Thursday, June 4, 2015

This Jaded Heart by Marion Marchetto (The Bridgewater Chronicles #2)


Image result for This jaded heart by marion marchetto

Title: This Jaded Heart

Author:
Marion Marchetto

Publisher:
CreateSpace

Published Date: April 27, 2014


Buy on Amazon: Paperback and Kindle


Author's Website
: http://marionmarchetto.com








 
Synopsis:

This Jaded Heart is the second book of The Bridgewater Chronicles - a family saga that follows the Newkirk family dynasty from the late 19th century through the present time.

In This Jaded Heart, a grown up Birdie Newkirk returns to home Bridgewater from her Boston boarding school ready to find love and make her mark on the world. Having inherited the negative traits of both her parents, Birdie does indeed make her mark on the world - but in all the wrong ways!

To her way of thinking Birdie believes she was abandoned by her mother years earlier when she was sent to Boston to receive a proper education. The emptiness created by her mother's infrequent visits has hardened her heart.

A scandal of epic proportions exiles a grown Birdie to Europe until the furor dies down. As she flits from the arms of one man only to land in the arms of another, she leaves a trail of broken hearts behind as she locks away her own heart to keep from having it broken. Her exploits take her to both the East and West Coasts of America, London, Paris, the heart of Provence, and finally to a town along the Silk Road in Turkmenistan as she searches for unconditional love. But it is her home - Bridgewater - that sustains her as she moves through the decades trying to win her mother's approval.

Follow Birdie's journey through this second generation of the Newkirk family as she poises the family for the future.


My Thoughts:

Marion Marchetto's second book in her five book Historical Fiction series, The Bridgewater Chronicles, is This Jaded Heart. Following a grown up Birdie as well as her family, This Jaded Heart is told from several perspectives: Birdie, her father Kevin, her mother Cordelia, Head Steward Lawson, and Kevin's lifelong love Jeannette. The chapters flow easily as This Jaded Heart spans several years. The first book in the series, Stairway to My Heart, centered around young Cordelia and Kevin and their loveless marriage. You can find my review of Stairway to My Heart here.  When This Jaded Heart begins their oldest daughter, Birdie, has arrived home from school. Kevin and Cordelia's plan is to find her a suitable husband that will further the Newkirk name, however Birdie has different plans.

Birdie has a huge chip on her shoulder. She despises her mother who she feels sent her away at a young age so that she wouldn't have to deal with her as she was growing up. Birdie has a difficult time loving others; the only people she will admit to loving are her siblings and father.  Birdie swears she will never fall in love or marry because she wants to be an independent woman without any strings holding her back. The older she gets the more troublesome and jaded she becomes. No man will make a fool of her or control her.  Kevin and Cordelia can hardly handle Birdie and her numerous escapades have a lasting effect on the Newkirk family.

In Stairway to My Heart we learned of Kevin's love for Jeannette and Cordelia's love for Lawson. Their relationships were known and accepted by each spouse while hidden to others. We see in This Jaded Heart that the love of the two couples has stood the test of time. Their children have grown, tragedy upon tragedy has occurred, life has continued to move on, and yet their relationships are as strong as ever. Marchetto does a wonderful job of transitioning each chapter to a different voice.  In no way is it choppy, it flows easily which is hard to do.  I appreciated being able to read from each characters view and see what they were really thinking and feeling as This Jaded Heart progressed.

If you are a fan of historical fiction (or fiction in general!) then this series is definitely for you! Marchetto excellently captures the feeling of the progressing 20th Century America in her series as it spans the 1920’s ends in 1946. The characters are wonderfully developed with flaws both big and small. I'm very excited to read the third installment in Marion Marchetto's The Bridgewater Chronicles, Teddy Blue. It follows Kevin and Cordelia's grandchildren. With all of the twists and turns in This Jaded Heart, I can only imagine what will occur in Teddy Blue! Do yourself a favor and pick up this series!


Marion Marchetto has provided me with a complimentary copy of the book, This Jaded Heart, for the purpose of review.  



1 comment:

  1. So happy you liked my little story. Thanks for the lovely review!

    ReplyDelete