The Pursuit of Lucy Banning
May 16th, 2012. Filed under: Wednesday's Wonders.Riveting Story of Love, Wealth & Secrets as Historic Chicago Prepares for 1893 World’s Fair
Marshall Field, Henry Studebaker, Pullman, Kimball, Glessner, Bissell, Armour and Rothschild- these names add up to business inventiveness and unbounded wealth in turn-of-the-century Chicago – but changing social classes are threatening the luxury of the elite Prairie Avenue, the playground for the rich and powerful. Olivia Newport introduces readers to a world of luxurious mansions, secrets and forbidden love in the Windy City.
Set on Prairie Avenue, The Pursuit of Lucy Banning gives an inside look to the rich and powerful on the eve of the 1893 World’s Fair in the Windy City. Olivia Newport transports readers to a time of opulence in the first installment in the Avenue of Dreams series.
Lucy Banning may live among Chicago’s rich and famous, but her heart lies elsewhere. Expected to marry an up-and-coming banker from a respected family, Lucy fears she will be forced to abandon her charity work–and the classes she is secretly taking at the newly opened University of Chicago. When she meets an unconventional young architect who is working on plans for the upcoming 1893 World’s Fair, Lucy imagines a life lived on her own terms. Can she break away from her family’s expectations? And will she ever be loved for who she truly is?
From lavish upper-class homes to the well-worn rooms of an orphanage, Newport breathes life and romance into the pages of history–and everyone is invited.
ISLAND BREEZES
Notice that this book is not “in pursuit of Lucy, ” but rather “the pursuit of Lucy.” So just what is she pursuing?
It’s definitely not a husband, home and family. Neither is she interested in all the social functions that a young lady in high society is supposed to pursue.
Lucy is interested in her charity work and her special pursuit. This puts her in danger more than a few times. Her family continues to push for a marriage between Lucy and the son of old family friends. Will Lucy cave in and marry him, giving up her dreams in the process.
In the end her secret is exposed, but a love interest encourages her to continue her pursuit.
***A special thank you to Donna Hausler for providing a review copy.***
Olivia Newport’s novels twist through time to discover where faith and passions meet. Her husband and two twenty-something children provide welcome distraction from the people stomping through her head on their way into her books. She chases joy in stunning Colorado at the foot of the Rockies, where day lilies grow as tall as she is.
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