
My rating:

Heat rating:




Heat rating:

I hated the underlying
premise to the book, but it was a great story and extremely well
written. Had I not so violently disagreed with the underlying premise,
I would have rated it 5-stars and can see how women would easily rate
it 5-stars.
What did you think of the portrayal of Andrew Carnegie and Carla Kelly (the maid) in the book?
I liked the portrayal of
Carla and how she had to balance her definition of what was right and
wrong and navigate through that. I have read a number of biographies on
Carnegie, his place as a leading titan of industry and how and what he
did to achieve that. While not a bad portrayal of Carnegie, I felt he
was made to be too nice and too soft and too open to influence by
anyone, let alone a maid.
What kind of relationship did Carnegie and Carla have?
It was one of mutual
respect and thirsting for each other’s time and nearness. Yet, Carnegie
was not like that, even though he did occasionally try to be more
empathetic to the working class.
Since this is predominantly speculative historical fiction, what do you think of how Andrew Carnegie was portrayed and the impact of Carla on him as a historical figure?
I thought it was greatly
over-played and not at all plausible in terms of the relationship
between Carla and Carnegie. However, other aspects of the book, the
settings in Philadelphia and New York and most other things were
handled well and quite believable. But there was no way, Carla or
anyone could have influenced Carnegie the way it was positioned that
Carla had influenced him. His desire to be a great philanthropist was
based on his view of helping his employees, not his servants, to be
successful through reading and learning.
Was the fiction believable?
Yes, just not the premise
that Carnegie would be open to the level of influence presented in the
book.
Was there any historical accuracy to the story?
Very much so. I believe
the book was well-researched and accurately portrayed, except for
Carnegie’s personality and temperament.
What did you think of Ms Benedict's writing? And would you read another book of hers?
Her writing and
story-telling is excellent. However, from what I heard about how
Einstein and his wife are portrayed in her book, The Other Einstein,
I think I would be annoyed even more reading that one. However, if she
had some other non-speculative fiction, I would consider it as she is
an extremely good writer and storyteller.
What's your next read?
I'm not sure. Deanna
hasn't picked out a book for me yet.
View all my reviews
About the author

Marie Benedict: Website - Facebook - Goodreads - Amazon
About the reviewer

Steve Shipley: Website - Facebook - Twitter - Amazon
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Ohhhhhh his fic! I do love this genre.
ReplyDeleteGreat manview
Manviews are always great. Steve loves historical fiction too.
DeleteAnother great review Steve this one sounds really interesting :)
ReplyDeleteHave Fun
Helen
I was surprised he enjoyed it as much as he did considering he didn't agree with the premise of the story.
DeleteAnother great manview. Love you Steve. Cathleen
ReplyDeleteYou need to write another book for him to do a Manview on.
Delete