A Single Hair (The Langbourne Trilogy Book 1)

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She marries a complete jerk that she doesn't know and suddenly is in love with. She moves from England to the American Colonies where spends all of her time wanting to hear her husband tell her that he loves her. She has a daughter with him. She has an attraction to another man, who she eventually sleeps with wh This was really bad. She has an attraction to another man, who she eventually sleeps with when she believes her husband has been killed in the Revolutionary War. She bears his child. The man later dies, which was kind of a one sentence side note and strange given his presence in the story up until this point.

Then her child with him dies. After her husband comes back from the war and figures out what she has done she had lied to him and told him the child was a servant's , he tricks her into going back to England to care for his mother who is supposedly ill. After arriving in England she finds out that her mother-in-law is fine and she has been sent away from her husband and daughter forever.

She ends up living with widowed vicar and his young son as the governess. At the end she accepts her life like it is and decides to stay in England and give up trying to get her daughter back. This book is supposed to be a Christian-based story, but I find it uninspiring and strange. Sep 24, Melanie rated it really liked it Shelves: However, I did get teary-eyed a few times and a couple hours after I finished it, I was still somewhat saddened by it. I loved Before the Scarlet Dawn up until I got about halfway - that is when the story started going downhill for me. It was just too sad. Aside from the sadness, I did really enjoy the story and found the characters to be great although I wish somethi http: Aside from the sadness, I did really enjoy the story and found the characters to be great although I wish something had happened differently.

Forgiveness and mercy play a big part in Before the Scarlet Dawn - and I loved that! It was very well written and that is probably another reason I found this book to be so moving. In some ways, Before the Scarlet Dawn reminded my of Heiress by Susan May Warren - because that book was also a novel with many highs and lows. This is only book one in Rita Gerlach's Daughters of the Potomac series and I have high hopes that happiness will be found in book two for certain characters.

A great novel that I recommend as long as you don't mind some sadness. I was not required to give a positive review, only my honest opinion - which I've done. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. Oct 05, Beks rated it liked it Shelves: That plot looks exactly like my cup of tea doesn't it?

This was a novel in which I lost my trust in the narrator and in the protagonist. Eliza seems to have the blind devotion to a man who really isn't the best choice for her.

If I were to tell you why it would be a pretty big spoiler, even for me so you would just have to read it to see why. It is this blind devotion which makes me question her as a character, if put in her same situation almost any other sane woman would defi That plot looks exactly like my cup of tea doesn't it? It is this blind devotion which makes me question her as a character, if put in her same situation almost any other sane woman would definitely have reacted differently.

She is also described as spirited in nature I don't see it. She obeys her husband in all things some of which are of a questionable nature once again read the book if you want to know what. What redeemed it and kept me reading was the fact that it wasn't your typical marriage plot novel. It started with a wedding and then went to attempt to explore it from there. Also Fiona was a wonderful supporting character, she is everything anyone could want in a nanny. Many thanks to Abingdon Press for giving me a free copy for review.

Mar 16, Ausjenny rated it really liked it Shelves: This was in interesting book. Eliza is a strong girl who knows her mind and wants to marry for love. Hayward is interesting hes had a rough upbringing which explains some of his thinking but at times he annoyed me. Its interesting how sometimes if a person just stepped back and looked at a situation as if it was someone else they would accept it but for themselves they just cant seem to think rationally.

This seems to happen with Hayward at times. Eliza and Heyward leave for America around the t This was in interesting book. Eliza and Heyward leave for America around the time the Revolutionary War is about to start and they must decide who to support. I found the story interesting and kept me interested to the end. I have to say there were many surprises in the book that I hadn't expected. Thanks to Netgalley for my review copy. I have found out this is the first of a trilogy which explains the ending of this book to a degree.

It leaves you wanting to know what happens next. I have to say not knowing if there would be more books when I ended last night left me with questions. Now I eagarly await the next book. Apr 09, Janna Ryan rated it liked it. I was so excited about this book because it is set in the American Revolution and there aren't a lot of books written about that time period unlike WWII. So I dove in with great anticipation and was introduced to an amazing character in Eliza. She is the kind of person that I would love to have as a friend and she shows that in the friendships she develops throughout the book.

My issue was that I didn't like her husband I tried, but I just couldn't. That may have been the point but I was so excited about this book because it is set in the American Revolution and there aren't a lot of books written about that time period unlike WWII. That may have been the point but he didn't deserve her - at all. And then when the story could have been ripe in forgiveness and redemption, it wasn't and left me really disappointed. Rita Gerlach has an incredible gift for settings and characters - this particular storyline just didn't do anything for me personally, but I know others out there will probably love it.

May 17, Lisa Brown rated it it was ok Shelves: When Eliza's father dies, she offers to marry the man she is in love with. He agrees to marry her, partly because of her amazing beauty, and partly because she is the only woman he knows who is willing to leave England and make a life in the frontier of the Colonies. However, once Eliza arrives at their home in Maryland, she realizes that Hayward cares more for the cause of freedom than for her, and he leaves to fight for their new country in the revolution. His absence brings trials that Eliza When Eliza's father dies, she offers to marry the man she is in love with.

His absence brings trials that Eliza never thought she would face. I don't know what to say about this story. It was a creative idea that was poorly written. The characters felt flat to me and I kept wanting to care for them, but never really did. And I really hated some of the plot developments. Jan 24, K P rated it really liked it. The story beguns in England in and moves across the ocean to the new world. Hayward Morgan English gentleman and Eliza Bloome vicar's daughter had no idea what to expect.

This novel ends with many questions unanswered. I can't wait for the next book in this series to find out what has happened to Howard and Eliza. I really enjoyed learning about what our ancestors may have experienced. We really have no idea how blessed our lives are because of the faith others lived out to endure very difficult times. Jun 11, Susette rated it it was ok. So many loved this book now I'm reading reviews.

This is a bit harsh but I don't know why.

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What was the reasoning behind it? Why did the author put her through such harsh, domineering relationships and awful things? I kept wading through the scriptural references hoping the moral of the story would be worth it but the moral seems only to be forgiveness which she could have made more poignantly through other means. Out if nowhere, no real tying up of loose ends, not really cathar So many loved this book now I'm reading reviews. Out if nowhere, no real tying up of loose ends, not really cathartic either. Just disappointing in all aspects for me. Glad it is over so I don't have to wonder about her anymore Nov 04, Roseanna White rated it really liked it.

A stirring story of love and its consequences, Before the Scarlet Dawn will draw you in from the start and not let you go again. Sep 12, Margaret Chind rated it really liked it Recommended to Margaret by: Then the sinus stuff happened as well as other book review deadlines and I just never got quite back to it. Well the other night I did not go to sleep, because I was up all night trying for just one more page to see what happens next.

First let me tell you I love having Rita Gerlach and her books on my blog, she is one of the reasons I love hosting www.

At the beginning of February, she stopped by an answered a few questions as well as shared a book trailer video for Before the Scarlet Dawn. You can also sneak a peak at the first chapter too. When I heard that she had this Daughters of the Potomac series coming out I was quite excited.

At that time I felt the book went a little too fast and wanted more detail, but as I said then in pages an author can only provide so much. I loved that book and knowing that was a debut I couldn't wait to see what might come next. Now, now I know you want my opinion, but wait. I had briefly seen previews and was not very interested, but I'm on a Hugh Jackman kick and it was necessary.

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I'll provide a real review of it later if I can form the words, but in short there was so much to happen, so much to absorb and learn from and experience along with the characters. It was a film that made me cry harder than I have in a while for a movie and afterwards you just have to kinda sit in silence to try to really take in everything.

That is how I feel after reading Before the Scarlet Dawn. While Surrender the Wind had more people and city interaction, outside of the very first introduction chapters Before the Scarlet Dawn takes place in a secluded environment, much as Catherine Richmond's Spring for Susannah. At first I felt that perhaps this would be similar with a marriage that did not exactly start in love. Let me stop here, I'm quite uncertain how to express myself clearly in this novel and to not give away too many spoilers.

I'll try my hardest not too, but if I give something away I apologize. Now, back to my thoughts Eliza is the daughter of the village Parson and quite smitten with the local gentry and as a turn of events plays out she is meant to be his wife and they venture to America. Out breaks war and life is thrown into turmoil. Something after another in a realistic and stressful manner seems to take place as the personalities of the characters come out intertwine and clash. Real emotions are shared as the reader gets to peak inside the mind and wonder what would I do in that situation.

I keep starting a sentence and deleting it to not give things away. While Eliza's husband Hayward is gone fighting, she is annoyingly in her opinion and mine pursued by the bachelor neighbor Halston who is quite useful from time to time. From the shores of England to America and back to England again, there are twists and turns that keep your imagination trying to stay ahead but continuously catching up with the plot.

Things change and happen that you really do not know and can hardly guess who the proverbial good guy and bad guy might be. I promise in the end, you'll be surprised as to how things end. But then at the same time, it's not over. Not only do we meet Eliza and share her joys and burdens, but we also come across her daughter Darcy - who I cannot even begin to image how everything is affecting her!

Luckily, even though it feels like it ended, there is more in a second book for Darcy's story Beside Two Rivers and then a third to hear of Sarah Beyond the Valley. Back to my mention of the film Australia. Before the Scarlet Dawn is about so much, just when you think things are coming to a close and settled you realize you still have several hundred pages left.

Then you feel like it could not possibly ever get better or happy ever again and that there is no possible solution or way out of a situation and then you see the light is coming back. There is no possible way without God's love. He is always there, he is there every step of every direction.

If he gives it to you, you can handle it but not maybe in the way you expected. This is quite real and fascinating, yet uncomfortable much in the way of Lady of Milkweed Manor. It's fabulous and keeps you going and enticed.

How on earth can anybody stand to wait to read the next book to find out what happens next? View all 4 comments. Main character was juvenile and hero was spoiled. Characters did not feel real but had multi personalities. Jul 27, Sarah rated it liked it Shelves: The only reason I am giving it three stars is that the second book redeemed it somewhat. I found this book lacking in a strong faith element that would have made the sad events at least feel used by God.

May 13, Lydia rated it liked it. I enjoyed the historical aspect of the novel, but felt conflicted on the characters. I would hardly call this a romance as it failed to deliver anything but disappointment. It did however set up the background for what I hope to be a better second novel. I felt disappointed by this book. Feb 13, Tina rated it it was amazing Shelves: Eliza is a daughter of the local vicar and Hayward is from a wealthy family.

After her father's death Eliza finds herself alone with only Fiona their servant and life long friend. The owner of the vicarage informs her she must leave immediately, within two weeks, taking nothing with her but her own personal belongings leaving all furnishings, books and even Fiona behind. While out riding to clear her mind and pray she encounters Hayward, whom she has not seen since childhood.

However, after talking with him a few minutes he informs her that he is not staying in England, he plans to marry and return to Maryland in the America's as soon as possible. Desperate, Eliza comes up with a plan to marry Hayward, whom she has loved since childhood, and travel to Maryland with him. However, he informs her that she can apply for a position in his mother's household but she is beneath his station to marry him. Although Hayward finds Eliza beautiful and strong-willed he plans to marry another woman of his own class.

However, his chosen bride refuses his proposal of marriage as she does not want to leave England and certainly not travel to and live in the wilds of Maryland. What choice does he have now but to return alone. Surprising events have Hayward and Eliza going against class distinctions and they marry, thus beginning their journey from England to Maryland in the America's.

Things do not go easy for either of them as they struggle to survive in this new land in the colonies. War breaks out and Hayward leaves to join in the Patriot cause in protecting this new land, leaving Eliza alone with their daughter Darcy and her beloved Fiona. Eliza falls in love with her new homeland-Maryland but it is harsher than she had been prepared for. While waiting for Hayward's return, she struggles along with Fiona to make a home for them and their daughter Darcy. Amid the isolation and hard work come other trials, losses, terror and unfriendly indians.

On learning of her husband's death, she is devastated and turns to the comfort of a neighbor which brings shame, joy and fear. Months pass and Eliza receives a letter informing her there had been a mistake, her beloved Hayward was not dead but alive. With joy and anticipation she prepares for his return from the war. But there is also shame and fear of him finding out the secret she carries.

What will his response be if he were to find out? He will be hurt and angry, but can he understand and forgive her? Does she dare chance telling him or hold onto her secret? Hayward comes home to the embrace of his lovely wife and daughter. He picks up his life, determined to make his home prosper. But there's something going on that he can't quite figure out. It is not long before he figures out Eliza's secret. In anger, embarrassment and unforgiveness he sends her away, far away to England How will she survive back in England with no money or place to stay?

When will she see her daughter again? Torn with grief, guilt and shame she struggles to make a living. Can God forgive her, can she forgive herself? In that forgiveness can she find peace? In sending Eliza away, will Hayward find release from his anger and forgive her or will his pride keep him in bondage? Will he turn to God and seek answers, even allow God to heal his wounded heart? This is an amazing story full of heartache and struggles, pain and loss, secrets, unforgiveness and forgiveness, love, faith and unexpected twists and turns and a surprising ending.

Living in Maryland I can picture the places Rita mentions in the book and love the history woven throughout the story and the characters. A fantastic story, I loved it! Aug 01, Annette rated it it was amazing. Before I begin this review I must tell you I became involved in this epic story. I've read many fiction books, but it is rare for me to become entangled in one. I began reading this book on Tuesday afternoon, pages later I finished at two o'clock in the afternoon on Wednesday.

I could not put this book down until I'd read the last sentence. Of course now I have to wait until October to find out how my beloved characters will proceed in their tale. Eliza Bloome age twenty-one is the daughter o Before I begin this review I must tell you I became involved in this epic story.

Eliza Bloome age twenty-one is the daughter of Vicar Matthias Bloome. They live in Darbyshire, England. The time period is Matthias is ill and expected to not live long. Their mother died when Eliza was young. Langbourne wishes to marry Eliza, promising her wealth and a lifestyle of ease. Eliza considers this proposal because she wonders what will become of her after her father's death.

Before the Scarlet Dawn by Rita Gerlach

Hayward Morgan is a handsome and proud man. He is independent, stoic, and demands respect. He has bought property and a home in an American Colony. While he is back in England he and Eliza become reacquainted. Eliza makes a bold decision. A decision she bases on faith. A decision that will have long-term consequences.

Eliza is a person that stands firm in decisions she feels strongly about. She wants to marry for love. Yet, she is young and inexperienced, and at a moment in her life when she is left reeling from grief, she chooses what appears to be best. I believe when we are young we make more decisions based on our emotion, and less on our what our mind tells us. I know I've been guilty of this. She is both lovely on the exterior and lovely in her inner person. Although not all people men are interested in her inner person. She is unprepared for the magnetic appeal she has on some people.

She laughs off what other's say of her, yet deep down she is hurt and troubled. Eliza is hard-working, intelligent, loving, kind, respectful. As bold as she is at times in speaking her mind, she respects maybe to a point of allowing inappropriate behavior. She is a heroine in that when life's piercing arrows dart at her, she clings to the One that is her Creator and Savior.

Hayward Morgan is a proud man. He is defiant in his pride. He is reserved and is intolerant. I had a difficult time with his character throughout all of the story. I just don't like him. Yet, I care about what happens to him. It is marvelous when an author can create an unlikable character and yet the reader cares what happens to him! Characters are probably the most important aspect for me in a good story. Yes, the theme and setting is important, but the characters are the icing on the cake.

I loved the history of the Revolutionary War in America. I loved the author presenting the feelings of the families of those that were in the war. Often I was moved by the mood of the story, and by the use of words that stirred my heart. I loved the symbolism used in this story. It is how it should be We are shown through this image her hopes and dreams. We see a freshness of youth and of possibilities.

Yes, I loved loved loved this book! Mar 13, Kathleen Kat Smith rated it it was amazing Shelves: For once I have read a book that I could not predict how it would end. Usually once a story presents itself you can kinda of figure out the logistics of how it will end but not in Before The Scarlet Dawn by Rita Gerlach. In this wonderful historical novel set in the first in Derbyshire, England we find our main character Eliza Bloome who is caring for her ailing father, the vicar of the church there.

While he lays dying he receives a letter from a man named Mr. Langbourne, who wishes to marr For once I have read a book that I could not predict how it would end. Langbourne, who wishes to marry Eliza so that she will not fall into poverty once he passes away. However Eliza wishes to marry for love only not for financial security.

So when he father passes away, she is given one week to vacate the church property and find other living arrangements. While riding through the country side one day, she happens upon a childhood friend, Hayward Morgan, the son of a wealthy family and wonders if perhaps he is interested in marriage. When he tells her he is not but that she might find work among his family's household in Havendale, she decides to try to find work there otherwise she will be homeless.

Upon arriving in Havendale, she overhears Hayward proposes to a well-to-do lady named Lilith Marsden who has her eyes set on Hayward's future inheritance, but when she learns that the marriage will involve leaving England and heading for property he has acquired in Maryland, she refuses. Now Eliza offers Hayward one more opportunity to propose marriage and move with him to Maryland to which he accepts, under the condition that Eliza understands, he does not love her.

Moving to River Run in the Maryland, Eliza and her maid, Fiona will have to endure the life of learning to live in frontier, but as long as Eliza has Hayward, she is convinced God will show Hayward's heart that love is possible. I did my first degree at Hull University. You still meet a few people who look down on a Hull degree -- usually snobs who have never got over the fact they went to Oxbridge -- though actually the teaching there was pretty good, and the place had some very bright lecturers and students; and in any case it was there that I was lucky enough to meet my wife Ann, the mother of my children and the dearest friend and lover of my life.

In those days Philip Larkin was the University Librarian. Everyone knew him, if only by sight: You wouldn't have suspected that side of him if you didn't know his work, of course: He didn't show all that much interest in the female students either, in fact, though he was of course very interested in them, as witness his poem about how the girls you have to tell to pull their socks up are always the ones whose pants you'd like to pull down. I wrote an essay about Larkin called 'The Man Outside the Window' that was published in some magazine, and might have been worth reading if I hadn't made the lazy mistake of attributing Swift's biting equation of happiness and being well-deceived to Dr Johnson.

Such lapses I am afraid are typical of the care and thought I brought to anything academic. After graduating I taught for a year at a terrifying comprehensive school in East Hull, and then did a leisurely year lecturing for about three days a week at a Teacher Training College in Heidelberg. My girl friend at that time had landed a job as a teaching assistant in Austria, and Heidelberg seemed close enough to enable us to stay in touch.

In the event we only got back together once: Since then the only real proper job I have done I don't count bookselling, which is mainly about liking books and buying enough of the good ones is serve as a guest Professor at the University of Maryland for eighteen months. By the time that came to an end I was married with children, and it was time to start making some money. My wife and I opened a bookshop in York - she already had a record shop - and then we added on a Vegetarian Cafe, and had four children in all, and then she died; and that was it for me as far as romantic love was concerned.

Best not to dwell on subsequent errors: The usual story, which I have always found too dull to be worth writing about. Who wants to relive something that wasn't worth living in the first place? And who would want to read about it if you did? My children are the one shining achievement of my life -- without them I think I would find the present stage of existence pretty well pointless. My eldest son is a Physicist and my eldest daughter is a Painter, and my youngest daughter is a Film Editor and my youngest son is an Animator, so even though I have misspent much of my own life running shops at least our children are doing something fulfilling and creative, which is all I would wish for anyone: Recently I have has a hip replacement and have been convalescing in a small white-walled flat on the outskirts of Cambridge, which I think of as a cross between the terminal bedroom at the end of of ' Space Odyssey' and Kuno's cell-like apartment in EM Forster's prophetic story 'The Machine Stops.

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The downside is that I don't get much opportunity to interact with other people, including my youngest son, the Animator, who lives with me but whom I rarely see because he works all night and sleeps all day , but as anyone who has tried to conduct a family life and write at the same time will know, these are perfect circumstances for anyone with a novel to write. The novel I'm working on at the moment is part of a projected trilogy called 'The Engineer's Children' about a world divided along gender lines.

The first volume, 'The Boy Scully', is set in an exclusive public school called Melton. Because the school is for boys only the reader doesn't actually notice the absence of females until about half-way through. Inevitably all the men are either celibate or gay, there being no other option on offer. The second volume will deal with the woman's side of the story. Best to leave it there for now: But I often get into trouble with interest groups.

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I remember being at a party in North London once and meeting a woman in who ran a protest group called 'Women in Black'. I asked why membership was restricted to women only, and she demanded to know what was wrong with that. When I said it seemed a bit sexist she exploded with fury, and she and all her friends turned on me like tigers.

I still don't know what I said that was so unspeakable. Anyone interested in hearing more of this kind of thing can call up my blog about my experiences in convalescence, including the books I've been reading and re-reading, called 'Inside the Machine'. Are you an author?

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