What do You think about The Hearth And Eagle (1980)?
Hesper Honeywood’s family has lived in Marblehead and run the Hearth and Eagle pub ever since the town’s founding around the 1630s, and she has grown up listening to her father extol the family’s rich history. Now, at the inception of the Civil War, her simple life is about to change when a local wise woman tells her future for a few coppers: She will have three men in her life, but she will know nothing but heartbreak.This is definitely not one of Seton’s best works. Frankly, I didn’t buy into Hester’s relationships given the reader’s introduction to her personality in initial chapters – especially with Porterman, whose relationship is particularly disturbing with nothing leading up to their marriage (they are just suddenly together). Seton is talented, but this book was not satisfying.
—Julia
I sometimes like these older books and so when I looked at the I found it was about Marblehead, MA and had some history in it about it's founding. My ancestors landed about the same time as the characters in the story, so I thought it would be interesting. Unfortunately there wasn't a whole lot about that period, although what was there was good. The rest of the book was about a family living through the second half of the 19th century, good enough to continue on, but certainly not one which I would have chosen otherwise. I'd never read Anya Seton before and she is a good writer, so that was some consolation.
—Bobbi
