A CRUEL CALM, Paris Between the Wars visits an era when Paris was the cultural capital of the Western World (1927-1939) Would politics, religion and social mores determine the fate of a young Catholic socialite from Washington, DC as she tries to find out if it is only after great sorrow that love can come again.
What was love like in the era before annulments, reliable contraceptives and acceptance of homosexuality?
A CRUEL CALM, Paris Between the Wars visits an era of idealism and innovation on all levels when Paris was the cultural capital of the Western World. Politics, religion, social mores and a special time in history (1927-1939) determine the fate of a young Catholic socialite from Washington, DC as she tries to find out if it is only after great sorrow that love can come again.
Well Researched, A CRUEL CALM, Paris Between the Wars includes Lindbergh's flight across the Atlantic and the huge crowds that awaited him at Le Bourget Aeroport; Gertrude Stein, James Joyce, Joseph Campbell and Hemingway in their own words; the Surrealist movement; lady pilots Bessie Coleman and Amelia Earhart; a train ride to Reno, Black Thursday; the ravages from the Great War and omens of a new war brewing, and much more.
This is also a story replete with historical detail, universal conflict, and sensational romance and could easily be adapted as a screen play.
Professional Reviews
Robert Goodman's review
On the surface, "A Cruel Calm" is a romantic "coming of age" novel about love, loss, and redemption. It throws in a surprising ending to boot. But it's not "just" a love story ... Daly-Lipe spices up her story with side trips to such diverse areas as the history of aviation, the American exile community in Paris, modern art, Hannibal, and the Catholic Church. The diverse characters include Charles Lindbergh, James Joyce, and Gertrude Stein-and each of them belongs in the story ... I enjoyed it enormously.
Rita Mae Brown
"Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all-well, yes and no. Read Daly-Lipe's view of this age old dilemma."
Veronica Li, Author
The roaring twenties "Like any great classic, the reader comes away feeling that he or she has learned something about the human journey. In this book, the author achieves it by telling a poignant romance based on a fictionalized version of her mother's life in Paris. She also achieves it by weaving into this personal story the character of the roaring twenties, when breakthroughs in technology seemed to make anything possible. I've never seen anything so creative and unique-the author puts the great aviator Lindbergh in the story, as well as literary giants such as James Joyce and Gertrude Stein. They actually interact with the heroine, and what they say are truly their own words. Very clever and beautifully written."
Based on the memoirs of a Pearl Harbor survivor. Letters from two pen pals take the reader on a journey into the past, a past where nightmares came true, and when hatred reigned.
