Savage Oaks

by Julie Ellis

hard cover

Genres: Historical Romance

345 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1977

About the author

Librarians note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

From the inside cover of the Kappa Books edition of Eden:

Julie Ellis was born in Columbus, Georgia. She moved to New York at age 16 with her parents, after her high school graduation. Julie studied drama, and was part of the mid-'50s Off-Broadway scene as actress/playwright/co-producer. Seven of her plays were produced Off-Broadway and presented on the summer hotel/bungalow colony circuits. She wrote 76 sides of children's records (hitting BILLBOARD'S Bestseller List). Her first paperback novel was published in 1960 and between 1960 and 1974 she wrote 143 contemporary, gothic, romantic suspense novels and 3 non-fiction titles that were published by major paperback houses.

Julie has written one hardcover/softcover bestseller per year (a number of early paperback originals now being re-published in hardcover in the United Kingdom). Ellis is published in thirteen countries. A favorite among library readers across the country, Julie regularly appears on LIBRARY JOURNAL'S "Pre-publication Bestseller Lists." In 1993 she made the United Kingdom's Registrar of Public Lending Rights List of the most-read authors in the United Kingdom Library System (minimum of 300,000 loans per author).

A single mother since 1972 (first separated, then widowed), Julie considers her major productions her daughter Susan and her son Richard. Julie is a passionate environmentalist whose convictions appear regularly in her novels (the devastation of our Northwest forests in LOYALTIES, the unnecessary deaths caused by the tobacco industry in LASTING TREASURES, gun control in COMMITMENT). Julie is a vegetarian with occasional lapses due to social circumstances. She alternates between her Manhattan apartment and beach house in Montauk.

Reviews

[Ann Keller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ms. Ellis provides the reader with an intriguing portrait of New Orleans just before the Civil War. Young Suzanne Dupree is summoned from her Paris convent to the vast estate of Tintogel, where she assumes the position of its mistress. Little does she realize that an elaborate scheme is already in place to see her wed to her handsome neighbor, Keith Savage. Not only will the union save Savage Oaks, a once great plantation now poised on the brink of financial ruin, but it will also fulfill another step in the natural order of the life of a well bred gentleman.

Unfortunately, the briefly staged romance between Keith and Suzanne turns into a farce. Their wedding night becomes a disaster and Suzanne’s new position as Keith’s wife places her at loggerheads with those who have been raised on the plantations. They do not want to be replaced, nor do they embrace change. Little by little, however, Suzanne begins to uncover the truth about her own heritage, a mystery that remains cloaked behind the closed doors of the famous Mansion House, one of New Orleans’ best brothels. Can Keith and Suzanne rise above their difficulties to find true love? When all is at last revealed, will Suzanne be revered or reviled?

Ms. Ellis’ descriptions are so vivid and colorful that the reader has no difficulty imagining the dichotomy of the beautiful plantations and the more seedy sides of this great city of the south. This time period was a treasured era that has long since past, but one which returns to our memories every time we pause on the sanded porch boards, sip mint julep and sigh in the brief gasp of a warm Louisiana breeze.

[Chrisangel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good story. I wasn't sure I'd like it at first, because I read some books by this author that I didn't care for, but those were her later novels. If this one is any indication, I'd say her earlier works were better.