PASSIONS OF EMMA

[Mona Montana]

Was so relieved to read these comments. Thought maybe it was just me.
Ordinarily, I love a beautifully written saga, which this was. Even knowing
it was coming, when Bria died, a little of me went with her. And it did
take her death for me to realize she was the character who had held me so
closely to this story. The heart wrenching sadness overwhelmed me for the
rest of the story. When I finished, I wished I didn't know what I knew.
Yes, I'm glad I read it. No, I'll never reread it. But I will read
Williamson again - the writing was magnificent.

Mona :)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

>Cheryl St. John writes: "I am just finishing THE PASSIONS OF EMMA by
>Penelope Williamson. I have very mixed feelings about it right now. I
love
>her writing, but the story is just so sad. Maybe I'll feel better when
I've
>gotten to the end, but I don't think so. I just adored the Bria character,
>and the author never mislead me--I knew Bria was doomed from the
get-go--but
>that doesn't make it any easier to accept.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>The other thing I want to say about it is that I agree with everyone who
>said that the relationship between Emma and Bria was stronger, more
>emotional and more true than the relationship between Shay and Emma. Though
>overall the book didn't move me to transports, Bria did.>
>Katy Cooper,

[Alice Duncan]

This is so interesting! I love Penelope Williamson and most of her
books. I thought HEART OF THE WEST was one of the best sagas I've
read. I couldn't finish PASSIONS. This probably has a lot to do with
my personal distaste for angst. Even the writing seemed -- I can hardly
believe I'm actually going to write this -- overblown in spots. Sheesh,
what a stupid thing to say. Williamson is rich and I'm not. That's my
all-time absolute gauge for what works and what doesn't in the book
biz. Anyway, feel free to ignore my opinion, but I'm glad I wasn't
the only one who was disturbed by parts of this book.

Alice (adu...@lookingglass.net)
Bittersweet Summer, by Rachel Wilson, Jove Haunting Hearts, June 1999
A Gentle Magic, by Emma Craig, Leisure, June 1999
http://lookingglass.net/~aduncan/

[Bernadette Cronk]

I loved every sentence in PASSIONS OF EMMA. In my head I gave it 5
stars - as many as I gave to Patricia Gaffney's THE SAVING GRACES due out
soon. [Please do not forget this Gaffney one! Mind you I will remind you
at every turn. :) ]
Superb, both! So emotional if you are into emotional reads like I
am.

Penelope Williamson is a class act. Love her stuff. WHEN is her
next book due out, does anyone know? And what is it to be about? I read
everything she writes as soon as I can
get my eager little hands on it.

So looking forward to Mica's [Alison Kent's] new one, too.
I had to take time to read the first bit on the web site, Mica.
Did you choose that title? :) What a ploy! :)

And I saw your photo!!!!! You look close to my mental
image, except for the glasses [very cute! :)] which I hadn't
envisaged. :) Great getting to put faces to names.

One question: I am gonna be in various parts of Canada
in July when this is on the shelves. Does Canada put books
on shelves at the same time as the States? [Australia, of course,
doesn't. <groan> ]

I can't believe I am looking forward to reading something
called THE BADGE AND THE BABY. <bg>

Mica, that is a classy site. But I only know you and Patricia
Ryan out of all the writers on that site. The power of this
listserve! Yes! :)

Bernadette (hoping everyone in the tornado area is safe????
Please tell me! All these disasters going on
in the states. <lord, you guys!> Wanna come
live at my place? I worry for you!)

[Janet Fear]

On Wed, 5 May 1999, Bernadette Cronk wrote:
>
> One question: I am gonna be in various parts of Canada
> in July when this is on the shelves. Does Canada put books
> on shelves at the same time as the States? [Australia, of course,
> doesn't. <groan> ]

I think categories come out at the same time -- but single titles seem to
lag behind by a couple of weeks.

Where in Canada are you going to be?

[Beth Stegenga]

> From: Bernadette Cronk [mailto:cro...@usq.edu.au]

> Penelope Williamson is a class act. Love her stuff.
> WHEN is her next book due out, does anyone know? And what is it to be
> about? I read everything she writes as soon as I can
> get my eager little hands on it.

I, too, love Penelope Williamson. I am her unpaid publicist (g). However,
Passions was not my favorite of hers (Once in a Blue Moon and Heart of the
West are tied for that favor). But, as usual, the writing was superb. Yet
I never believed Shay loved Emma, and felt that Emma was throwing her life
away for someone who didn't love her like he should. After reading Heart of
the West, I wanted another man like Rafferty. I mean, there was never any
doubt how much he loved Clemintine. Sigh. (g)

That said, I own ALL her books, and would never consider giving them away.
They are all permanent keepers.

So ends my long lead up to Bernadette's question. (g) I asked this same
question on RWALINK, and Candice Proctor, Penelope's sister, told me that
Penelope is currently writing her next book. It's called Sins of the Flesh,
and takes place in New Orleans, around the turn of the century, I think she
said. However, ARGH, it's not due for release until the Spring of 2000.
Sob.

It really bites when your two favorite authors aren't writing as fast as you
would like (Kinsale being my other favorite author, who, BTW, is currently
writing the sequel to For My Lady's Heart --without the medieval dialogue,
thank God. (g) ).

Beth Stegenga
ebe...@mindspring.com