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Caroline Fane #1
Savage Eden
SCUFFING, CREASING AND EDGE WEAR ON COVERS AND SPINE. FRONT COVER SHOWS DISCOLORATION AT TOP. STICKER RESIDUE AT TOP OF FRONT COVER. BLACKED OUT AREA INSIDE FRONT COVER. AGE TANNING INSIDE COVERS AND ON PAGES. MUSTY ODOR.
362 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
About the author
Constance Gluyas
20 books7 followersConstance Gluyas was born in London in the lean years following World War I and left school at the age of fourteen to go to work. During World War II, she served in the Women's Royal Air Force and supervised the main switch-board with a direct line to Europe during the Normandy invasion.
After moving to California, where she lives with her husband, Donald, and daughter, Diane, Mrs. Gluyas began her career as a writer.
After moving to California, where she lives with her husband, Donald, and daughter, Diane, Mrs. Gluyas began her career as a writer.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 6, 2019
I couldn't get past page 69. As soon as the characters meet the writting is amateurish and unrealistic, horrible dialogue.
April 13, 2020
Well that was certainly a surprise...much better, and also more serious in tone than I was expecting, oh and I will never be able to think of the term "old biddy" again without grotesque visions dancing through my head after having been exposed to "Miss Biddy", she's a truly creeptastic "villain".
One never quite knows what to expect of these 70's gems with their tempestuous descriptions and passionate covers...you could end up with a racy romance, fabulous OR ponderous historical fiction, tepid descriptions, explicit descriptions, bodice-rippery or bosom buddies...
This one is not for the faint of heart but nor is it for the wackadoodle thrill seekers, its a historical adventure with a doomed-from-the-start romantic couple at its center (but eventually it encompasses many other secondary characters who come to the forefront) and that focuses heavily on the characters and their thoughts and emotions (vs being heavy on the scenery ie - historical period detail, its not a wallpaper historical but the people and their relationships are the focus here).
Content: There's a difference when an author puts in "uncomfortable content" for the shock value or the salaciousness of it, and when an author is writing the story exactly how they see it happening...uncomfortable or no. And while some of the more or less "salacious" content in the first half does feel a bit more formulaic and common to the genre/era, the "uncomfortable moments" in the second half feel very real and very uncomfortable (think a little more serious and disturbing than smutty). Constance Gluyas does a really good job of balancing that cruder content with emotional weight that probably contributes to it being more realistic creepy cray (Trust me there’s no kinky silver lining to Miss Biddy’s sexual psychosis) than inexplicable OTT fun cray.
Quick rundown: the book takes place in four main parts/settings, the beginning in England where our Justin (our H) & Caroline (our h) are both about to be hanged (for unrelated crimes, of which he is guilty of his, while she was innocent of hers) and are rescued by the H's brother. During their recovery they get to know one another. The second part is the more pastoral and takes place on the brothers estate where romance eventually blossoms but so does the return to a life of crime, ending in a tragic accident and the recapture of our H & h. After a brief interlude at Newgate our duo find themselves on a ship to the New World as indentured slaves. This third part is the perils they face as slaves on board the ship (torture, rape, typhoid...ya know, just another pleasure cruise:)
The last section takes place on the Plantation where they are sold. The owner (shockingly) is actually a decent guy, but there are plenty of people there who are not including the aforementioned (cringe) Miss Biddy (the owners wife). Here the story really diverts from our H & h to encompass a wide supporting cast: the house keeper Mindy, a black woman and ex-lover of the owner, and Eliza, a young white maid who's in love with Moon, one of the black field slaves - all of whom you come to care for. There's a lot of ugliness that happens here but also a lot of various kinds of actual love (and sacrifice).
I definitely cared a lot more for Caroline (especially in the latter part of the story) than I did for Justin and his Peter Pan complex. That being said it was all those secondary story lines and characters that really charged the last half for me. The end is sort of HEA but also obviously leaves it open to the next book with some sub plots not wrapped up.
Content Warnings: Rape, Beating/Maiming/Flogging, Sexual/Child Abuse, and lots of very (nowadays) un PC things.
One never quite knows what to expect of these 70's gems with their tempestuous descriptions and passionate covers...you could end up with a racy romance, fabulous OR ponderous historical fiction, tepid descriptions, explicit descriptions, bodice-rippery or bosom buddies...
This one is not for the faint of heart but nor is it for the wackadoodle thrill seekers, its a historical adventure with a doomed-from-the-start romantic couple at its center (but eventually it encompasses many other secondary characters who come to the forefront) and that focuses heavily on the characters and their thoughts and emotions (vs being heavy on the scenery ie - historical period detail, its not a wallpaper historical but the people and their relationships are the focus here).
Content: There's a difference when an author puts in "uncomfortable content" for the shock value or the salaciousness of it, and when an author is writing the story exactly how they see it happening...uncomfortable or no. And while some of the more or less "salacious" content in the first half does feel a bit more formulaic and common to the genre/era, the "uncomfortable moments" in the second half feel very real and very uncomfortable (think a little more serious and disturbing than smutty). Constance Gluyas does a really good job of balancing that cruder content with emotional weight that probably contributes to it being more realistic creepy cray (Trust me there’s no kinky silver lining to Miss Biddy’s sexual psychosis) than inexplicable OTT fun cray.
Quick rundown: the book takes place in four main parts/settings, the beginning in England where our Justin (our H) & Caroline (our h) are both about to be hanged (for unrelated crimes, of which he is guilty of his, while she was innocent of hers) and are rescued by the H's brother. During their recovery they get to know one another. The second part is the more pastoral and takes place on the brothers estate where romance eventually blossoms but so does the return to a life of crime, ending in a tragic accident and the recapture of our H & h. After a brief interlude at Newgate our duo find themselves on a ship to the New World as indentured slaves. This third part is the perils they face as slaves on board the ship (torture, rape, typhoid...ya know, just another pleasure cruise:)
The last section takes place on the Plantation where they are sold. The owner (shockingly) is actually a decent guy, but there are plenty of people there who are not including the aforementioned (cringe) Miss Biddy (the owners wife). Here the story really diverts from our H & h to encompass a wide supporting cast: the house keeper Mindy, a black woman and ex-lover of the owner, and Eliza, a young white maid who's in love with Moon, one of the black field slaves - all of whom you come to care for. There's a lot of ugliness that happens here but also a lot of various kinds of actual love (and sacrifice).
I definitely cared a lot more for Caroline (especially in the latter part of the story) than I did for Justin and his Peter Pan complex. That being said it was all those secondary story lines and characters that really charged the last half for me. The end is sort of HEA but also obviously leaves it open to the next book with some sub plots not wrapped up.
Content Warnings: Rape, Beating/Maiming/Flogging, Sexual/Child Abuse, and lots of very (nowadays) un PC things.
August 19, 2022
This was a very good story about Caroline and how she meets Rogue Lawrence. How they both run for there lives, only to be caught and sent to a plantation in Lew of death. How they eventually escape , to be free.
May 16, 2020
Very good very bad bits and good bits.
January 4, 2022
I love it
January 17, 2025
What a nail biting book! I couldn’t put it down , the story was so full of twists and turns ! I couldn’t put it down!
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews