I am unabashedly an Emilie Richards fan. This book is one of my favorite sequels to one of my favorite books, Iron Lace. I am a fan of sequels ~~ I am always curious to what happens in the next generation or two. How do the choices a character in a previous book affect the other characters that were barely named in the first book? It's a great concept and I think Richards did a great job exploring that in this book.

There are nine characters in this book and how their lives entwined make for a great reading. There is Hugh, Aurora's son, who died but his presence is still felt among the rest of the characters. There is Dawn, Hugh's niece, Aurora's granddaughter, there is Ferris, Aurora's son and his wife, Cappy. There is Philip, Nicky, his mother and Ben, Hugh's friend and the poor agiated lawyer who is executor of the will. Forced to spend four days at Aurora's favorite summer place ~~ they all discover how they are all related.

It makes for great entertaining reading and I loved every page of it. It is not that often when you find a author who writes well and manages to entertain you at the same time ~~ especially when you're stricken with the flu bug.

11-9-03

Rising Tides, the sequel to Iron Lace,wasn't as interesting as I thought it was going to be. I read Iron Lace first and couldn't wait to read Rising Tides to find out what happened. It seemed like the author got writer's block a couple of times. This book seemed to me like it was the story of Hugh, Aurore's oldest son. The parts where Hugh was overseas during the war were boring and very drawn out. The characters didn't seem to be as well developed for this second novel. Iron Lace seemed very interesting with all of the flashbacks but to me the author found a good thing (the flashbacks) and ran it into the ground. The book did seem to get good towards the end. I would recommend this book if you've read Iron Lace only so you can find out the rest of the story. Borrow it from the library though, it's not worth buying.

Emilie Richards is a very talented writer; her books, including this one, are worth the money. I was addicted to reading this book and stayed up late every night for a week to find out what happened next. The plot twists kept me pleasantly surprised, and the book is full of little denouments rather than one slam-bang ending. I recommend reading the prequel to this first, Iron Lace, since this book probably won't make much sense unless you know some background.

In 1965 Louisiana, the last will of Aurore Gerritsen is to be read to a select group of relatives and friends. However, this is no ordinary reading as the deceased, being of sound mind, left very lucid and specific instructions. Her will is to be read over four days at Aurore's summer cottage on a remote bayou island to nine people. Anyone who leaves before the full reading forfeits their portion of the inheritance which could be sizable since Aurore owned Gulf Coast Shipping. ...... Over the next few days, Aurore's secrets become known in small bites. The family begins to take sides against each other and then there is the outsiders, a black family whose son is the only person who knows the entire story since he heard it from Aurore (in the prequel). As a hurricane approaches the island, everyone knows a segment of the full tale. To survive the hurricane and to share the inheritance, Aurore's potential heirs need to start working together rather than continue to tear one another to pieces. If they fail to stop their bickering and reduce the tension, they may find they have more than a nasty storm to survive. ...... RISING TIDES is an exciting, extremely explosive period piece that makes the turbulent sixties seem dramatically potent and alive. The realistic but different personas of the characters and the brutal issues they confront make Emilie Richards' novel a great southern heater that will remind fans of Faulkner. This book and her previous tale that included Aurore (IRON LACE) are great and are highly recommended reads. ......Harriet Klausner