The following titles are all from a Readers Digest Condensed Version passed on to me from my Grandma and Mom. This volume contained more stories, but I only read these three. The other stories looked like they were about WWII and I'm not so much into war stories, unless they are peppered with enough drama and romance.
The Tilsit Inheritance - Catherine Gaskin
A strange tale about a young girl living in the Caribbean who discovers her father's mysterious past linked to a family property and business in England that made beautiful china. The story is full of mystery and slowly unravels as the story progresses. Young Ginny ends up back on the estate after the strange death of her aunt. Turns out the aunt had tried to manipulate everyone into doing her bidding and the whole estate seemed to have a sinister yet binding magnetism. In the end, Ginny discovers the secrets and in one bold move leaves the craftsman she had fallen in love with and returns to the island home of her childhood, where another man awaits.
When the Legends Die - Hal Borland
This story is right up my alley because it captures the life of a man trying to integrate two worlds: that of his native Ute heritage and that of a "modern" man (story is set in early 1900s I believe.) At one point in his childhood, his mother leaves the small Colorado town where they had been living, and takes her young son to the mountains to live in "the old way." She teaches her son how to live off the land and weave baskets. She dies an untimely death leaving him to fend for himself. Thankfully she taught him well and he is able to survive. He makes friends with a bear cub and trades in his beautifully woven baskets to a kind store owner who gives him supplies. The young boy is betrayed by a tribal member who takes him to an "indian school" in exchange for money. There they try to strip him of his heritage and anglicize him, as was the practice of the day. His pet bear follows him but is injured and driven away. This marks the end of his childhood.
Thus his adult life is permeated with rage which he channels into bronc riding on the rodeo circuit. He becomes famous for his ruthless bronc riding. Midway through his career he leaves his mentor who more or less exploited him, and goes out on his own. At one point he becomes severely injured and his convalescence forces him to come face to face with himself.
Once he he can function, he returns to the region of his childhood to work as a sheepherder. There in the mountains he remembers his heritage. He has an encounter with a bear - the implication being that it is the same bear that was once his pet. Through living in the wild, he is able to re-integrate his native heritage, "He had had a long journey; the long and lonely journey a man must take when he denies his own past, refuses to face his own identity.....he was a Ute, an Indian, and nothing would ever change that."
The Battle of the Villa Fiorita - Rumer Godden
Just finished this one! This is the second book of hers I have read (RDCV) I don't think I documented the other one - about a convent in England. I love her writing! This one is a fascinating exploration of the culmination of divorce. A well established middle aged housewife in England falls in love with a movie director who happens to be in her neighborhood filming. I think this is post WWII. She's kind of the classic overlooked relatively happy woman whose military husband travels a lot and whose 3 school age children are conveniently away at boarding school - recipe for disaster and drama. All of a sudden she catches the interest of this tall dark and handsome stranger who pursues her. She feels beautiful and alive like never before.
They end up running off together to a villa in Italy. (on a sidenote the villa is on Lake Garda which happens to be near where I used to live so it made it easy to imagine the setting, the people, and the towns which I have actually visited!)
They are caught up in a love world all their own. Just when you think you know where the story is going, two of her kids show up to disrupt the scene. The author does such a great job of not vilifying anyone here. She really captures the agony of the tension the protagonist feels between the pull of falling in love and the reality of family, stability, and the happiness of her children. The kids journeyed solo to Italy from England to bring their mom back.
The kids end up staying for several weeks. They bond with their mom's fiancee to a degree but also feel all the resentment and outrage of their father and the disruption this has caused in their lives. Rob (fiancee) brings up his daughter from previous marriage.)
Ultimately the tension reaches a climax - all the complexity of the situation is fully expressed. Just when you think the tenacity of their attachment will win, the protagonist realizes she is not pregnant as she had suspected. A scary boat accident where two of the children almost drown - brings her home to reality. The story ends with her returning broken hearted yet resigned to London to try to patch up her marriage and restore their family to order... The children have won, hard won victory...
