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Book Review of In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden

In Sunlight, in a Beautiful Garden
reviewed on + 44 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3


This is a novel which is based on a factual occurrence â a flood in 1889 in Johnstown Pennsylvania. The rich had a hunting and fishing lodge above the dam, the town of Johnstown was below the dam. When the dam broke, over 2000 people died in the subsequent flood.

Rich means VERY rich: Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon and Henry Clay Frick â businessmen and financiers of the highest caliber at that time â were all members of the âclubâ.

Similar to the situation in the Titanic, the rich couldn't care less about the other people â their fate, their future was totally unimportant to the men who used the club. When the club had been built, the earthen dam was nominally reinforced⦠once⦠for $17,000. Then it was never maintained.

The fiction is in giving lives to the characters â daily details, conversations, a romance or two. The writing is compelling â the reader knows, just as in the Titanic, what the outcome of the story will be, and keeps reading.

I recommend it.

http://www.johnstownpa.com/History/hist19.html