The Hearth and Eagle is a historical novel by Anya Seton. [1] [2] Set primarily in the old New England fishing village of Marblehead, Massachusetts, the story centers on strong-willed, passionate Hesper Honeywood and her search for love and fulfillment at a time when women had few options and the stormy Atlantic often claimed the lives of poor fishermen. Seton started researching her ancestors in the mid-1940s, which led her to Marblehead and the setting for her fourth novel. [3]
For generations, Hesper Honeywood's family have run the Hearth and Eagle, the finest inn in Marblehead. Hesper grows up listening to stories about the patient, obedient, and deeply religious women in her family's past. All of them put their husband's dreams ahead of their own. Outwardly Hesper copies the stoic, pious demeanor of her grim and unloving mother, but the excitable, impulsive, red-haired Hesper secretly dreams of a life of passion and romance.
As she enters adolescence, Hesper idolizes Johnny Peach, a neighbor boy who is cheerful, good-natured, and quietly protective of the oddly excitable red-head. Hesper is often teased by the other children, and Johnny is the one person in Marblehead she genuinely likes and trusts. She is absolutely crushed when he is killed at sea in the Civil War.
Not long after the war is over, Hesper, by now a beautiful and voluptuous young woman, is spotted walking on the beach by artist Evan Redlake, who is sketching among the dunes. Evan is an avant-garde painter from a prominent family, and his fiercely passionate nature and reckless ways captivate Hesper. The two of them marry and move to New York City, where they move in a set of early Bohemians, including the painters Homer Martin and John La Farge. Evan neglects Hesper for his painting, and after she has a miscarriage, their relationship breaks down for good. Evan leaves for Europe and Hesper returns to Marblehead, assisted in her journey by Amos Porterman, a wealthy factory owner who has just relocated his business to Marblehead.
Although cool to the idea of marriage for quite some time, Hesper ultimately obtains a divorce from Evan and marries the stolid Amos. While the marriage is not a passionate one, Amos is utterly besotted with his statuesque, flame-haired wife. He spends freely on Hesper's every whim, buying her the latest clothes and sending her to the most fashionable spas and resorts. Hesper soon becomes a lady of leisure who enjoys a life of luxurious comfort, though she has moments of dissatisfaction and her hard-bitten mother says bluntly that Honeywood women are built for work, not for pleasure.
The years of lazy contentment end abruptly with a terrible fire in the village of Marblehead. Amos' factory is utterly destroyed and he is ruined. Overnight he goes from being the richest man in town to a mere shadow of his former self. Destitute, he seeks work as a sailmaker, but cannot adjust to his new role. Hesper, meanwhile, has taken over management of the Hearth and Eagle from her aging mother. The inn soon becomes more successful than ever and Hesper emerges as the main breadwinner of her family. Despairing and utterly crushed, Amos soon dies, leaving Hesper to raise her children alone and to become the wise head of the family. At the end of her long life, she reflects that while men draw strength from money or power or acts of heroism, a woman's strength always comes from within.
Kirkus Reviews noted, "more ambitious novel than its predecessors, Dragonwyck and The Turquoise , it seems derivative, imitative, and too dependent on the panoply of history and the changing scene over a long life than on the significance of characterization". [4]
Anya Seton, born Ann Seton, was an American author of historical fiction, or as she preferred they be called, "biographical novels".
Green Darkness is a 1972 novel by Anya Seton. It spent sixth months on The New York Times Best Seller list and became her most popular novel, as well as her last completed novel.
Johnny Tremain is a work of historical fiction written in 1943 by Esther Forbes that is set in Boston prior to and during the outbreak of the American Revolution. Intended for teen-aged readers, the novel's themes include apprenticeship, courtship, sacrifice, human rights, and the growing tension between Patriots and Loyalists as conflict nears. Events depicted in the novel include the Boston Tea Party, the British blockade of the Port of Boston, the midnight ride of Paul Revere, and the Battles of Lexington and Concord.
Katherine is a 1954 historical novel by American author Anya Seton. It tells the story of the historically important, 14th-century love affair in England between the eponymous Katherine Swynford and John of Gaunt, Duke of Lancaster, the third surviving son of King Edward III.
Flowers in the Attic is a 1979 Gothic novel by V. C. Andrews. It is the first book in the Dollanganger Series, and was followed by Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday, Garden of Shadows, Christopher's Diary: Secrets of Foxworth, Christopher's Diary: Echoes of Dollanganger and Christopher's Diary: Secret Brother. The novel is written in the first-person, from the point of view of Cathy Dollanganger. It was twice adapted into films in 1987 and 2014. The book was extremely popular, selling over forty million copies world-wide.
Avalon is a 1965 novel by the American author Anya Seton.
Smouldering Fires is a historical novel by Anya Seton. It was published by Doubleday, New York, NY, U.S.A., 1975.
Lucy Crown is a novel by American author Irwin Shaw. First published in 1956, it was Shaw's third novel, following The Young Lions and The Troubled Air.
The Winthrop Woman is Anya Seton's 1958 historical novel about Elizabeth Fones, a settler of the Massachusetts Bay Colony and a founder of Greenwich, Connecticut.
My Theodosia is a novel written by the American author Anya Seton which was first published in 1941.
The Turquoise is a novel by the American author Anya Seton which was first published in 1946.
Dragonwyck is a novel written by American author Anya Seton which was first published in 1944. It is a fictional story of the life of Miranda Wells and her abusive marriage to Nicholas Van Ryn, set against a historical background of the Patroon system, Anti-Rent Wars, the Astor Place Riots, and steamboat racing on the Hudson River.
Katherine Swynford: The Story of John of Gaunt and his Scandalous Duchess is a biography of Katherine Swynford written by Alison Weir and published in 2007 in Great Britain by Jonathan Cape. In the US, the book is titled Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster.
Time of Hope is the first chronological entry in C. P. Snow's series of novels Strangers and Brothers, and the third to be published. It depicts the beginning of Lewis Eliot's life, with a childhood in poverty in a small English town at the beginning of the 20th century.
Foxfire is a 1955 American drama romance western film released by Universal-International, directed by Joseph Pevney, and starring Jane Russell, Jeff Chandler, and Dan Duryea. The movie was loosely based on a best-selling 1950 novel by Anya Seton.
Anya's Ghost is a coming-of-age ghost story in graphic novel format. The first book by cartoonist Vera Brosgol, Anya's Ghost was published on June 7, 2011.
In Certain Circles is an Australian novel by Elizabeth Harrower. Though the novel was written sometime in the late 1960s and early 1970s, it was not published until 2014 when it became her first novel published in 48 years. It helped to spur a revival of interest in her body of work.
Moondance is a 1995 Irish drama film based on the 1936 novel The White Hare by Francis Stuart. It was directed by Dagmar Hirtz and stars Rúaidhrí Conroy, in his second feature film following Into the West. It also features Ian Shaw, Julia Brendler and Marianne Faithfull, who also provided the vocals for the song "Madam George" written by Van Morrison, who wrote the lyrics for the songs included in the soundtrack.
Anaa, previously titled Kainat, is a 2019 Pakistani Urdu language television romantic drama. Produced by Momina Duraid under the banner MD Productions. It stars Shehzad Sheikh, Hania Aamir, Naimal Khawar and Usman Mukhtar. Aamir also made her singing debut, as she performed the series theme song.
Devil Water is a 1962 historical fiction novel by Anya Seton.