The Passion of Dellie O'Barr - Hardcover

Bonner, Cindy

3.46

74 ratings by Goodreads

9781565121034: The Passion of Dellie O'Barr

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1565121031 ISBN 13: 9781565121034

Publisher: Algonquin Books, 1996

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

Everybody in McDade has always thought of Dellie O'Barr as "the good little sister"--until she falls urgently in love with Populist rabble-rouser Andrew Ashland. For his love, Dellie tosses aside her own status--a privileged life and perfect reputation--burns down a local store that denies Populists credit and leaves her rich husband to chase after her lover when he disappears from town. Dellie becomes a martyr and model to the national suffragist movement. Through it all, her husband sticks by her. As much about married love as forbidden love, THE PASSION OF DELLIE O'BARR is the story of a singular woman's life and of the lives of the two men she chooses as lovers. "Captivating."--Booklist; "Crisp prose, absorbing historical detail and appealing characters."--Publishers Weekly; "Cindy Bonner is a national treasure . . . What's so remarkable about Bonner's writing is that not only can she spin a mesmerizing yarn, but she can also weave in the small details of a century ago in a way that makes the era seem human and real."--The Virginian-Pilot.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews:

The heroine of this third and decreasingly engaging installment in the McDade Cycle (Lily, 1992; Looking for Lily, not reviewed) is a young woman who gets into trouble in small-town Texas of the 1890's as she follows her heart rather than her head. As the story begins, Dellie, Lily's younger sister, has been married for two years to Daniel O'Barr, a local farmer and lawyer. Daniel is kind and generous but often absent, leaving Dellie restless and bored. At a picnic celebrating a reunion of local Confederate veterans, she meets handsome Andy Ashland, her father's tenant farmer, who delivers a fiery speech in favor of Populism. Four days later, her father, dying of cancer, commits suicide. Dellie, who had married Daniel in part to escape Papa's harsh ways, finds it difficult to grieve. Increasingly attracted to Andy, she starts attending local Populist meetings to hear him speak, begins writing for the Populist paper, and (when her husband is out of town) she spends time with Andy and his two children. Andy is married, but his wife is hospitalized in an Austin asylum; he is also heavily in debt, especially to local merchant Louis Bassist, whom he accuses of usury. Soon deeply smitten, Dellie follows Andy to Austin for a tryst and decides to divorce Daniel. When Andy leaves town, she impulsively sets Bassist's store on fire and flees to Louisiana, hoping to meet up with her lover there. When he fails to come, she returns to McDade to give herself up. Dellie and Daniel reconcile. She's tried and imprisoned for arson, finding some consolation in becoming an ardent Suffragist. In always nicely evoked period settings, Dellie tries hard to be strong, sexy, and politically progressive, but she never quite comes alive either as a ``new woman'' or a heartwrenching romantic. -- Copyright �1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

Following the acclaimed Lily and its sequel, Looking After Lily, Bonner's third novel is engagingly narrated by Lily's younger sister, Dellie, a 20-year-old housewife who becomes an adulterer, an arsonist and, later, a hero of the women's suffrage movement. Like its predecessors, this story is set in the real-life town of McDade, Tex., and is loosely based on a real event-the burning, in 1896, of the town's largest business. After a "satisfactory" two-year marriage to wealthy rancher Daniel O'Barr, 32, Dellie finds herself attracted to a poor tenant farmer, Andy Ashland. A champion of Populist causes like a woman's right to vote, Andy cares for his two young children while his wife is an insane asylum. When Daniel goes away on business, Dellie attends Populist meetings, writes for the party newspaper and begins an affair with Andy. Yet, after promising to run away with her, the tenant farmer mysteriously disappears with his children. Angry and disillusioned, Dellie sets fire to a store whose owner has exploited the area's farmers, then flees to Louisiana to look for her lover. Eventually, she must decide whether to remain a fugitive or to return to McDade to confess her crime to her husband-and to the sheriff. The crisp prose, absorbing historical detail and appealing characters (including Lily, who makes a welcome cameo at novel's end) will please admirers of the author's McDade Cycle series.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.