Good story but extremely melodramatic, with a fairly shallow main character I could not really get into. ( )

Not exactly a romance, but definitely a titillating soap opera with a layer of a morality fable on top. I was sort of bored at first, but there were so many influences that made Fey the interesting woman she turned out to be, and so many minor threads that needed to have their foundations laid, that it was necessary. Would have been terrific for women's book clubs to discuss, back in the day Even now, I think some women feel they have to choose between slut & martyr, and can't just be themselves... talking about Fey's life with friends might help.

My library copy had no jacket, but does have two front illustrations. The cover is embossed with a triqueta (trefoil knot) that has been detailed to look like leaves and berries. I'm not sure if that's supposed to be representative of something in the story (though I can guess what) or if it's the publisher or imprint stamp, but it is cool looking.

Oh, and for some dumb reason I could not put this down until I finished. But then, I couldn't get to sleep when I did finally finish, either, so I don't know if the story was that engaging or if I was just having a bad night. ( )

Have you heard of Anya Seton? I sure hadn’t. I’m not sure what possessed me to put this book on my TBR list back in 2009, but THANK GOODNESS I did. Because y’all, this book was magnificent.

It was published first in 1946, and the copy I got from the library was bound in one of those old style books – unassuming, no pictures, gold lettering on top of an orange cover. I looked at that book and thought.. what was I thinking? And then I started to read… and I read more and more and next thing I know I’m waking up at 6am so I can pick up where I left off.

This is an epic story. Santa Fe Cameron was born to a dying mother, and her father dies when she reaches the mere age of 7. She is taken in and raised by a local family – but is always considered to be different, due to the Scottish features of pale skin and gray eyes. Early in the story, she is told she will have to make one of two choices, and … you, the reader, can decide if she made the right choice.

Santa Fe’s trip through this story is a rough one. It’s filled with love and heartbreak, gain and loss, and some of the most intelligent, strong, female characters I’ve ever read in a book of this age. I adored this story, and like I said earlier, I am so glad I put it on my list. This one is highly, highly recommended by me – and I cannot wait to get to the other Seton book I have here sitting on my desk. ( )

I was thrilled to find the reprints of some of Anya Seton's stories. She has always been one of favorite authors since I started reading her in high school. Turquoise is well writen but the story line not up to the same standards as Katherine, The Winthrop Woman or the Green Darkness. ( )

Born of Scots/Spanish parents in 1850s New Mexico and orphaned at a n early age, Fey is raised by poor neighbors. At 17, she hitches a ride out of town with Terry Dillon, a “special-elixir”-selling quack. While traveling the Santa Fe Trail, they marry and eventually arrive in Kansas with enough money for train fares to New York City. Predictably, Terry abandons Fey within days, just before Fey realizes she is pregnant. Alone, pregnant and without a source of income in the 19th-century metropolis, Fey must make some important decisions quickly.

I consider Seton to be one of my favorite authors, but I didn’t care much for this book. Seton’s prose is as usual superb, but there is something lacking in the appeal of the story itself. Fey’s financial aspirations didn’t ring true to me. I didn’t understand why she wanted money so badly, and then why she didn’t seem to care much about it when she did have it. This aspect of her personality felt like merely a plot device.

I recommend nearly all of Seton’s other works, especially Katherine. ( )