Dreamland by Nancy Bilyeau
#bookreview #gwendalyn’sbooks #thrdreamland @tudorscribe @endeavourquill #dreamland #blogtour
Hello Bookish Friends, and welcome to my stop on the Dreamland blog tour! A big thank you to Endeavour Quill for the invitation and for the gifted book!
Dreamland
Endeavour Quill
- Paperback: 386 pages
- Publisher: Endeavour Media (January 16, 2020)
- Publishing Date:January 16, 2020
The year is 1911 when twenty-year-old heiress Peggy Batternberg is invited to spend the summer in America’s Playground.
But the invitation to Coney Island is unwelcome. Despite hailing from one of America’s richest families, Peggy would much rather spend the summer at the Moonrise Bookstore where she works voluntarily, than keeping up appearances with Brooklyn socialites and her snobbish, controlling family.
But soon it transpires that the hedonism of Coney Island affords Peggy more of the freedom she has been longing for. For one, she finds herself in love with a troubled pier-side artist of humble means, whom the Batternberg patriarchs would surely disapprove of.
Disapprove they may, but hidden behind their pomposity lurks a web of deceit, betrayal and deadly secrets. And as bodies begin to mount up amidst the sweltering clamour of Coney Island, it seems the powerful Batternbergs can get away with anything…even murder.s
It is up to Peggy to overcome the oppression of her family and clear the name of her vulnerable lover, before she or her beloved sister become the next victims of Dreamland.
Extravagant, intoxicating and thumping with suspense, bestselling Nancy Bilyeau’s magnificent Dreamland is a story of corruption, class and dangerous obsession.
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Praise for Dreamland
‘Achingly believable’ – Publishers Weekly
“This fast-paced, engrossing novel from Bilyeau (“Joanna Stafford” mysteries) gives readers an up-close and personal view of New York’s Gilded Age, from the flash and glamour of the decadently wealthy to the hardscrabble conditions of newly arrived immigrants.” – Library Journal
‘Beautifully written and impeccably researched, Dreamland is a rollicking ride.’ – Fiona Davis, bestselling author of The Chelsea Girls
‘A marvelous book!’ – Ellen Marie Wiseman, bestselling author of What she Left Behind and The Life she was Given
‘Bilyeau’s thrilling novel plunges deep into Dreamland’s maze of pleasure and menace’ – Marlowe Benn, bestselling author of Relative Fortunes
‘Nancy Bilyeau’s passion for history infuses her books’ – Alison Weir
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
#Review
Have you been to America’s Playground? Coney Island?
I’ve always wanted to visit.
Dreamland has Coney Island as a backdrop, and it’s 1911.
This book was received from the Author, and Publisher, in exchange for an honest review. Opinions and thoughts expressed in this review are completely my own
Dreamland is a suspenseful historical fiction of obsession and desire.
This fascinating portrait of the end of the Gilded Age was a fabulous start to 2020. Set in New York 1911, the Battenberg family are one of the richest in America, with the Vanderbilts and Rockerfellas,
Peggy Battenberg is a young heiress who struggles against the bonds of societal restrictions placed on women of her class. Peggy, against her families wishes takes a job at the Moonrise Bookstore, and lives with her ex teacher. When her family intervenes, and she is told that she is required to take a summer vacation at the Oriental Hotel, a once-grand oceanfront resort on Coney Island. For the sake of her sister Lydia, who is engaged to the rich Henry Taul, Peggy succumbs to her family’s wishes.
Nancy Bilyeau’s writing catapults you into this vibrant outstanding thriller set in end of Gilded Age. Dreamland is a splendid, intoxicating book, with plenty of multi layered suspense.
Nancy Bilyeau delivers an extremely entertaining storyline, with captivating underlying tension. This gripping, perfectly paced and well-written read here that I absolutely loved how seamlessly and cleverly written this story was, and thought the author did a fabulous job with the delivery. I was totally invested all the way through to the satisfying end.
Dreamland and the rest of Coney Island is an intoxicating, hedonistic and full of life. Peggy gets to experience life from a completely different perspective than she has ever before. Mixing with artists, dancers, the inhabitants of Lilliput, along with food vendors. There is also a sinister side to this plot line, that adds an intriguing twist to the book that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Scandal and intrigue along with family drama makes for an extraordinary thought-provoking novel. A fabulous mystery/thriller that I was immediately drawn into and devoured quickly.
About Nancy Bilyeau
Nancy Bilyeau has worked on the staffs of InStyle, DuJour, Rolling Stone, Entertainment Weekly, and Good Housekeeping. She is currently the deputy editor of the Center on Media, Crime and Justice at City University of New York and a regular contributor to Town & Country, Purist, and The Vintage News.
A native of the Midwest, she earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. THE CROWN, her first novel and an Oprah pick, was published in 2012; the sequel, THE CHALICE, followed in 2013. The third in the trilogy, THE TAPESTRY, was published by Touchstone in 2015. The books have also been published by Orion in the UK and seven other countries.
On December 3, 2018, THE BLUE, her fourth novel, will be published in the United States and the United Kingdom. A novel of suspense set in the rivalrous art and porcelain worlds of 18th century Europe, it features a young female artist turned spy.
Nancy lives in New York City with her husband and two children.
For this novel, Nancy drew on her own Huguenot background. In 1661, Nancy’s ancestor, Pierre Billiou, emigrated from France to what was then New Amsterdam when he and his family sailed on the St. Jean de Baptiste to escape persecution for their Protestant beliefs. Pierre built the first stone house on Staten Island and is considered the borough’s founder. His little white house is on the national register of historic homes and is still standing to this day.
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