What do you think?
Rate this book
The Wings of the Morning
"Gripping ... Fine story-telling." —Chicago Tribune
Pequot Landing, Connecticut, is not the place—nor is this the time—for love. Yet Aurora Talcott and Sinjin Grimes are struck with it as if by a thunderbolt—only to be violently separated by their feuding elders and catapulted to opposite ends of the earth: she to aristocratic England, and he to the trading hongs of Macao and the pirate seas of China. And left behind at home, growing stronger from her own desperate struggle, is Georgiana, the hired girl whose secret story entwines the fates of them all....
Selected by the Book-of-the-Month Club.
Pequot Landing, Connecticut, is not the place—nor is this the time—for love. Yet Aurora Talcott and Sinjin Grimes are struck with it as if by a thunderbolt—only to be violently separated by their feuding elders and catapulted to opposite ends of the earth: she to aristocratic England, and he to the trading hongs of Macao and the pirate seas of China. And left behind at home, growing stronger from her own desperate struggle, is Georgiana, the hired girl whose secret story entwines the fates of them all....
Selected by the Book-of-the-Month Club.
567 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1990
5 people are currently reading
186 people want to read
About the author
Thomas Tryon
26 books303 followersIt was Noel Coward’s partner, Gertrude Lawrence, who encouraged Tom to try acting. He made his Broadway debut in 1952 in the chorus of the musical Wish You Were Here. He also worked in television at the time, but as a production assistant. In 1955, he moved to California to try his hand at the movies, and the next year made his film debut in The Scarlet Hour (1956). Tom was cast in the title role of the Disney TV series Texas John Slaughter (1958) that made him something of a household name. He appeared in several horror and science fiction films: I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958) and Moon Pilot (1962) and in westerns: Three Violent People (1956) and Winchester '73 (1967). He was part of the all-star cast in The Longest Day (1962), a film of the World War II generation, credited with saving 20th Century Fox Studios, after the disaster of Cleopatra. He considered his best role to be in In Harm's Way (1965), which is also regarded as one of the better films about World War II.
While filming the title role in The Cardinal (1962), Tom suffered from Otto Preminger's Teutonic directing style and became physically ill. Nevertheless, Tom was nominated for a Golden Globe award in 1963. He appeared with Marilyn Monroe in her final film, Something's Got to Give (1962), but the studio fired Monroe after three weeks, and the film was never finished. That experience, along with the Cardinal ordeal, left Tom wary of studio games and weary at waiting around for the phone to ring.
After viewing the film Rosemary's Baby (1968), Tom was inspired to write his own horror novel, and in 1971 Alfred Knopf published The Other. It became an instant bestseller and was turned into a movie in 1972, which Tom wrote and produced. Thereafter, despite occasional film and TV offers, Tom gave up acting to write fiction full-time. This he did eight to ten hours a day, with pencil, on legal-sized yellow tablets. Years later, he graduated to an IBM Selectric.
The Other was followed by Lady (1975), which concerns the friendship between an eight-year-old boy and a mysterious widow in 1930s New England. His book Crowned Heads became an inspiration for the Billy Wilder film Fedora (1978), and a miniseries with Bette Davis was made from his novel Harvest Home (1978). All That Glitters (1986), a quintette of stories about thinly disguised Hollywood greats and near-greats followed. Night of the Moonbow (1989), tells of a boy driven to violence by the constant harassment he endures at a summer camp. Night Magic, about an urban street magician with wondrous powers, written shortly before his death in 1991, was posthumously published in 1995. The dust jackets and end papers of Tom's books, about which he took unusual care, are excellent examples of his gifts as an artist and graphic designer, further testimony to the breadth of his talents.
While filming the title role in The Cardinal (1962), Tom suffered from Otto Preminger's Teutonic directing style and became physically ill. Nevertheless, Tom was nominated for a Golden Globe award in 1963. He appeared with Marilyn Monroe in her final film, Something's Got to Give (1962), but the studio fired Monroe after three weeks, and the film was never finished. That experience, along with the Cardinal ordeal, left Tom wary of studio games and weary at waiting around for the phone to ring.
After viewing the film Rosemary's Baby (1968), Tom was inspired to write his own horror novel, and in 1971 Alfred Knopf published The Other. It became an instant bestseller and was turned into a movie in 1972, which Tom wrote and produced. Thereafter, despite occasional film and TV offers, Tom gave up acting to write fiction full-time. This he did eight to ten hours a day, with pencil, on legal-sized yellow tablets. Years later, he graduated to an IBM Selectric.
The Other was followed by Lady (1975), which concerns the friendship between an eight-year-old boy and a mysterious widow in 1930s New England. His book Crowned Heads became an inspiration for the Billy Wilder film Fedora (1978), and a miniseries with Bette Davis was made from his novel Harvest Home (1978). All That Glitters (1986), a quintette of stories about thinly disguised Hollywood greats and near-greats followed. Night of the Moonbow (1989), tells of a boy driven to violence by the constant harassment he endures at a summer camp. Night Magic, about an urban street magician with wondrous powers, written shortly before his death in 1991, was posthumously published in 1995. The dust jackets and end papers of Tom's books, about which he took unusual care, are excellent examples of his gifts as an artist and graphic designer, further testimony to the breadth of his talents.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
December 25, 2016
All I can say is WOW! This was a very powerful story. Thomas Tryon's foray into historical fiction is spot on.
Take a young woman who is inspired by Mary Wollstonecraft, a sea captain who is inspired by Byron, another you woman who loves Gothics and Byron, as well a a vast cast of characters and you have this wonderful story.
I am greatly looking forward to the next part of this series.
Take a young woman who is inspired by Mary Wollstonecraft, a sea captain who is inspired by Byron, another you woman who loves Gothics and Byron, as well a a vast cast of characters and you have this wonderful story.
I am greatly looking forward to the next part of this series.
March 6, 2012
Oh Boy, I thought this was a fluffy, boring, English love triangle but was pleasantly surprised to learn it took place in Connecticut around 1828. It involves 2 rival families, with the feud going back to the days of the Pequot War. The Grimes family lusts for power, land, and respect. The Talcott family achieves those without trying. What do you think happens when Sinjin Grimes falls in love with Aurora Talcott? Scandal, Kidnapping, and Head splitting....She is sent to England and he becomes Captain of th Adele and heads for Portugal. Both are suffering from broken hearts. She wants to end her life and injests rat poison and he can't understand why she doesn't answer his letters. Letters are intercepted by her well meaning sister and Aurora ends up marrying and English Lord.
Georgy Ross is best friends to both and she narrates the story. Her life is anything but boring. Her miller father is going crazy, she ends up working for the Talcotts, and is horrified when she learns the miller is not her real father, but the villian, Zion Grimes.
It is cliff hanging in parts and has a historical angle that made me open my atlas to check locations. There is an actual Pequot Reservation in Conn. north of New London.
Georgy Ross is best friends to both and she narrates the story. Her life is anything but boring. Her miller father is going crazy, she ends up working for the Talcotts, and is horrified when she learns the miller is not her real father, but the villian, Zion Grimes.
It is cliff hanging in parts and has a historical angle that made me open my atlas to check locations. There is an actual Pequot Reservation in Conn. north of New London.
May 16, 2009
The first in an unfinished series meant to be a trilogy, The Wings of the Morning is an engaging historical novel based on actual events that took place in Wethersfield, CT, the author's place of birth. Tryon took some liberties with history, moving some events from nearby towns into Pequot Landing, but Wings presents a vivid, reasonably accurate picture of 19th century life in this still beautiful CT River location.
June 11, 2019
Hard to know what exactly to make of it. The late Thomas Tryon, who was an actor until he turned novelist, seems somewhat nakedly to have used Wings of the Morning to prove to himself that he hadn't made a mistake somewhere along the way, that life left him exactly where he belonged. His subject matter in the story is fairly standard historical romance, the kind of stuff that was going out of fashion in Hollywood as the book made its way to publication. The main character, Georgie Ross, is never entirely convincing, and is a supporting player in the central tragic romance, and...yeah. That about sums it up. Tryon could surely write. Maybe his other material has better storytelling.
Read
April 17, 2011Could not finish. It just didn't grab me. I'll try again some other time when I can concentrate
July 22, 2020
I loved Thomas Tryon when I purchased this book many years ago. For some unknown reason, I never got around to reading it. I’m so happy that I discovered it hiding on my bookshelf, because it made for perfect pandemic reading. I loved this book!
June 15, 2016
This book was exhausting...the saga of three families, each with their various dysfunctions. The examination of the various classes in the society from the rich to the marginal...all with various drama, love, and heartbreak. The end was a disappointment because of its abruptness.
November 4, 2010
My favorite book!
January 4, 2016
it's a nice book, I don't mind reading it over again
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews