Beside the Still Waters

Deveroes #2

by Maryhelen Clague

They were the Deveroes -- mother and daughter -- fierce-willed and determined to have their way, inheritors of the vast Hudson River estate called Southernwood.

Emily -- Neither her father's fury, nor the threat of poverty could keep her from the man her heart had chosen: Fade Whitman. He was the man they all said was "beneath" her, and the man with whom she forged a triumphant love that was to endure through the generations...

Damaris -- Proud, splendid, and destined to know the anguish of a heart divided between two men -- and the secret torment that was to shadow a lifetime and threaten all that was most precious, all taht she had fought for, all that she lived for...

549 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1984

About the author

Also wrote under the name Ashley Snow.

Maryhelen Clague is a Florida native whose Great-Grandparents settled in Central Florida in 1876. She grew up in the Lakeland/Tampa area, attended Florida State University's Music School, then Union Theological Seminary in New York City. After her husband, an Episcopal clergyman, retired their family moved back to her Florida home where she resides today.

Reviews

[Anna Bowling · Rating 3 out of 5]

First things first, readers curious about this second entry in the Deveroe duology do not need to have read the first volume, as we pick up two generations later, in the early federal period. Readers with a special interest in the economics of the Hudson Valley region in this time period, this is your book.

While Ms. Clague's attention to detail is definitely here, and there are some excellent parts in the love stories of Emily and Fade, and their daughter and son-in-law, Wesley, I have to shelve this book in historical fiction rather than romance. I went into it expecting romance, though, and while there are parts of both love stories that are memorable, they take a back seat to the family saga elements. In that aspect, the book is stronger, so family saga fans, this one's for you.

I can easily envision this as a North and South (US) type miniseries from the late 80s, following the fortunes of a core family through American history. In that aspect, the book shines. As a romance, not so much, but I definitely learned a few things about that era in history.