spalmero's Full Review: Susan Wiggs - Halfway to Heaven
More to the point, I am constantly amazed and surprised by Ms. Wiggs' writing. I can honestly say that I've read almost all of her books, and while I enjoy some of them more than others, they're all worth reading.
Halfway to Heaven certainly counts among my favorites. Set in Washington, DC somewhere around 1873, this book tells us the story of Abigail Beatrice Cabot, a senator's club-footed daughter, and Jamie Calhoun, cousin of Hunter Calhoun from The Horsemaster's Daughter and Ryan Calhoun from The Charm School.
Abigail Cabot is the younger daughter of two to Franklin Cabot. While her sister was blessed with all of the social graces and stunning good looks, Abigail was blessed with smarts and wit. She has an endearing love of astronomy, and intends to discover a comet of her own one day, to make her own impact on the world.
Jamie Calhoun is a newly-elected Senator from the Tidewater area of Virginia, a man with a past he's trying to atone for, and a love for the people of his district. Though it goes against the current trend in Congress, he's come to DC in order to fight the railroad interest that will disrupt and destroy the lives of the farmers back home.
Jamie has a reputation as a cad and a rogue, certainly for scandal. Abigail causes scandals of her own, the clumsiness from her twisted foot, her sudden bouts of allergies, and her blunt way of speaking foremost among them. Of course the two of them make a perfect pair!
And of course it's not as easy as all that. There are hoops to be jumped through, including both Abigail's and Jamie's reluctance to give in to love at all. There are lessons in riding, dancing, and kissing to survive. Through trial and error, deception and a brief engagement to the wrong man, however, things come out right in the end. As they always will.
Abigail holds herself back because of her deformity, but it never becomes something she collapses into tears and whines about, for which I greatly admire Ms. Wiggs. Jamie's past likewise has the potential to be angstful and to cause great hair-pulling scenes and bouts of tooth-gnashing, which we're fortunate to avoid. Both are dealt with and acknowledged, but never go over the top. Thank you!
And as always, Ms. Wiggs' secondary characters are as interesting as the primary. Julius', the son of Noah (introduced in The Horsemaster's Daughter, Abigail's sister Helena and the disorganized Professor Rowan are just a few.
My main complaint is that the last two chapters seem to tie things up too neatly, too hurriedly. It feels like a great deal of time is compressed into twenty pages. I suppose it's necessary, and this certainly isn't the only book that does that, but it's what stands out.
Still, don't let that stop you from reading the book if you like Ms. Wiggs' style, or are intrigued at all. She's chosen to pair up truly interesting characters, and made their story worthwhile.
General Fiction - At a glittering White House gala, Abigail Cabot discovers the man of her dreams. Only, he's not interested . . . yet. So the gifted ...More at Barnes and Noble
At a glittering White House gala, Abigail Cabot discovers the man of her dreams. Only, he's not interested...yet. So the gifted lady astronomer, whose...More at HotBookSale
At a glittering White House gala, Abigail Cabot discovers the man of her dreams. Only, he's not interested...yet. So the gifted lady astronomer, whose...More at HotBookSale
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