In an advance review, Publishers Weekly praises Egrets to the Flames by Barbara Anton: “Vivid scenes of harvesting and processing the sugar cane and the hot subtropical setting earn solid marks for Anton…her over-the-top melodrama rages like a field afire.”
Oceanview Publishing will release Egrets to the Flames by Barbara Anton on November 1, 2007. Anton, an acclaimed playwright, celebrated jewelry designer and award-winning writer, passed away on May 20, 2007 after a brief illness.
Egrets to the Flames (Oceanview Publishing $23.95, ISBN-13: 978-1-933515-11-3) introduces the Hamptons, a wealthy, privileged family of sugar cane growers. In Egrets to the Flames, patriarch James Henry Hampton struggles to maintain his holdings and preserve his and his family’s way of life. But there is trouble in the fields: James Henry must answer to forces demanding retribution for the egregious impact on the fragile environment, and the exploitation of Jamaican sugar cane cutters.
As he juggles a wife and a mistress, James Henry’s family begins to unravel. He must fight to save son Henny from self-destruction and a disastrous marriage to a field hand’s pregnant daughter; son Jeffrey and his cherished bride face immeasurable loss, while daughter Melisandra marries an impoverished prince intent on taking her riches at any cost. And despite her concern with appearances, wife Grace has some unseemly secrets lurking just below the surface. But, in the end, James Henry will face his toughest battle yet -- a battle that may be his last. Will the very things that hold this family together ultimately tear them apart?
In Egrets to the Flames, Barbara Anton deftly juxtaposes the crazed egrets diving into the burning cane, with the
According to Stuart Kaminsky, bestselling author and winner of both the Edgar Award for Best Novel, and the Mystery Writers of America 2006 Grand Master Award, “Egrets to the Flames is a riveting, beautifully-written novel of family tension and high drama. It has betrayal, intrigue and characters that will stay with the reader while those of other books are long forgotten.”
Susan Greger, Publisher at Oceanview, commented, “We are deeply saddened by Barbara Anton’s death, and regret that Egrets to the Flames will be a posthumous release. Egrets to the Flames is so much more than a gripping saga of one family’s struggle; it is a candid, eye-opening look at the sugar cane industry and a bittersweet tale about tradition, temptation and the ties that bind a family together. Barbara had a tremendous passion for life that shines through in this phenomenal work. ”
Oceanview Publishing (http://www.oceanviewpub.com/) is an independent press headquartered in
