#BlogTour ‘Dreamland’ by Nancy Bilyeau

About the book…

The year is 1911 when twenty-year-old heiress Peggy Batternberg is invited to spend the summer in America’s Playground.

The invitation to the luxurious Oriental Hotel a mile from Coney Island is unwelcome. Despite hailing from one of America’s richest families, Peggy would much rather spend the summer working at the Moonrise Bookstore than keeping up appearances with New York City socialites and her snobbish, controlling family.

But soon it transpires that the hedonism of nearby Coney Island affords Peggy the freedom she has been yearning for, and it’s not long before she finds herself in love with a troubled pier-side artist of humble means, whom the Batternberg patriarchs would surely disapprove of.

Disapprove they may, but hidden behind their pomposity lurks a web of deceit, betrayal and deadly secrets. And as bodies begin to mount up amidst the sweltering clamour of Coney Island, it seems the powerful Batternbergs can get away with anything…even murder.

Extravagant, intoxicating and thumping with suspense, bestselling Nancy Bilyeau’s magnificent Dreamland is a story of corruption, class and dangerous obsession.

Huge thanks to publishers Endeavour Quill for the blogtour invite and gifted paperback copy of ‘Dreamland’ by Nancy Bilyeau which is out from 16th January in ebook and paperback formats!

Wow! My review summed up in one word… this is not the usual type of book that I read but I am pushing myself out of my comfort zone, and hello! Nice to see you here, fellow booklovers!

‘Dreamland’ held me in its grip so tightly, I was immediately swept away by a range of descriptive pieces which totally created an olfactory and audtory sensation of being at Coney Island, somewhere I have never been.

To capture such a sense of place and time is truly wonderful, through the eyes of protagonist, Peggy, whose familial obligations drag her away from her-and mine to be honest- ideal postion of working in a bookstore. Determined to make the best of things, plunged into a world where the vaues she holds are disrespected and patronised, this looks like being the worst summer of Peggy’s life.

Stubborn, independent and free thinking in a time where women were frowned upon for having ideas of their own, this could have felt like a modern day woman, transplanted into the 1920’s. However, the sensibilities and sense of family are very much of their time and superbly realised. I defy anyone not to read the passage where Peggy’s uncle turns up to Moonrise Bookstore and takes Peggy away not to shudder. Her initial thought that she was being threatened with institutionalised if she did not do as asked, was horrifying, and that was the reality of the disposable female at that time.

Do as you are told, or we will lock you away until you do.

And when Peggy falls in love with someone from the ‘wrong side of the streets’,is she using that man as a rebellious act against her family,or is she really in love?

This was engrossing and thought provoking as Peggy wrestles with herself and her burgeoning feminist thinking, and the reader( ok, me, on a bus, and I did get some odd looks, but hey, got a seat to myself #winwin) shouts at the book wanting her to take her family to task for their insane privilege-but does this privilege extend to one of them murdering young women who are seen as disposable?

Loosely based on the history of the Guggenheim family, ‘Dreamland’ is about that place where dreams and reality intersect and decisions have to be made as to whether loyalty to family is more important than social responsibity.

Absolutely incredible, I was thoroughly swept away and thanks to the recommendations of other book bloggers and reviewers, Nancy’s other novel, The Blue is now on my hit list!

*As a bonus, in the UK this wonderful book is available on Kindle Unlimited, link below*

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dreamland-Nancy-Bilyeau-ebook/dp/B07ZL5ZBCQ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=nancy+bilyeau&qid=1579798763&sr=8-1

About the author…

Nancy is a writer and magazine editor who has worked as an editor at “Rolling Stone,” “InStyle,” and “Good Housekeeping.”

Her new historical novel is “Dreamland,” set in 1911 New York City and due to be published Jan 16, 2020.

In December 2019 Nancy published a novella set in old New York: “The Ghost of Madison Avenue,” telling a mystery set in the private library of JP Morgan,

Nancy is the author of “The Blue,” a novel of suspense set in the art and porcelain worlds of 18th century Europe featuring a young female artist turned spy, and a trilogy of award-winning Tudor mysteries, published in 9 countries: “The Crown,” “The Chalice,” and “The Tapestry.”

Nancy’s mind is usually in past centuries, but she lives with her family in the Queens borough of New York City.

Links-http://www.nancybilyeau.com/

http://www.endeavourmedia.co.uk/quill/