Surrender the Wind

Things don't add up for Seth Braxton when he arrives in England to settle the inheritance he received from his grandfather. When he arrives he finds his sister grieving over the loss of her young son and stories that conflict. It becomes evident that someone is trying to destroy his family. Yet the authorities don't believe him, a traitorous American. Juleah Fallowes reserves judgment of Seth. She's still smarting over the death of her brother in the war with America, but she finds herself drawn to this man while trying to rebuff the advances of another unwanted suitor. Despite trying to put distance between herself and Seth, Juleah admits she's in love with him. They're soon married. But their honeymoon is disrupted by tragedy. What a fabulous book! It was nice to take a step off my beaten path of suspense and contemporary novels and head to historical England. I was drawn to the characters of Seth and Juleah, their plights and wills to overcome them. It was nice to see post-Revolutionary war England and how some of the British people treated Americans. It'll be interesting to see how Rita Gerlach follows up in her next book.

This is the first novel that I have read of Rita Gerlach's. And I will say that this book is worth reading a thousand times over! Set in the 1700's, this story brings you straight into the American Revolution era of fancy dresses and men in suits with longer hair and to where a young man is struggling between staying in America, the land he bled for, or traveling to England to reunite with his sister. He chooses to seek his sister out, only to find he's arrived in the middle of a tragedy~the death of his nephew. During this untimely tragedy, he meets a young woman who's free will and gentleness captures his heart. But there's just one problem~someone wants the home of the young man's grandfather, and the woman who stole his heart! Now, the question is, will their love be stronger than the plots against them? Find out in this MAGNIFICENT, timeless love story!! I never heard of Rita Gerlach before, but I came across her name and was fortunately blessed to obtain a copy of Surrender the Wind. This is not normally the style of stories I read, but Ms. Gerlach's wonderfully written story quickly captured me and has me wanting to read ALL her books! I give this book two thumbs up with highest praises to the author, who just gained a new fan!! Wonderfully done, Ms. Gerlach!

The language and imagery in this book is enough to have me craving for more from author Rita Gerlach. The one downfall to this book was that I felt that things went so fast and there was not always enough depth as I would like, but with a 400 page book and so many things happening, one can only fit in so many words. Bringing forth the best of an English native land as well as a post-Revolutionary America hosts an exciting setting for this story of romance, betrayal, heart break, and adventure. The interweaving of the characters past, present, and future is beautiful and believable. I loved the main character and it was so good to have a book that followed a man's point of view for once instead of a woman. I am really excited about the new publishing house of Abingdon Press and this cover is absolutely to die for!

Rita Gerlach, BRAVO! This author is what Vladimir Nabokov calls an enchanter. If he were giving his "Lectures on Literature" today, he would cite SURRENDER THE WIND as the 21st Century's example of a classic novel, side by side with the 19th Century's "Bleak House" by Charles Dickens and "Madame Bovary" by Gustav Flaubert. The exceptional editing of Abingdon Press Editor Barbara Scott has empowered Gerlach to mesmerize her readers as she transposes them to the post-revolutionary period between England and the United States. A structural counterpoint of VIRTUE and VICE permeates her work in phrase and action. Often words associated with love are used to describe despair. For instance, the play of dualism on the word "embrace," with the opposite perception of entrapment intended, is repeated: "High in the heavens the moon broke free from the embrace of clouds." And later: "The sea crashed against the hull, lifted the ship and brought it down again into the sea's dark embrace." This is no mere gift of language. This is literary genius. Further proof of the author's astounding mastery of literary craftsmanship is the application of Faubert's own test. In July 1852, he wrote, "A really good sentence in prose should be like a good line of poetry, something you cannot change and is just as rhythmic and sonorous." Numerous passages of Rita Gerlach's novel can be printed as free verse and read in exactly the same way: "The wind rose and rushed through the darkness as the skiff mounted and fell over the swells." Like Dickens and Flaubert, her minor characters stand out--not just for the roles they play in her plot but for their very human qualities--from scraggy scared Hetty, the rough but good-hearted seadog Bonnecker, or the flatulent Constable Latterbuck to Juleah's dear `forgetful' father, Sir Henry, and her `delicate' mother, Lady Anna. Literary devices such as assonance, alliteration, metaphors, similes and symbolism abound throughout Gerlach's magical imagery, but she moves beyond Dickens and Flaubert with her unique voice, electric pacing and concise plotting. From the prologue through every scene thereafter, the reader feels the villain lurking, waiting, conniving, ready to pounce with meanness and passion, as he eventually does. Supreme suspense hovers through every twist and cranny in the events that unfold. But most of all, the historical love story of Juleah and Seth set against the terrible retribution of Darden's unrequited love joins the greatest love stories of all time. Seth Braxton, a Virginian patriot fighting in the American Revolution against Britain's unfair treatment of the colonies, is captured in the last days of the war and is almost hanged. Captain Bray, an English officer who recognizes his name intervenes because he know Seth's sister in England, but not before the step-son of Seth's grandfather, Captain Darden, demonstrates his loathing for the rebel. Seth escapes the British and returns home to find his father has be