Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
This gripping saga from the bestselling author of Romancing the Stone and Jewel of the Nile invites you to embark on the greatest adventure of all: self-discovery!
It is 1906 in San Francisco, and Barbara Mansfield is a woman who stands at the dawn of a new life and a new century. A journalist at the Call, she is a woman reporter working on the toughest stories in the city, rooting out the city's graft and corruption, as well as the white slavery that still exists on the Barbary Coast. When Jefferson Duke -- the ninety-one-year-old patriarch of the city and one of Barbara's closest friends since childhood -- pays her a visit, she is delighted to see him, but concerned about the weariness she sees in his eyes. When he leaves her with a valise of journals he calls the Rachel Papers and the words "Read it, then tell me that you still care about me", she is both frightened and intrigued. As she reads the papers, the secrets of Jefferson Duke -- and his deep connection to Barbara -- are finally revealed.
Wings of Destiny is the story of Jefferson Duke, a man driven to fulfill the destiny foretold by his grandmother: he will be instrumental in the creation of a golden city, the city of San Francisco. In pursuit of this overpowering goal, Jefferson must make sacrifices, including the loss of life's most precious gift -- his heart -- to a woman he can never have.
When Jefferson Duke set foot on the shore of the trading post at Yuerba Buena, he carried his few possessions and a name that was not his own. Through hard work, his few possessions grew into first a business, then a fortune. But the name he had taken, and the lie it created, threaten to take it all away and drag him into a warbetween the House of Duke and the House of Su, a war driven by evil, greed, lust and familial revenge. Theirs is the timeless struggle between good and evil, one that Jefferson must end for his city to survive, even if it means his exposure -- and his death.
Meanwhile, Barbara is on her own journey to discover how her father died. Despite seemingly insurmountable obstacles, she builds an internal arsenal of wisdom, courage and dignity, which, in turn, enable her to finally uncover the truth about her father's death and about her own life. Barbara moves forward with grace and aplomb, meeting her destiny with courage, despite her fears.
Catherine Lanigan's sprawling, generational saga will take you from Montego Bay to Charleston, from the golden city of San Francisco to the Forbidden City of Peking. Propelled by Barbara's dynamic and indomitable spirit, Wings of Destiny is sure to become a classic in the emerging genre of visionary fiction.