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Imaginary Brightness

(Durant Family Saga #1)

Sheila Myers (Goodreads Author)

3.75 · Rating details · 57 ratings · 10 reviews

"History, like love, is so apt to surround her heroes with an atmosphere of imaginary brightness." - James Fenimore Cooper, Last of the Mohicans. Set in the 1870s, the dawn of the Gilded Age, and while the American economy is reeling from over-speculation in railroads, the Durant family saga tells the story of William West Durant and his sister Ella, the children of the po ...more

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Paperback, 318 pages

Published May 8th 2015 by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

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May 26, 2018 Joe Krakovsky rated it it was amazing

More often than not, the books that I really enjoy are the ones that I can relate to in one way or another. Sometimes it is the events, while at other times it is the location that endears me to the protagonists and their tale. In this case it was a little of both. Sheila Myers' book 'Imaginary Brightness' is set in both the past and present Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. I say past and present because though the real meat of the store is the events in the lives of the Durant Family i More often than not, the books that I really enjoy are the ones that I can relate to in one way or another. Sometimes it is the events, while at other times it is the location that endears me to the protagonists and their tale. In this case it was a little of both. Sheila Myers' book 'Imaginary Brightness' is set in both the past and present Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York. I say past and present because though the real meat of the store is the events in the lives of the Durant Family in the late 1800s, the author ties them to the present in the form of a discovered hidden diary. In my opinion, she achieved this quite well as lose ends were tied up, but not in the hurried fashion of some who appeared rushed to meet a word count quota or a deadline.

The story starts out with the family being told that they are leaving the comfort and high society of London to travel to that god-forsaken outback in America, where they will be far from friends and creature comforts. Dr. Durant has big plans, not only for another railroad, but to acquire as much land as possible, and then develop it to be sold for profit. You have the usual cast of characters, and I found no fault with the story line or character development. As a matter of fact, being fascinated with this period of history, I was actually thrilled to read about such mundane things as taking tea in high society.

While my personal experiences were not in the locations stated, it was easy for me to relate nonetheless. While they spoke of the great forests and wildlife in the mountains, my wife and I discovered that similar things could actually exist in the state of Illinois! Leaving the crowded subdivisions with McMansions springing up like mushrooms after summer rains, we found forests and farmlands as far as the eye could see. And if you looked hard enough, you could discover an abundant wildlife far different from that of a Chicago suburb. So, in a way, we too were off for a great adventure.

In the story the family has cabins built in the wilderness. On our first trip here we stayed in state park log cabins built by the CCC in the 1930s. While we didn't have a mountain, we did have several large canyons to explore. As I read the book I kept relating it to our own experiences. In the story William sees what his father is doing with the logging and mining as raping the land. In a sense this was something else I could relate to with some of the present day factory farms, mines and quarries.

The story had some unexpected developments which added just the right touch of spice to liven up the stew. This was no bland hospital food. The one part I really liked was when Elle, who seemed self-centered at times, found out a poor girl had high hopes of getting a real job. Elle asked what she was going to wear for her interview. In embarrassment, the girl's non-verbal response was that she had nothing but the threadbare item she was wearing. Elle said that would never do and not only did she insist on the girl wearing one of her outfits, but she also wrote a fine letter of recommendation being as her father was a close business associate.

I not only enjoyed the story but all the effort that went into the research for this work. Some are gifted enough to compose a story that doesn't need to rely on facts. They blind you with imaginary brightness. I think Sheila's work was really her term paper, but don't tell anybody.

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Aug 21, 2016 Mercedes Rochelle rated it liked it · review of another edition

I read this book because I am totally enamored with Lake Raquette and the Adirondacks in general, and wanted to learn more about the famous Durant family. As I should have suspected, there is much more tabloid-style gossip than historical fiction to this book, so I came away with little understanding beside the knowledge that it was William the son who built the lodges and camps rather than Dr. Durant the father. That part was interesting to me. It was amazing that Dr. Durant kept this project g ...more

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Jul 28, 2015 Theresa And rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

An insight into the Durant Family.

I bought this book at the General Store in Raquette Lake in the Adirondacks in July ,2015. I will turn 90 in November and my 4 children decided to each spend a week with me at our cabin on the Raquette River near Tupper Lake that was built in 1971 but not completely finished. As a young Family we had enjoyed Camping at Eighth Lake,Golden Beach,Corey's at Indian Carry with the Whittum Family at Camp Hiawatha. We spent many hours visiting the Great Camps with Adir ...more

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Sep 25, 2019 Kathy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

I enjoyed this book about the Durant family in the Adirondacks. I stayed at the great camp North of Inlet and it brought all of Ms. Myer's writing to life. Very interesting and a fast read. ...more

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May 15, 2015 Linda Fagioli-Katsiotas rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This book is so full of tasty tidbits; I don’t know where to start. It’s an historical fiction in which the author adeptly juxtaposes two very interesting tales. In one, she shows the saga of Thomas Durant’s children, Ella and William, as their father unscrupulously uses the land in the Adirondack Mountains of New York during the late 1800s to amass the family wealth. The other is a modern love story, more than a hundred years later, between twenty-eight-year-old researcher, Avery, studying the This book is so full of tasty tidbits; I don’t know where to start. It’s an historical fiction in which the author adeptly juxtaposes two very interesting tales. In one, she shows the saga of Thomas Durant’s children, Ella and William, as their father unscrupulously uses the land in the Adirondack Mountains of New York during the late 1800s to amass the family wealth. The other is a modern love story, more than a hundred years later, between twenty-eight-year-old researcher, Avery, studying the habits of the owl in that same area and Jake, an inhabitant of the area.

Both accounts as Myers switches between present and past, keep the reader riveted to the pages. I love how Meyers uses the owl research to symbolize Avery’s relationship with Jake, specifically the one male owl that she seems unable to catch and tag. A more overt example is when Avery responds to a question about her research by saying, “I’m trying to discover why males of the species are so hard to track.” Also, within the 1800s account, there is the underlying theme of profit versus preservation as Myers' characters describe Durant’s intentions by saying that he is going to “rape the Adirondack wilderness and bring crystal and fine china to the woods,” while at the same time, the government is being lobbied by others to preserve that land, and Myers interjects with the timeless frustration of people against power: “the unappreciative idiots in Albany have no idea . . . of the vast resources this region has to offer. ”

Myers also cleverly but subtly shows the clash of culture between the natives of the region and the aristocracy that will vacation there. In one example, William stops local boys from hunting in a way that he feels is unfair to the game and berates them asking what kind of sport would allow the game to be so unfairly challenged. The local boy responds, “ We ain’t doing it for sport sir. We’re doing it to feed our family.”

In addition to a wonderful story that keeps the reader engaged and unable to put the book down, Myers has some very nice imagery, such as “the sleigh slogged along, crushing the snow with a sound like thousands of eggshells breaking in its wake.”

The only complaint I have—and it’s a small one—is that the mystery behind the old diary belonging to someone named Minnie, that Avery finds and strings the reader along with its writer’s excerpts, is resolved too fast and simplistically. I wanted Minnie to have some kind of meaningful self-discovery. However, the overall story is very good and I recommend it wholeheartedly. It is a tale in which you will find yourself gasping in alarm at the unexpected turns in the story and you will miss the characters when they are gone.
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Jul 21, 2015 Amy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads-giveaways-read

Wonderfully done historical novel about the Durant family and their life in the Adirondacks alternating with a modern story about the same location. The author does a great job of weaving past and present together to create an engaging and entertaining story.

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Jun 09, 2015 Deirdre rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, author-new-to-me, historical-fiction, giveaway

Disclosure: I won a free copy of this book from a goodreads giveaway. Hooray!!

Imaginary Brightness by Sheila Myers tells the story of William Durant, the wealthy son of a railroad tycoon. His father wants to establish a new line in the Adirondacks even though the area is largely unsettled, except by a few Native Americans and rough mountain men. William must move to this wilderness and build a luxury base camp so his father can entertain investors and attract new settlers.

Going into this book, ...more

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Dec 09, 2017 A.M. Clyne rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

All three of Ms. Myers books on the Durant family are amazing! Each one is written in a different style/POV. This one starts the saga in 1873; we meet the Durants and learn who they are, their place in history. It interestingly jumps between centuries - 1870s to 2010, adding an interesting twist to the plot and taking some poetic license to fill in holes in the history of the real Durant family. I LOVED her depiction of the Iroquois who were an indelible part of this region. I was devastated whe ...more

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Jan 02, 2016 Ronda Wian rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Adirondacks at it's best.

Always history of any area is fun to read about. But in the stomping grounds of James Fenmore Cooper. Made this a must read . Great characters in this tale . Of families trying trying to build empires. I didn't care for past and current storylines. But well worth reading. You can judge your self. ...more

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Dec 01, 2016 Donna Zigmont rated it liked it · review of another edition

It took me quite a long time to read this book. I wanted to like it more than I did. But it just didn't have the pace I like. It dragged in parts and some of it was just simply boring. I liked the diary excerpts but could've done without the present day story line. ...more

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AMERICAN HISTORIC...: Durant Family Saga Sequel to Hell on Wheels	7	16	Sep 30, 2020 08:39AM
AMERICAN HISTORIC...: William West Durant	2	5	Oct 25, 2019 07:10AM
Book Trailers - C...: MAY 2015 - POLL WINNER	3	30	May 21, 2015 04:29PM

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About Sheila Myers

Sheila Myers

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Sheila Myers is a Professor at a college in Upstate NY and an award winning author of four novels. She is a member of the Women's Fiction Writers Association and the Historical Novel Society. When she is not teaching she likes to write, swim, and hike. Not always in that order.

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