Beautiful Wild

September 1, 2020
Romance blooms on a desert island. Vidalia Hazzard has it all planned out: The teen socialite is determined to win the heart of wealthy adventurer Fitzhugh Farrar aboard the Princess of the Pacific as it sails across the seas from San Francisco to Australia. Vida's plan doesn't account for Fitzhugh's friend Sal getting under her skin, nor for the luxury liner to disastrously sink, leaving Vida, Sal, Fitzhugh, and several other survivors stranded on a small desert island. As adventure and romance unfold away from the repressive social norms of the early 20th century, Vida discovers not just her true love, but for the first time, a true sense of self. The narrative travels in bodice-ripper trappings but smartly sidesteps the saucier elements of the genre in favor of an internal investigation of Vida. Sal and Fitzhugh are less defined, but the book knows it isn't about them but rather what they represent. Readers (particularly those susceptible to romance and adventure) will be turning pages well into the night. The only problem is that shortly before the novel's end many will have figured out how this is all going to shake out, and the narrative doesn't do anything to surprise. Before this point there are a few well-plotted twists and turns, making the last chunk feel a bit like a story gliding on autopilot. The cast is White. A sweeping page-turner. (Romance. 12-16)

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October 19, 2020
Godbersen’s (When We Caught Fire) latest seems set on chronicling an engagingly frothy shipboard romance until an abrupt plot twist forces a change of course to something far more thought-provoking. Anxious to flee an impending society scandal generated by their daughter’s flirtations, the parents of headstrong San Francisco socialite Vidalia Marin Hazzard, 17, hastily book passage to Hawaii for themselves and their daughter on a grand new ocean liner, the Princess of the Pacific, said to be unsinkable. Vida’s plan—and her parents’ intention—is that she will secure a marriage proposal from Fitzhugh Farrar, dashing explorer and scion of the family that owns the Princess. When a collision at sea sinks the ship, Vida ends up on a remote island with Fitz, his servant Sal, and a small group of other passengers. As she learns to survive in this new environment, Vida begins to shed society’s expectations and discover new capabilities and modes of living. While her romance with Fitz seems to flourish, Vida also finds herself drawn to the enigmatic Sal, whom she initially scorns as a “nobody.” Lush language manages to convey the mores of a Titanic-tinged world while moving the story at a brisk pace that will keep contemporary readers engaged. Ages 14–up.

November 1, 2020

Gr 8 Up-Seventeen-year-old Vida Hazzard yearns for a life of thrills. Her personal philosophy is, "Why try to stand out in a crowd when you could rise above like a shining star?" But in her early 20th-century aristocratic-adjacent household, her antics leave much to be desired. Her parents, fearing a scandal, believe that it is high time for her to settle down before she tarnishes her good name. Enter Fitzhugh Farrar, the sandy-haired, blue-eyed, and highly eligible son of the Winthrop-Farrar ship line whose family ship, the Princess of the Pacific, is about to set sail with him on it. Vida's parents find them all a spot onboard with the sole intention of securing a match, but Vida quickly encounters Fitz's rakish best friend Sal, described as "sun-dark" with dark eyes, a man of no fortune and a wilder heart than her own. When they are shipwrecked and Vida is stranded with both boys, she finds herself torn between obligation and desire. The writing and naming conventions in this story leave a bit to be desired, but the plot rolls readers right along, hitting each note with no real surprises. Vida is described as pale-skinned with "eyes a color as shifting as fool's gold." Though at the time this book was set, characters of color would have been present, none are described or featured. VERDICT A serviceable romance. Fans of the author's "Luxe" series and those with a penchant for shipwreck stories will be drawn in.-India Winslow, Cary Memorial Lib., Lexington, MA

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