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The Santa Ana Wind.
romance
Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1974
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 8, 2020
I remember as a pre-teen and young teen in the 1970s thoroughly enjoying Helen Van Slyke's novels. They were a staple in the book racks of corner drug stores and neighborhood mom and pop stores. Van Slyke was purely a 1970s phenomenon. She quit a lucrative New York corporate career in order to take up writing full-time and published eleven novels starting in 1971 until her death in 1979. Her last (eleventh) novel had to be finished by another writer commissioned by her estate and published posthumously in the early 1980s.
After her premature death, Van Slyke's works completely disappeared, and I gave her nary a thought until coming across her name again recently. I wondered if upon reading her at this venerable old age I have now attained, I would appreciate her as much as I once did. So I have picked up some of her novels for reading (re-reading?).
I don't recall if I have read this particular novel or not previously. I have no specific memories of the plot line, yet a few of its elements were very familiar. I guessed one feature of it (with the gemstones) immediately, I think maybe from having been introduced to the trick over forty years ago by perhaps this very same book. In any event, I enjoyed reading it (again?).
It's a light read with lots of good drama, some would even say melodrama. It would make for a good, standard Lifetime Channel movie plot. For those who give the book one star, I completely understand and forgive you. The coincidence factors we the reader are asked to accept are through the roof. If one can suspend a good deal more belief than any reader should be required to, what is left is a well-written, well-paced suspense drama that leaves no detail unaccounted for. It's a very typical early 1970s novel that completely satisfies the undemanding reader.
Of her eleven books, this one is Van Slyke's most forgotten, least reviewed. I suspect this is because even though it's her third published book, written the year after her most popular book, it is the only one published originally under a pseudonym: Sharon Ashton. I don't know why Van Slyke used this pseudonym, but I have two guesses. The first is that the novel was written as part of Doubleday and Company's Crime Club series (there is a too-short Wikipedia article about that fascinating imprint, if you're interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cri...). The imprint may not have wanted a romance writer's name associated with their line. Another possibility is that Van Slyke thought she was doing something different enough from her regular type of writing that she wanted to differentiate her mystery or suspense novels from her romance or drama fiction titles and thought the best way to do this was to publish under a separate name. The only problem with this second reason is that The Santa Ana Wind is not that much different than her other work. Also, within a year or two of the hardback being published under only the Sharon Ashton pseudonym, the paperback version came out under Helen Van Slyke's name. If Van Slyke wanted to keep it a secret that she wrote this book, she didn't try at all hard to maintain it.
If you are a fan of Van Slyke and don't mind coincidences, however improbable, in your plots, this is one of Van Slyke's better, forgotten novels.
After her premature death, Van Slyke's works completely disappeared, and I gave her nary a thought until coming across her name again recently. I wondered if upon reading her at this venerable old age I have now attained, I would appreciate her as much as I once did. So I have picked up some of her novels for reading (re-reading?).
I don't recall if I have read this particular novel or not previously. I have no specific memories of the plot line, yet a few of its elements were very familiar. I guessed one feature of it (with the gemstones) immediately, I think maybe from having been introduced to the trick over forty years ago by perhaps this very same book. In any event, I enjoyed reading it (again?).
It's a light read with lots of good drama, some would even say melodrama. It would make for a good, standard Lifetime Channel movie plot. For those who give the book one star, I completely understand and forgive you. The coincidence factors we the reader are asked to accept are through the roof. If one can suspend a good deal more belief than any reader should be required to, what is left is a well-written, well-paced suspense drama that leaves no detail unaccounted for. It's a very typical early 1970s novel that completely satisfies the undemanding reader.
Of her eleven books, this one is Van Slyke's most forgotten, least reviewed. I suspect this is because even though it's her third published book, written the year after her most popular book, it is the only one published originally under a pseudonym: Sharon Ashton. I don't know why Van Slyke used this pseudonym, but I have two guesses. The first is that the novel was written as part of Doubleday and Company's Crime Club series (there is a too-short Wikipedia article about that fascinating imprint, if you're interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cri...). The imprint may not have wanted a romance writer's name associated with their line. Another possibility is that Van Slyke thought she was doing something different enough from her regular type of writing that she wanted to differentiate her mystery or suspense novels from her romance or drama fiction titles and thought the best way to do this was to publish under a separate name. The only problem with this second reason is that The Santa Ana Wind is not that much different than her other work. Also, within a year or two of the hardback being published under only the Sharon Ashton pseudonym, the paperback version came out under Helen Van Slyke's name. If Van Slyke wanted to keep it a secret that she wrote this book, she didn't try at all hard to maintain it.
If you are a fan of Van Slyke and don't mind coincidences, however improbable, in your plots, this is one of Van Slyke's better, forgotten novels.
May 16, 2022
A suspenseful novel. What is going on at Madrugada and how does it tie into Virginia Trippe's past?
Virginia Barlow knew she was adopted and had always felt loved by her adoptive parents but she has always had questions. When she marries Dr. Roger Trippe and moves to the Trippe family compound, Madrugada, strange events begin happening and they seem to be tied to her.
An interesting read with many threads that come to a satisfying conclusion.
Virginia Barlow knew she was adopted and had always felt loved by her adoptive parents but she has always had questions. When she marries Dr. Roger Trippe and moves to the Trippe family compound, Madrugada, strange events begin happening and they seem to be tied to her.
An interesting read with many threads that come to a satisfying conclusion.
September 23, 2014
Rehoboth
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews