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MY LORD AMERICA by Alec

MY LORD AMERICA

By

Pub Date: Aug. 22nd, 1950
Publisher: Farrar, Straus

Virginia and England of the 1660's background the story of Charles Marsden whose search is for knowledge of his parentage and that he is a gentleman. Brought up by a mysterious Mr. Strange who leaves him the plantation as an inheritance, Charles is befriended by Sam Oakes who has no doubt but that he is a gentleman, is picked by Oakes' daughter as the man she is to marry. But visions of London, of acknowledgment by his own kind, drive Charles to perfect his fencing so that all insults may be avenged. Sought out by a Lady Bianche, he is summoned to England, there learns Lord Raven will uphold his claims as Earl of April, hair to Evesham. Charles is forced to attend Court, to be a pawn in the plot to make England Roman Catholic, until his eyes are opened to his real love for Virginia and his dislike for the intrigue he has found in his home country. Even when he learns his true identity, he still heads for his plantation -- and Jennifer. Of great length, this still has the weakness of the previous A Stylish Marriage (1948) in its inability to prune its prose, although here the main story and character line are better displayed.