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Title: Waltzing in Ragtime

Author: Eileen Charbonneau

Narrator: Joanna Withey

Format: Unabridged

Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-31-13

Publisher: New Street Communications, LLC

Genres: Fiction, Historical

Publisher's Summary:

Award-winning young-adult novelist Eileen Charbonneau now turns her storytelling powers and lauded historical research to her first adult novel: the epic story of two people drawn together from dramatically different spheres of society.

As the turn of the century, San Francisco is a far cry from its gold rush days. The railroads have ushered in an era of rapid change and industrialization in California. In the mansions on Russian Hill, powerful men build financial empires by pillaging a landscape rich in natural resources.

The daughter of a lumber baron, Olana Whittaker is struggling to make it on her own as a journalist for the Gold Coast Chronicle. She resents having to use a male pseudonym to be read seriously.

Covering the grand opening from Sequoia National Parks, Olana meets forest ranger Matthew Hart, who speaks with passion on the need for protecting nature. Hart has little time for people, especially those who destroy forests. But when the pair are trapped in an early blizzard, Olana learns to appreciate both Hart and the land he is fighting to protect from men like her father.

Over the years that follow, Olana and Matt will part - and come together again - as they live through the turbulent early years of the new century and learn the heartbreaks and joys that come with living, loving, and pursuing their destinies.

Members Reviews:

Compelling read for a California Vacation

When traveling I enjoy reading a novel set in the places I am visiting. I found only this one for Sequoia National Park. It's a romance with a surprisingly complicated plot and compelling, believable characters,even if a bit far-ranging and sometimes leaning to the melodramatic. Harlequin lovers will like it. Visit the cave and tree house in Sequoia Park, and also take in a few San Francisco mansions and a Mission or two.

Evocative and beautiful

Evocative and beautifully written, this story features a somewhat neglected (though no less magical) historical setting, a tough yet tender heroine, and a wounded hero who'll melt your heart. A modern woman's historical heroine, budding journalist and wealthy heiress Olana Whittaker is the perfect match for grizzled, damaged hero and proto-conservationist, Matthew Hart. Reminiscent of 'Legends of the Fall' with a west coast setting, elements of magical realism, and a delightful blend of sweeping epic and intimate romance, this story will stay with you long after you reach the end.

Lovers without reason, "history" without merit

The cover and the author tout this as being a historical novel, and I wonder why. Waltzing in Ragtime is without authenticity or significance when it comes to conveying the life, times, place and circumstances of San Francisco and environs in the early twentieth century. I wonder if Ms. Charbonneau's knowledge goes beyond a quick look at a modern Mobil map of the state and the second-hand Budweiser-induced tales of a visitor from Nebraska at a neighborhood block party who spent a weekend there once a long time ago. The wonder and magnificence of the area's history and geography, the eccentricities and marvels of its people and mores, are only hinted at, and then sometimes inaccurately.

(It usually becomes obvious very quickly when authors do not have good, solid first-hand knowledge and experience with the areas about which they write.