Jae Shaken to the Core. When I read the blurb on the back of this book I was excited - a nice chunky lesfic novel set smack bang in the middle of an horrific disaster. Unfortunately, it took 300 pages to get to the disaster. The novel starts several months before the disaster. We are introduced to Rachel (a tomboy working the docks and at a bar), and Mattie (a young woman in an abusive marriage who has never been able to make her own choices in life). We also come to know a variety of supporting characters.
I appreciate we need to understand what 'normal life' is like for the characters before the 'terrible thing' happens, but this was pretty much three quarters of the book. I won't say the first 300 pages were boring, but things did seem drawn out and I was itching to get to the disaster promised. I think the author must have felt the same because there was a 3 week time jump 15 odd pages before the storm struck. I feel things could have been somewhat condensed. For instance, the whole bit about Federal marshals turning up on Mattie's doorstep wasn't really needed since they fizzled out to nothing aside from a few mentions of 'it won't be long before the marshals come back now'. They didn't add anything much to the story overall. Mattie could have become more suspicious about Adam's business dealings based on the paperwork she found in a locked drawer earlier. The Marshall weren't really needed.
I came across a few typos and some continuity errors like Rachel still having a knife in her boot even though earlier she lost her boots when thrown overboard. I suppose she might not have had the knife in her boot then, but we were told earlier she always carries it on her. Or later, a mention of their money being stashed in carpetbags under the bed when we were told earlier Rachel and Maddie had taken the money out of them to carry with them when they tried to flee over the bridge to the mainland. We never see it go back in the bags and based on the circumstances there wasn't much of an opportunity.
There was also some head hopping. For instance, we'd be in Rachel's head and all of a sudden we'd have Billy's thoughts; or in Mattie's head and Adam's POV would come through. As a reader, it's a little disconcerting and it pulls you from the story.
For me, this was an OK read overall, but I was not as enthralled with it as I thought I was going to be. It could have done with another once over and some tightening up. I enjoyed the last 150 pages the most when we got into the actual storm and the struggle for survival.
If you don't mind a slow build up, enjoy tentative starts to relationships with a fair bit of innocence thrown in, you will probably enjoy.
Things to be aware of - this novel does contain scenes of a physically and psychologically abusive relationship between a man and a woman. There is also a rape in marriage scene (doesn't go into detail), and several discussions of nonconsensual sex. 487 Decent story and the description of what the women went through was good. Just took too long and seemed to drag in too many spots. Was able to keep interested but just took too long to finish. 487 What a gripping story of friendship, caring, compassion, resiliency and unrelenting love. This is also a story of loss, devastation and abuse. Madeline Crockett, what a beautifully written character you want to cheer for and care about. Rachel Travis, knows who she is and understands her fate in life. Rachel is fortunate to have found some sense of self and satisfaction with Lillie. I was swept away with the wonderfully written progressive friendship between Madeline and Rachel. This story provides a history lesson and a romance for the ages. The hurricane was so well-written, it was a character of its' own exhibiting a force so powerful that you wonder how anyone survived. The story is an emotional rollercoaster for the different characters of who will or will not, find love, get caught, overcome tragedy, survive, etc. I really enjoyed and appreciated the supporting characters especially Lillie, Billy, Rebecca, and Elizabeth. What oomph they contributed to the story. The characters were well presented and multi-dimensional and that made you really invest and care about their fate. Ultimately, this is a story of hope and survival. 487 A pretty thorough, entertaining read. Though not as powerful as maybe it could have been.
The setting was certainly portrayed effectively, and every character was well-imagined, perfect for their role, and likeable, or dislikeable, to suit the needs of the author. This slow, often slightly meandering tale pulled me in to their world, but perhaps didn't fully immerse me. I feel a few scenes were a bit superfluous, while others didn't quite hold enough impact. But on the whole, I felt like I'd read a book the author had invested a lot of time and effort into, and she clearly adored these characters, which is why it was so easy to relate, and just sit back and enjoy the story. 487 I read the online version a long time ago and still remember how much I liked it! 487
On September 7-8, 1900, the island of Galveston, Texas, was destroyed by a hurricane, or tropical cyclone, as it was called in those days. This story is a fictional account of Mattie and Rachel, two women who lived there, and their lives in the months leading up to and during the time of the great storm.
Forced to flee from her family at a young age, Rachel Travis finds a home and livelihood on the island of Galveston. Independent, friendly, and yet often lonely, only one other person knows the dark secret that haunts her. That is until she meets Madeline Crockett.
Madeline Mattie Crockett is trapped in a loveless marriage, convinced that her fate is sealed. She never dares to dream of true happiness, until Rachel Travis comes walking into her life. As emotions come to light, the storm of Mattie's marriage converges with the very real hurricane. Can they survive, and build the life they both dream of? Galveston 1900: Swept Away
A beautiful, well-drawn out, opposites-attract love story. The writer took me on a journey that I never wanted to end. At times, I wished I was Mattie wrapped up in Rachel's strong, protective arms. Superb. 487 Sweet lesfic historical romance. Butch woman rescues damsel in distress. What's not to like? I enjoyed the protagonist, a working-class young woman who wears men’s clothes and works on the docks of Galveston. She’s quite the shining knight, rescuing the beautiful maiden.
There was enough dramatic tension to make the book engrossing and hard to put down, especially when we finally got to the devastating hurricane.
The main flaw was the typecast nature of the characters (pretty much either all good or all bad) and the true-love drumbeat that became repetitive after a while.
But I’d still recommend it to anyone who likes historical fiction, butch/femme romance, and/or lesfic featuring down-to-earth, realistic characters rather than the femme starlets, corporate ice queens, etc. that are such popular tropes in the WLW genre.
Sidenote: For readers who like this type of lesfic historical romance, I'd also highly recommend Last Night at the Telegraph Club by Malindo Lo. Very well-researched and engaging.
And if you know of other similar historical fic you'd care to recommend to me, I'd appreciate hearing about them.
UPDATE: I just re-read this, and its 5-star rating holds up for me. Very sweet story, and well rendered. Just a couple of things grated on my nerves upon the re-read; I'm hiding them here via a spoiler alert and I advise not reading further if you haven't yet read the book. 487 This book is rich in every possible way - characters, plot, emotions, historical facts, ending... It deserves to be read many times over and over. Highly recommended. 487 Fantastic historical lesfic. Rough in spots, Adam... bleh... Overall was great. Rachel and Mattie are awesome. Angel and Betsy were superstars. Of course Billy and Lily, ugh yea there's a bunch of really cool secondaries in this. After reading her The Bluest Eyes in Texas series it was cool to find more of her work. She seems to have slowed down since the early/mid 2000's. 487 Really nice historical fiction. I liked the characters and the story. It wasn't overly exciting but enjoyable.
It was quite slow in spots. I found myself skipping some dialogue just to get moving on.
I would give 3.5 stars but rounded up because it's so hard to find good historical fiction in this genre. 487