Purchase

Amazon

Kindle

Barnes & Noble

Powell's Books

Books-A-Million

Indie BookShop

Ripped Bodice

Add to Wish List

Also by Nelle Davy:

The Legacy Of Eden, February 2012
Paperback / e-Book

The Legacy Of Eden
Nelle Davy

MIRA
February 2012
On Sale: January 24, 2012
Featuring: Meredith Pincetti
400 pages
ISBN: 0778329550
EAN: 9780778329558
Kindle: B006IIX8OI
Paperback / e-Book
Add to Wish List

Women's Fiction Contemporary

When New York sculptor Meredith Pincetti receives a letter from a law firm, alerting her to the death of her cousin, she is suddenly confronted by her disturbing past—a past she successfully escaped and buried seventeen years ago.

Informed that Aurelia, the once-grand Iowa estate and farm where she was raised, is to be sold at auction to settle her late cousin’s debts, Meredith resolves to return to her family homestead and collect the few possessions that belonged to her parents.

In doing so, Meredith recalls the spectacular rise and disastrous fall of the Hathaway family beginning with her grandfather, Cal’s, dreams and ending with his utter disappointments. We experience her grandmother, Lavinia’s, iron will and ceaseless machinations to ensure that her vision of Aurelia comes to pass. As Aurelia thrives, becoming the largest farm in the county, behind the veneer things are crumbling. Dissipation, brutality and betrayal find fertile ground in the next generation of Hathaways. Seemingly idyllic childhoods precede the exile and return of Hathaways from multiple generations—including Meredith.

And, as Meredith returns to Aurelia, she is forced to confront her own role in her family’s tortured fall from grace. What part did she play in the events that took place during her adolescence two decades earlier? How does her festering relationship with her sisters mirror similar connections between her father’s and grandfather’s siblings? What secrets did she leave behind when she fled Iowa for New York?

Though founded and overseen by male Hathaways, it is the women—Lavinia and her sister-in-law, Piper; Julia, Cal’s daughter from his first marriage; Meredith and her sisters, Claudia and Ava—who play pivotal roles in shaping the events that occur at Aurelia. And, ultimately, it is they who reveal its unspeakable secrets.

Comments

19 comments posted.

Re: The Legacy Of Eden

Oh Nelle, imagination is wonderful and no boundaries allowed. I had an imaginary friend who lived in my mother's
big vanity mirror. She was there for years, helping me through my younger years. I still can look at things and go beyond what one normally sees. Never loose that ability to imagine what lies in other areas. Your book sounds wonderful and I look forward to reading it.
(Rosemary Simm 4:14pm February 20, 2012)

I know the reason I read fiction is to escape into another world---why shouldn't the writer also have the same pleasure of escape.
(Sue Farrell 4:24pm February 20, 2012)

Of course it is! I do it frequently, and have done so all my life, even after I was able to travel to those countries I had been dreaming about and imagining for so long.

I know that my life would have been very dreary without that ability to imagine life in somewhere other than Madison, Wisconsin (much as I love my hometown!).

Later,

Lynn
(Lynn Rettig 4:40pm February 20, 2012)

I'm too grounded to reality but I'm thrilled to read the written word of those with unbounded imagination.
(Diana Corlett 4:49pm February 20, 2012)

I've traveled all over the world from the confines of my leather chair, all because I used my imagination. The author supplied the story my mind did the rest. So yes I most certainly believe that your imagination can take you places.
(Maude Allen 4:54pm February 20, 2012)

The imagination is a wonderful thing and having a good one is fantastic! Through all the books I have read,I have traveled around the world. Without the imagination in the fiction writing about traveling other countries then I think it would get pretty boring. Keep it up so I can enjoy my fiction, it's my get-a-way without leaving. Thanks
(Margie Gagarin 7:40pm February 20, 2012)

It's a good thing authors have imagination or we wouldn't have all those wonderful books to read.
(Wilma Frana 9:02pm February 20, 2012)

I believe that the imagination is a very powerful thing that can allow us to explore new places all over the world as well as learn and experience things from other times. The imagination also allows us to travel through other worlds or places that do not really exist.
(Chelsea Knestrick 9:15pm February 20, 2012)

There is no limit in space or time that an imagination cannot explore. It can be "real" or imaginary. I am always fascinated with fantasy or paranormal authors ability to come up with so many different worlds and ideas. If a mind can "see" it and you have the ability to write it then anything is possible.
Good luck and happy writing!
(Tracie Travis 9:33pm February 20, 2012)

imagination is the best ,it helps you get through bad and lonely times!!
(Jennifer Beck 10:12pm February 20, 2012)

I believe that it's possible to write about anyplace your heart desires. Between places that are shown in movies, books written, pieces written on the internet, and bits of the imagination, anything is possible. The sky is the limit!! If you feel passionate enough about a subject, there is nothing that can stop you from finding information about a place without actually setting foot there, and it would make a reader think that you've actually visited there. Other authors who have written historical romance never vistited places going back to the 1800's, so without actually telling the reader otherwise, I think an author could pull it off. I give you a lot of credit for such an undertaking, considering your background, and I applaud you for it. I am anxious to read your book.
(Peggy Roberson 10:28pm February 20, 2012)

Definitely. My grandmother took a "vacation" one week and never left her bedroom but to get food and go to the bathroom. She visited many countries while reading her books.
(Molly Wilsbacher 11:05pm February 20, 2012)

Yes I think it is possible. Thanks for the chance to win!
(Natasha Donohoo 12:51pm February 21, 2012)

Imagination is the key to writing. To visualize
and put down in words for others to have a
similar experience is a wonderful gift. I think its
entirely possible to write of a place one has
never been. With the internet, books, resources
one can stay true to the basics and run from
there. I personally have been around the world
in my head and seen and walked streets stopped
in shops. Imagination a wonderous gift.
(Carla Carlson 10:45am February 21, 2012)

I believer in imagination. I won't watch movies made from books I read. I prefer
to imagine the characters and places in my own way. Imagination is a living
thing. I see more and more children who play computer games to the expense
of their imagination. Let us do all we can to preserve imagination at it's best.
(Sandra Spilecki 11:02am February 21, 2012)

To hold in my hand a book that has the ability to take me to many places is a wonder. Retirement has lived up to all I imagined it to be as I love to read!
(Jane Cavanaugh 2:31pm February 21, 2012)

You can use your imagination in conjunction with information.
(Mary Preston 9:27pm February 21, 2012)

Imagination gives us wonderful and great ideas to explore or invent with endless possibilities, and gives authors the means to write great books. It's possible to write about places never visited anywhere.
My ex-husband was born and spent his childhood in Iowa. He told me how he walked home from school, down the country roads, past rows of cornfields, and always stopped daily at the BANGO Popcorn factory. They would give the kids huge brown paper bags full of all their test popcorn free. He loved popcorn and looked forward to munching all the way home, and claims it never spoiled his supper.
I love your book cover art, it's beautiful!
(Linda Luinstra 7:24pm February 22, 2012)

Imagination gives us the opportunity to broaden horizons and learn something new to us that's different than our usual world.
(Alyson Widen 5:21pm February 25, 2012)