Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Reviews of All We Hold Dear

All We Hold Dear
All We Hold Dear
Author: Kathryn Lynn Davis
ISBN-13: 9780671736033
ISBN-10: 0671736035
Publication Date: 1995
Pages: 501
Rating:
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 6

3.4 stars, based on 6 ratings
Publisher: Pocket Books
Book Type: Unknown Binding
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

11 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

reviewed All We Hold Dear on + 170 more book reviews
My sisters book....she loved it.
timid-gardener avatar reviewed All We Hold Dear on + 9 more book reviews
This edition is a Hardcover edition
reviewed All We Hold Dear on + 63 more book reviews
"Stunning.. It will remind you of THE FAR PAVILIONS OR THE THORN BIRDS.. Davis's story is as richly textured as a fine old tapestry..The emotions and conflicts are ageless." ( Joyce Slater, Chicago Tribune)
reviewed All We Hold Dear on + 111 more book reviews
In the spring of 1988, on a small Scottish island battered into stark beauty by the motion of the sea, Eva Crawford turns eighteen and learns a disturbing fact that shatters the comfort and stability of her life. Confused and bewildered, she leaves her safe childhood home and sets out on a journey of discovery - to unearth the truth about herself, her mother, and her family. In an austere Glasgow bedroom, Eva finds a worn, yellowed journal and a faded scrap of ribbon - the only clues to her lost heritage. As she opens the journal, she is spellbound by the story of her ancestors ... women who, beginning with Ailsa Rose one hundred years earlier, had set out on their own remarkable journeys. Ailsa Rose Sinclair found contentment as a wife and mother in Victorian London, but it was the exotic paradise of Glen Affric that nourished and sustained her soul. There, her mother, Mairi Rose, awaited her ... as did Ian Fraser, Ailsa's first love, left behind years before. As progress threatened the healing beauty of the glen, Ailsa and Ian confronted their own demons, old loyalties, and new betrayals ... and the passion they had so long denied. Alanna Sinclair, Ailsa's beloved daughter, was raised in London but, like her mother, returned always to the rushing waters, to the peace and promise of the glen. There she met David Fraser and knew from the moment her eyes met his what it was to love with perfect abandon. Yet the strongest love could not protect any of them from the pain of a devastating tragedy.... One hundred years later, Eva Crawford pieces together fragments of herself from the stories of these women, and seeks to uncover more in the lush beauty of Glen Affric. Only if she can comprehend the frailty and sorrow of Celia, the mother who abandoned her but whose memory will not give her peace, can Eva begin to forgive. Only then can she move toward a future that will give voice to the melodies and rhythms that sing in her soul. Then she may be free to love the cle
ReadingGemma avatar reviewed All We Hold Dear on + 5 more book reviews
Kathryn Davis will take you on some twists & turns with a good story...Takes time to read...Lush imagery & good characterization....Recommend reading
reviewed All We Hold Dear on + 40 more book reviews
with luminus clarity, Kathryn Lynn Davis intertwines past & present in a story of hope & resilience that will touch you deeply & forever!
running time: approx 3 hours
presented on 2 cassettes
theseb audio tapes are still in their original wrapper
agility4me avatar reviewed All We Hold Dear on + 58 more book reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Readers who loved the bestselling Too Deep for Tears will also be ensnared by this ambitious sequel, once they swallow such overwritten sentences as the novel's opening line: "The sea sang and snarled and wept in a voice that echoed the ancient cry of mermaids in their shimmering isolation." Davis returns to beautiful, wild Glen Affric in the Scottish highlands as the primary setting of her passionate story about a young girl's search for the truth about her ancestors. The novel, which alternates between the 20th and 19th centuries, opens in 1988 on a small Scottish island where?on her 18th birthday and at the request of her biological mother, Celia Ward, who died many years ago?Eva Crawford is told by her parents that she was adopted as a baby. In a letter to Eva, Celia invites her daughter to learn more about her past by contacting her friend, Eilidh, in Glasgow. There Eilidh gives her Celia's ebony Chinese chest, which contains a journal written by one of Eva's ancestors, Ailsa Rose, in 1882. The journal, which unfolds in sections throughout the novel, depicts the colorful inhabitants in Glen Affric, a place of extraordinary raw beauty. Davis's 19th-century characters are so richly drawn that it's difficult to leave them when she returns to the less colorful Eva. Still, the intertwining of the two times creates an affecting story. Major ad/promo; Simon & Schuster Audio.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
reviewed All We Hold Dear on + 911 more book reviews
A real tear jerker. But a good read.
reviewed All We Hold Dear on + 84 more book reviews
"The long-awaited sequel to 'Too Deep for Tears' spills from the pages with all the dark beauty and high drama of an ancient highland legend that winds it's way around your heart, states Romantic Times. While Rendezvous says, " I couldn't put the book down...this is beautiful, passionate, and wild like the rugged Scottish Highlands. Excellent reading adventure." Affair de cCoeur describes the 1st book as one that, "sweeps the reader around the world & back in telling a compelling story of loss, betrayal, love, and discovery."
reviewed All We Hold Dear on + 16 more book reviews
This is the long-awaited sequel to Too Deep for Tears. During the spring of 1988, on a small Scottish island battered into stark beauty by the sea, eighteen year-old Eva Crawford leaves her childhood home to unearth the truth about herself, her mother, and her family. In a spare Glasgow bedroom, Eva finds a worn yellowed journal and a faded scrap of ribbon. She is soon spellbound by the story of her ancestors: Ailsa Rose Sinclair, who rejoiced in the paradise of Glen Affric --Ian Fraser. Ailsa's never-forgotten first love, Alanna Sinclair. Ailsa's daughter, who met the love of her life in the peace of Glen Affric. Each had to confront their own demons, old loyalties and new betrayals, as a devastating tragedy loomed. One hundred years later, Eva Crawford must learn to forgive the mother she never knew, to move toward the future, and the man who wants to open her heart to the greatest treasure her family can offer. An excellent reading adventure according to Rendezvous.
reviewed All We Hold Dear on + 377 more book reviews
Abridged/2 Cassettes/Approx 3 hours. EBAY lists as unabridged, but is actually abridged. A little wear and tear on corners of case. Cassettes are in great working condition.

Kathryn Lynn Davis returns to wild, idyllic Glen Affric, home to the memorable characters in Too Deep for Tears, and draws us into a world of suspense and haunting emotion....

During the spring of 1988, on a small Scottish island battered into stark beauty by the sea, eighteen-year-old Eva Crawford leaves her childhood home to unearth the truth about herself, her mother, and her family. In a spare Glasgow bedroom, Eva finds a worn, yellowed journal and a faded scrap of ribbon. She is soon spellbound by the story of her ancestors: Ailsa Rose Sinclair, who rejoiced in the paradise of Glen Affric...Ian Fraser, Ailsa's never-forgotten first love...Alanna Sinclair, Ailsa's daughter, who met the love of her life in the peace of Glen Affric. Each had to confront their own demons, old loyalties and new betrayals, as a devastating tragedy loomed....

One hundred years later, Eva Crawford must learn to forgive the mother she never knew, to move toward the future, and the man who wants to open her heart to the greatest treasure her family can offer....