Thursday, February 21, 2008

A Passion Most Pure--a Review


A Passion Most Pure by Julie Lessman (Revell)

I have to admit I'm a historical fan from way back. But I have a Bachelor's in history so I get picky about details that are wrong and pull me out of the story. So while I like historicals, I find it hard to find ones I can fall in love with.

A Passion Most Pure fits the bill. The spicy sassiness of Deanne Gist and the sweeping saga feeling of Gone with the Wind, A Passion Most Pure manages to capture the World War I era while still creating characters that we love, relate to, and root for. While the page count may seem high, there is no fluff or padding here. You come to feel like part of the family and the pages just breeze by.

On a personal note, it was fascinating for me as a crit partner to see the progression of this novel from manuscript to finished-novel form. It was a bit like looking at a scrapbook of our crit group, remembering the changes and brainstorming we'd done over certain parts. Other parts were new, but I could see that they were the fruit of the seeds Julie had planted in earlier versions of the manuscript.

All in all, it's like standing on the sidelines cheering as your friend finishes a marathon you saw her start.

Congrats, girl! You did great!

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