What a great book

The synopsis above and Misfit's review basically cover the general plot and my feelings about it so I don't have much to add there. Really good historical fiction in the epic family saga vein. The great amount of research that went in to this as described in the prologue is evident in all its 687 pages. Much of the story is based on real events, people and even specific horse races.


Clovelly, Devon - donkeys needed to traverse the steep streets.


West country smugglers (Falconers)

What resonates most with me about this exhaustive work of historical fiction is the focus on strong and heartfelt relationships. Grandaughter/grandmother, man/woman, mother/child, surrogate parent/child, friends, employer/employee, siblings, man/horse all well developed and explored each in its own right. And I am a horse person so I loved the focus on horse racing and breeding!


Belair Mansion, Maryland, Alexandria's Racehorse Stud Farm

The main character is a strong and beautiful young woman who is easy to root for and love. We see her coming of age and though the raising of her family and enduring many challenges and tragedies. The author goes into great historical detail as far as current events and political atmosphere of the era. She does a good job providing a sense of time and place and atmosphere.


Horse racing way back when.

Some peeves I have are that the author relies heavily on narrative where she tells us the characters' feelings and thoughts (that can get tedious) and some events happen all too quickly and time jumps esp towards the end of the book. Some of the historical detail doesn't flow as smoothly as it could. It's as if the author just suddenly decides she will tell us about the current presidential elections and there it is. There are some enormous coincidences that occur that are unbelievable. The intimacy descriptions could be more subtle. Sometimes the main character is just a little too wise for me. She seems to always do and say the right thing in any difficult situation. But one can still not help but like her because she achieves much that a woman of her time would not be allowed to or would not have dared to do.


Wild Swans - Alex and Rane's talisman

Quite a shame that this author is gone to us and that these books are out of print. I think this story would make a spectacular movie.

The book was ok . the story was very repetitive and the ending was predictable. I guess it's ok to read for a lazy afternoon. I skipped a lot of pages because I found it overly long.

Wonderful historical fiction. Great characters and I'm so glad there are more books so I can spend more time with them!

The first time I read this book I was a young girl, my grandmother read these books then I read them after her. My love of reading began and I have loved books that make me see a picture in my mind and I shall always have the swan series to remember this. Years later I purchased all three of the books and reread them several times.

I'll give this 3.5 stars, something like "I almost really liked it" when, in truth, I almost hated it at times, while almost loving it at others. It's been a LONG time since I read one of the epic historic romances (early to mid-1800's England and America). I cried so many times while reading this that I swore I wouldn't read one again for another LONG time. The heroine was somewhat like a sweet version of Scarlett O'Hara, though English by birth. There were 2 heroes: one might have been a much stronger and more likeable Ashley Wilkes, while the other was NOT much like Rhett Butler, though dark in coloring in contrast to the other hero. But, honestly, this poor girl went back and forth between sheer joy to depression, from exhileration to tragedy, from oppression to independence, that I was almost seasick at several points. Still, the lady told the story well, though I won't be reading this one again. I don't believe I will read the sequels, either, as I can only take so much emotional manipulation in my fiction; real life has more than enough of that for me! I read to ESCAPE some of the gut-wrenching drama of life, after all!

Celeste DeBlasis is my favorite author and this (and books 2 & 3 in the series) is among my favorite of her books, The Proud Breed being #1. If you like epic historical fiction that spans generations you will LOVE this series. Note - this book was originally published under the title “Wild Swan.”

Ik ben wel even bezig met drie dikke boeken van de zwanen trilogie.
Overigens heb ik deze boeken jaren terug al eens gelezen.
Ik ben dus even van mijn favoriete genre afgestapt, forensische thrillers.
Even heerlijk in de romans, historische romans, overigens ook een van mijn favoriete genres.

I have to say this was one of those books that I would be reading and be really into, then it would piss me off and I would have to put it down. It's a very epic tale, and I love all of the history and background that the author gave on all the characters. With that being said, at a certain point, it derailed. Just hit a wall. For me, I was pulling for one of the main characters, Rane, to make a come back, and he did, it just took forever!

There was so much heartbreak and angst that it made for a good read, but there were times that I wanted to say.....'Ok, lets get on with it!!'

This is the first in a series of 3, and I will read the others. I just need a break in between. This book leaves you emotionally exhausted. But if if you like angst, I suggest you read it.

An epic sweeping story that covers many years but also makes the story feel close and intimate without feeling small. I highly recommend pretty much everything this author writes because she has a wonderful style.

A Wild Hope by Celeste De Blasis is a 2020 Bookouture publication.

Well, they sure don’t write ‘em like this anymore… Sigh…

This sweeping saga was originally written back in the 1980s, back when epic historical tomes were commonplace. Sadly, many of these books have simply faded into obscurity along with the authors who wrote them.

Thankfully, some publishers have chosen to digitally format a select few of them- giving them new titles and covers and offering them to a whole new audience.

For those of us who were fans back in the day, this is also an opportunity to revisit some of our old favorite authors and some of their work again… and in a format that is a little easier on the eyes.

For anyone concerned about content- not every single historical romance novel written in the 1980s was a ‘bodice ripper’. Yes, this book is a romance and there are explicit sex scenes- more than I felt was necessary, and there are moral issues, like adultery, but it is also a story that would appeal to historical fiction fans. For it’s time the novel incorporated issues into the story, like race, and feminism and features a strong female lead character, which should appeal to the modern reader.

I really miss these sweeping sagas. There’s nothing like being swept away into another time and place and following the characters through all the tragedies and triumphs in their lives. I also love that the story will continue in the next book and will once again feature characters from this novel and lead the reader into future generations. That’s something we don’t get much of these days in historical fiction or romance and I kind of miss that too.

This is a long book- and because our attention spans are shorter these days- I did get a bit impatient a time or two when I felt the pacing lagged and there didn’t seem to be much going on- but at the same time, I enjoyed the long span of time the novel covered and all the various locations, and layers of emotions involved.

Overall, I loved getting lost in this novel and it was so nice to read a book by Celeste De Blasis again, after all these years. Looking forward to book two in the trilogy!!

5 stars

Can't condone an adulteress no matter how magnanimous st. john seemed to be about not only being cuckolded but also having a son that wasn't his foisted onto hiim