Robert Parrish’s childhood obsession with series books like the Hardy Boys and Tom Swift inspired him to become an author. Just as his debut novel becomes a bestseller, his relationship with his girlfriend, Rebecca, begins to fall apart. Robert realizes he must confront his secret demons by fulfilling a youthful promise to solve a mystery surrounding his favorite series—the Tremendous Trio.
… Trio.
Guided by twelve tattered books and an unidentified but tantalizing fragment of a story, Robert journeys into the history of the books that changed his life, hoping they can help him once again. His odyssey takes him to 1906 Manhattan, a time of steamboats, boot blacks, and Fifth Avenue mansions, but every discovery he makes only leads to more questions.
Robert’s quest intertwines with the stories of three young people trying to define their places in the world at the dawn of a new and exciting century. Magda, Gene, and Tom not only write the children’s books that Robert will one day love, together they explore the vibrant city on their doorstep, from the Polo Grounds to Coney Island’s Dreamland, drawing the reader into the Gilded Age as their own friendships deepen.
The connections between the authors, their creations, and Robert’s redemptive journey make for a beautifully crafted novel that is an ode to the children’s series books of our past, to New York City, and above all, to the power of love and friendship.
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Wow! What fun to come across a book that is so unusual, in it’s plot, At first I was confused as the story line went in many directions. But I hung in and Boy! was it worth it. Marvelous characters, people we care deeply about, most unusual plot…and a love letter to New York City at the same time. A journey of discovery both personal and historic, that covers over 100 years. Brilliant!
Gripping Dual-Timeline Story
Audiobook & eBook Review:
I wasn’t quite sure what I was getting into with this book, but I am always drawn to novels about books and writing. What a fascinating listen and read. The author and narrator pulled me right into the story, and I found myself captivated by the dual timeline story. I typically listen to audiobooks while I do other things, and I found the narrator easy and pleasant to listen to, even if he pronounced a few words strangely, like Rembrandt and celebratory. As an avid reader myself whose love of reading started when I was a child (including Nancy Drews!), I loved the literary aspects of this book, both in the past timeline with three young people who wrote adventurous children’s novels that were so popular back in the day (like Nancy, the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, et al.) and in the present with the hero being a celebrated literary fiction writer whose love of those children’s books—shared across the generations with his grandfather and father—inspired his own love of words and writing. Mysteries are a part of the book on several fronts. While we, the readers, watch the world of those early 20th Century writers unfold, the present-day main character doesn’t have such knowledge. He has to delve into the mystery about them for reasons we don’t fully understand until much later in the book. Somehow, his present difficulties hinge on this mystery.
I loved the complicated but believable and relatable characters in this book, particularly the ones in the past timeline. They all had rich backstories that the author reveals gradually. When they all finally meet and start their children’s book writing careers, the group dynamic between them becomes gripping and tenuous at times. Tom comes from a wealthy family, and he defied them by going into journalism instead of banking, the family business. Magda/Mary is a German immigrant who lost all her family in tragic ways, including one horrifying scene the author shares. Gene is a cross-dressing homosexual at a time when gender fluidity wasn’t a concept, and heterosexuality was the only acceptable romantic preference.
The author did a good job describing New York and San Francisco around the turn of the previous century, during the last gasp of the Gilded Age. I felt like I was walking the streets with them and could visualize it all, especially Dreamland. As a former San Francisco Bay Area resident, I particularly liked his description of the journalist-author’s experience of the 1906 earthquake. Two of the past characters had to deal with some pretty horrific historical events. The author must have done a lot of research, first to create such a believable past and then to show the horror of historical events through the characters’ eyes. A fantastic book, whether you read or listen.
I received a free copy of this book and eBook, but that did not affect my review.
I love books about books and writing and Escaping Dreamland is a great addition to the genre.
Told via dual timelines – New York City in 2010 and in the early 1900s – the story revolves around a series of children’s books featuring the Tremendous Trio. Robert Parrish, a newly successful writer, grew up loving these books after being introduced to them by his father and grandfather and finds himself drawn to find out what happened to one of the unfinished stories. Madga, Eugene and Tom are three very different people living in New York in 1906 who eventually come together and overcome their own personal demons to write the Tremendous Trio books under pen names. As Robert continues to research the genesis of the books, we follow the authors’ lives at the turn of the century as they intertwine and unfold.
It took me about a third of the book to get invested in the story and characters but once I did, I was all in. Listening to this story reminded me how few books I read with male protagonists and I enjoyed having a different POV. I wish the narrator had a bit more range but overall, he did a good job and I really enjoyed this audiobook.
Thanks to NetGalley, Blackstone Publishing and the author for an advanced listening copy to review.
Escaping Dreamland by Charlie Lovett is a Historical Split Time Fiction. The story shifts between the 20th Century and the 21st Century. This latest book is about authors and the many influences that shape their lives and writing. There are interesting historical details and events especially about New York. The main characters choose unorthodox lives that seem to lead to unhappiness, but at the same time acceptance of what happens in their lives.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. I appreciate the opportunity and thank the author and publisher for allowing me to read, enjoy and review this book. 4 Stars
Robert Parrish is a successful, serious writer whose life is falling apart. His girlfriend, Rebecca, has walked out on him, exasperated with his distance and evasions. He has one week to try to win her back. Robert desperately wants to reconcile. But he’s panicked at the thought of unraveling his defenses and revealing his secret passion for . . . serial children’s literature.
What? Yes, the younger Robert loved the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, and especially a series of the author’s invention, the Tremendous Trio, stories about two boys and a girl and their fascinating adventures in the early 1900s. They’re why he became a writer. Why can’t he share that with Rebecca? Why can’t he share that with anyone?
Robert’s story is the framing device for this book of stories within stories within stories. The book shifts centuries and POVs, introducing us to the writers of the Tremendous Trio, three friends with dreams and secrets and not always aligning goals, and to their writing, including a tantalizingly lost final adventure.
I loved this book. The characters are distinct, sympathetic, and sharply drawn. The dialogue is true to the characters, often touching, and sometimes slyly funny. Of all the stories in this book, perhaps most compelling for me was the story of the writers of the Tremendous Trio, perhaps because the turn-of-the century settings are so dazzling, perhaps because they experience virtually every dramatic event of the Gilded Age, from the San Francisco earthquake to the Spanish flu. But even contemporary Robert, who comes across at first as a bit of a git, becomes deeper and more relatable by the book’s end.
There’s a lot in this book. It is not a quick read, and if you have no interest in research, you may tire of Robert’s step-by-step, artifact-by-artifact investigation into the true authorship of the Tremendous Trio. But I missed this book when it was finished. I missed the characters. This book is not just a book of stories; it’s a book about stories – how they both reveal and conceal, how they reach and call to us across the years.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for the ARC in exchange for the honest review.