Author Bio:
Gail Ward Olmsted was a marketing executive and a college professor before she began writing fiction on a fulltime basis. A trip to Sedona, AZ inspired her first novel Jeep Tour. Three more novels followed before she began Landscape of a Marriage, a biographical work of fiction featuring landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, a distant cousin of her husband’s, and his wife Mary.
For more information, please visit her on Facebook and at GailOlmsted.com.
Book Title: Landscape of a Marriage
Author: Gail Ward Olmsted
Publication Date: July 29, 2021
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Page Length: 314 Pages
Genre: Historical Fiction
Tour Schedule Page (Follow the tour): https://www.coffeepotbookclub.com/post/blog-tour-landscape-of-a-marriage-by-gail-ward-olmsted-july-31st-august-1st-2021
Book Title and Author Name:
Landscape of a Marriage
By Gail Ward Olmsted
(Blurb)
A marriage of convenience leads to a life of passion and purpose. A shared vision transforms the American landscape forever.
New York, 1858: Mary, a young widow with three children, agrees to marry her brother-in-law Frederick Law Olmsted, who is acting on his late brother’s deathbed plea to "not let Mary suffer”. But she craves more than a marriage of convenience and sets out to win her husband’s love. Beginning with Central Park in New York City, Mary joins Fred on his quest to create a 'beating green heart' in the center of every urban space.
Over the next 40 years, Fred is inspired to create dozens of city parks, private estates and public spaces with Mary at his side. Based upon real people and true events, this is the story of Mary’s journey and personal growth and the challenges inherent in loving a brilliant and ambitious man.
Buy Links:
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1684337216
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1684337216
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/1684337216
Amazon AU: https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/1684337216
Social Media Links:
Website: www.GailOlmsted.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/gwolmsted
Facebook: www.facebook.com/gailolmstedauthor
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gwolmsted/
Amazon Author Page: www.amazon.com/author/gailolmsted
Goodreads:
Book Review:
A marriage of convenience leads to a life of passion and purpose. A shared vision transforms the American landscape forever.
New York, 1858: Mary, a young widow with three children, agrees to marry her brother-in-law Frederick Law Olmsted, who is acting on his late brother’s deathbed plea to “not let Mary suffer.” But she craves more than a marriage of convenience and sets out to win her husband’s love. Beginning with Central Park in New York City, Mary joins Fred on his quest to create a 'beating green heart' in the center of every urban space.
Over the next 40 years, Fred is inspired to create dozens of city parks, private estates and public spaces with Mary at his side. Based upon real people and true events, this is the story of Mary’s journey and personal growth and the challenges inherent in loving a brilliant and ambitious man.
The story of Frederick Law Olmsted is told from the perspective of his wife, Mary, his former sister-in-law whom he marries after his brother dies and leaves his widow with three children to raise on her own. Out of family duty and convenience, they marry, but ultimately their marriage develops into one of passion and deep endearing love. You can’t help but see the “landscape” built into their lives with the same care that Fred takes in building Central Park, as well as the other park projects he takes on during their lifetime.
This book almost reads as a memoir, with each chapter offering the reader a glimpse into their life told from Mary’s first-person POV, and you get a real-life view of life in the mid-1800s. I am reminded of a quote by Thomas Paine about the America of 1776 when he said “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly, ‘tis dearness only that gives everything its value.” Life in the mid-1800s was hard, full of struggles and pains, of women in a place of quiet oppression, of the days before the Civil War, and the war itself, and the story of Fred and Mary gives us all of that. Gail Olmsted, the author, lets us gaze into their life like staring into a fishbowl and the realities of marriage with its ups and downs, with spans of separation (sometimes necessary, sometimes not), of incredible grief at the loss of children, of near financial ruin, of moving from one location to another, of sickness and health, of the intimacy between a husband and wife as well as the arguments, and the glorious triumph when after years and years of trying to achieve the height of success – they are rewarded with a family, memories, and financial stability so longed for in life.
I was thrilled to learn more about this fascinating family, about the woman behind the man, and about the man, himself. I knew very little about Frederick Law Olmsted, so the details about the development of the parks in New York City, as well as parks in other famous cities across America, was very enlightening. One of my favorite places to visit is Biltmore House in Asheville North Carolina, and to learn of his work on the grounds there, was a new historical tidbit that I enjoyed very much.
Along with this intimate story between husband and wife, you are offered an overview of American history during this time. Frederick Olmsted was definitely a dreamer who followed his heart, and a reader is taken on his journey, along with his resilient wife, through Indian territory in the West, a journey through Panama and Venezuela, to California during the Gold Rush, and you are given almost a “real” first-hand perspective from Mary about the women’s suffrage movement, about rejection from the fashionable set and the importance of fashion in New York, about slavery and the death of President Lincoln, and how her family grows and thrives right along with the growing pains of America.
The author very skillfully presents a beautiful portrait of the friendship between two women, Mary and her best friend, Anne, who stick together through thick and thin, and provide support at times when their husbands are changing the world and scenery of the “Big Apple”. While often we are presented with novels of Victorian life in England, this is a breath of fresh air in giving us life in Victorian America, at the dawn of a country full of men like Olmsted who were intuitive, brilliant, and creative thinkers and innovators; and on top of that, we are given the rare opportunity to see the life of a woman dedicated to support her husband and find within herself the strength to rally even during the most tragic of times.
I thought the dialogue felt very authentic, the setting descriptions fluid and lush, and the attention to continuity was done very well. And her descriptions of dealing with sickness, such as cholera early on, then with dementia later in the book, was done with tenderness and accuracy. While each chapter is presented as a slice of this couple’s life, sometimes I felt a little rushed as to the presentment of a problem, and then the solution. I also felt this story was more character-driven rather than plot-driven, and sometimes I felt that the story was weakened by presenting the resolutions as too perfect, too easily ‘wrapped up”, like each vignette was a nice little gift. Not that I didn’t enjoy each little gift, for the writing was very well done, and I envisioned this couple clearly in my mind, but I felt a little longing for more of a arc to a major climax in the storyline. Again, this definitely felt like Mary’s memoir rather than a novel, and with the author’s background and connection to the family (as she is married to a descendant of the real Frederick Olmsted), the research and family history is quite evident, even if some of it is embellished. Overall, this is a lovely read, very satisfying, and I give it 4 stars!
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