Dreamland: An Evening Standard 'Best New Book' of 2021

Product Information

The story is a historical fiction/mystery that takes place in 1911 in Coney Island, with the main character being an American Heiress, Peggy Battenberg

Peggy is told not to mix herself with the common folk of Coney Island, but never one to conform to her family’s expectations, she sneaks into the darkness to Dreamland. From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Wish comes a poignant love story about risking everything for a dream—and whether it’s possible to leave the past behind. Peggy Batternberg views life from an almost aerial perspective. Born into one of the richest families in America, Peggy can't seem to get away fast enough from the clutches of the rich and famous. She's taken a job at the Moonrise Bookstore in New York City posing as a plain, run of the mill shop girl. Peggy just wants an every day life without a personal maid drawing her bath each evening. But those simple days come to an abrupt hault as she is whisked away from the store by her Uncle David, the judge and jury of the Batternberg family. Nancy Bilyeau delivers an extremely entertaining storyline, with captivating underlying tension. This gripping, perfectly paced and well-written read here that I absolutely loved how seamlessly and cleverly written this story was, and thought the author did a fabulous job with the delivery. I was totally invested all the way through to the satisfying end.I received this Advance Review Copy (ARC) novel from the publisher at no cost in exchange for an honest review. As a historical fiction novel though, I thought it was wonderful and really enjoyed reading it. This is a seasoned historical fiction writer who continues to showcase her historical knowledge and writing skills!

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.*** And with that... Peggy's life changes forever. "I love you, I do. Stefan, I've never...felt like this."And in the midst of the highest of highs, comes...murder. But when he meets Morgan Lee, his world is turned upside-down, making him wonder if the responsibilities he has shouldered need dictate his life forever. The daughter of affluent Chicago doctors, Morgan has graduated from a prestigious college music program with the ambition to move to Nashville and become a star. Romantically and musically, she and Colby complete each other in a way that neither has ever known. I adored Peggy and thought she was so likable and I really felt all of her struggles when it came to class and expectations from her family as well as her other social constraints during that time. The author made her come alive and I acutely felt her struggles which for me is a hallmark of a great characters and story. This author has written a variety of historical fiction novels that I have enjoyed over the years. And when I say variety, I mean variety. She’s written books about Tudor era mysteries with nuns and eighteenth century porcelain collectors and now here we are moving across the pond to Coney Island in the early 1900s.If Paris is France, then Coney Island, between June and September, is the world." (George C. Tilyou, 1886) For her Genevieve Planche novels--"The Blue" and "The Fugitive Colours"--she drew on her own heritage to create her Huguenot heroine. Nancy is a descendant of Pierre Billiou, a French Huguenot who immigrated to what was then New Amsterdam (later New York City) in 1661. Pierre's stone house still stands and is the third oldest house in New York State. Moreover, the libertarian reader of “Ours Was the Shining Future” might argue that, to the extent that our own dynamism has been deficient relative to America’s pre-1970s trend, that deficiency reflects not neoliberal overreach but all the ways in which neoliberalism simply failed — in its efforts to prevent the growth of regulation, the capture of government by entrenched interests, the culture of safetyism throttling innovation in fields from medicine to nuclear power. there is one thing I do know. Women of my family, and all others like us, cannot behave the same as men do.Set in 1911, Peggy Batternberg (yes, she's one of those Batternbergs) is ready to spend the summer playing bookshop keeper far away from her rich, snobbish family.

Overall it was a compelling mystery story, with some interesting comments on class and prejudice in the early 20th century.Dreamland is a techno-thriller. The name ‘Dreamland’ refers to a testing facility in the Nevada desert. The facility plays host to the most advanced aerospace technology in the world. That may be a bit dramatic, but so was this romance. Saying I love you after meeting for like the second time? No thanks. Colby Mills once felt destined for a musical career, until tragedy grounded his aspirations. Now the head of a small family farm in North Carolina, he spontaneously takes a gig playing at a bar in St. Pete Beach, Florida, seeking a rare break from his duties at home. No. Peggy has been working at the Moonrise Bookstore, and she dislikes nothing more than rubbing elbows with fellow socialites. I did expect more due to the names behind the scenes and the names in front of the camera but sadly it did nothing for me...

There she meets and falls for Stefan, a pier side artist in Dreamland Amusement Park who her family would never approve of. With him she feels a sense of freedom, a liberation and can be herself. But women's bodies begin turning up and Peggy begins to feel/see a connection to herself and begins to be in danger and.......(read the book for the rest!) The focus on the mystery was much lesser than I'd expected which was disappointing. Most of the story focuses on Peggy's family and just a bit at the start and a bit at the end truly focuses on the murders (the reveal wasn't surprising at all). Having said that, I did enjoy the family drama and I feel the character development was commendable. Dreamland takes place in 1911—Peggy Battenberg, a twenty year old girl belonging to one of the richest families in America is forced to spend the summer with her family in Coney Island. Living at the luxurious Oriental Hotel, Peggy only occasionally gets the chance to slip away from the scrutiny she is under and one such time she wanders into Dreamland, an amusement park, where she meets and falls in love with a Serbian artist, Stefan. During her stay, two women are murdered in Coney Island. Between the police investigating the case and Peggy's own disagreements with her family members, Dreamland is a story of mystery, love and courage. Peggy Batternberg is a member of one of the wealthiest families in America, but she doesn’t behave in the manner expected of her position in life - this is 1911, a time when privileged and wealthy young women had to maintain an air of respectability, and were told what they could and couldn’t do, especially by their menfolk.But to the extent that broadly shared prosperity depends on having rising wealth to share and redistribute in the first place, the neoliberal American economy arguably deserves a little more credit than this. In terms of per capita income, productivity growth and innovation, our post-Reagan advantage over our major European peers has been robust, and despite occasional talk of convergence, the American edge has pretty clearly increased under neoliberalism. Indeed, even during the post-Great Recession period, the era of life expectancy stagnation that Leonhardt identifies as indicting the U.S. economic model, the American economy went from being close to the same size as the European Union’s to being about one-third larger. Peggy Battenberg is a young heiress who struggles against the bonds of societal restrictions placed on women of her class. Peggy, against her families wishes takes a job at the Moonrise Bookstore, and lives with her ex teacher. When her family intervenes, and she is told that she is required to take a summer vacation at the Oriental Hotel, a once-grand oceanfront resort on Coney Island. For the sake of her sister Lydia, who is engaged to the rich Henry Taul, Peggy succumbs to her family’s wishes.