Titans

by Leila Meacham Narrated by Brian Hatch, Casey Holloway

Overview

From the New York Times bestselling author of Roses comes "epic storytelling that plunges the reader headfirst" into the fate of heiress Samantha Gordon and ranch hand Nathan Holloway as their lives collide in early 1900s Texas. (Jackie K Cooper, The Huffington Post)

Texas in the early 1900s was on the cusp of an oil boom that, unbeknownst to its residents, would spark a period of dramatic changes and economic growth. In the midst of this transformative time in Southern history, two unforgettable characters emerge and find their fates irrevocably intertwined: Samantha Gordon, the privileged heiress to the sprawling Las Tres Lomas cattle ranch near Fort Worth, and Nathan Holloway, a sweet-natured and charming farm boy from far north Texas.

As changes sweep the rustic countryside, Samantha and Nathan's connection drives this narrative compulsively forward as they love, lose, and betray. In this grand yet intimate novel, Meacham once again delivers a heartfelt, big-canvas story full of surprising twists and deep emotional resonance.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"The finest historical fiction not only entertains but teaches readers something about an era not their own, and this novel offers a stellar crash course in Texas history...The novel has it all: a wide cast of characters, pitch-perfect period detail, romance, plenty of drama, and skeletons in the closet (literally). Saga fans will be swooning."
—Booklist (starred review)

"Equals and perhaps surpasses Roses...It has everything any reader could want in a book...epic storytelling that plunges the reader headfirst into the plot...[Meacham] is a titan herself."—Jackie K Cooper, Book Critic, The Huffington Post

"Emotionally resounding...Texas has never seemed grander...as a mammoth human filled with longing and ambition...Meacham's easy-to-read prose helps to maintain a pace that you won't be able to quit, pushing through from chapter to chapter to find the next important nugget of this dramatic family tale. It is best savored over a great steak with a glass of wine and evenings to yourself."—BookReporter

"Meacham crafts a grand Texas family epic, by way of Dickens...the explosive plot elements...collide in a satisfying climax...the final paragraph is practically perfection."—Lone Star Literary Life

"A novel about family love and retribution as much as wealth or ambition. What makes Titans successful is how skillfully the author involves readers in the characters' lives, and keeps us reading, as we watch the plot play out."—Historical Novel Society

"Roses heralded as the new Gone with the Wind."—USA Today (Praise for Roses)

"Reads like a high-end Thorn Birds."—Sara Nelson, The Daily Beast (praise for Roses)

"As large, romantic, and American a tale as Texas itself."—Booklist (praise for Roses)

"An enthralling stunner....A compelling saga with echoes of Gone with the Wind."—Publishers Weekly (praise for Roses)

Library Journal

11/15/2015
Roses best-selling author Meacham takes us to rapidly changing early 1900s Texas, where cattle ranch heiress Samantha Gordon and farm boy Nathan Holloway find love, then lose it through bitter betrayal. With an 80,000-copy first printing.

Kirkus Reviews

2016-02-04
Lies, betrayal, and black gold seep through this epic saga of separated fraternal twins who are reunited at the dawn of the oil boom in early 1900s Texas. Nathan Holloway and his sister, Samantha Gordon, are living on separate cattle ranches after their narcissistic mother, Millicent, gave Samantha away at birth. The sudden appearance of their birth father, oil tycoon Trevor Waverling, just as they turn 20 brings them both to the same drilling site with an opportunity that will more likely reopen old wounds than uncover riches. It's hard to feel sympathy for any of the parents involved—adoptive father Neal is childishly jealous of his daughter's curiosity about her birth parents; Millicent's husband, Leon, won't consider the possibility that Trevor raped her; Millicent resents Nathan for being born; and Trevor's mother is convinced he killed his own brother for control of the family's drilling equipment business. The romances are also thorny—Millicent and Leon are chillingly mismatched, and even Samantha disapproves of the way her love interest, Sloan Singleton, treats his supposedly progressive older sisters like children. The secrets that the characters keep from each other, whether out of kindness or selfishness, often seem unjustified and are glossed over too easily when they're revealed. But Meacham's deep probing into the lives of early-20th-century cattle ranchers-turned-oil barons—from what they packed for lunch to the cameras they used—is breathtakingly rendered, bringing to life the hopeful and colorful history of the American Southwest. Emotions bubble up to the surface, but Meacham doesn't quite drill to the source, making an impressive dig into turn-of-the-century Texas come up empty.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940170321919
Publisher:	Hachette Audio
Publication date:	04/12/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged

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