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Belle Cora
Belle Cora: A Novel | Phillip Margulies
17 posts | 16 read | 24 to read
"I had crossed all the lines they you say you can never cross without being destroyed, and here I was, alive and strong." In the grand tradition ofMoll FlandersandVanity Fair, this is the story of a good girl who became a bad woman. At the old homestead her name is never spoken and her picture is turned to the wall, but in the vast world beyond everyone remembers her as the celebrated madam of the finest parlor house in San Francisco.Now, at the end of her life,afterhalf a century of successfully hiding the details of her scarlet past, Bellehas decided to reveal all her secrets.In 1838, Arabella Godwin and her beloved younger brother, Lewis, are orphaned and shipped away from their home in New York City to live on their aunt's desolate farm upstate. The comforts she has always known are replaced with grueling work and a pair of cunning enemies in her cousins Agnes and Matthew. Amid this bleak existence, there emerges light in the form of a local boy, Jeptha Talbot. He is everything good that Arabella craves. His love saves her and becomes an obsession that will last her whole life. Time and again she will be broken and remade. She will bear a gamblers child, build a fortune, commit murder, leave a trail of aliases in her wake and sacrifice almost everythingthough perhaps not enough--for the man whose love she cannot bear to lose. At last her destiny will take her to Gold Rush California, to riches and power.Until the day she mysteriously disappears.Told with unflagging wit and verve, Belle Cora brings to life a turbulent era and an untamed America on the cusp of greatness. Its heroine is a woman in conflict with her time, who nevertheless epitomizes it with her fighting spirit, her gift for self-invention, and her determination to chart her own fate.
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Cinfhen
Belle Cora: A Novel | Phillip Margulies
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#LitsyMemories My #FirstPost back in April 2016 garnered ZERO LIKES but 1 stack add❣️Good thing I wasn‘t deterred 😜My second post saw 6 likes from @anrobe @Rebeccak @Liberty @KellyHerself @Matilda and @Well-ReadNeck 😊 Amazing how time flies 💕💕I still recommend both of these books🎉‼️

thegirlwiththelibrarybag That‘s lots of scrolling back! 5y
Cinfhen That‘s us @Lizpixie #TheOGsofLitsy 👵🏻👵 5y
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Cinfhen You can‘t even imagine @thegirlwiththelibrarybag 😂😂😂💕 5y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag @Cinfhen, I‘ve just spent 45 minutes scrolling back through mine... 🤪 5y
Cinfhen So I guess you can imagine @thegirlwiththelibrarybag 😂😂😂 5y
thegirlwiththelibrarybag We need the gallery view 😂 5y
emilyhaldi How in the world did you scroll all the way back to post #1 🤪 5y
mhillis Love your posts 😘 5y
Cinfhen I actually know the first 5 books I posted @emilyhaldi I‘m weird that way!!! So I only had to scroll through those particular book titles otherwise I think I‘d still be scrolling 😂😂 5y
Cinfhen Thank you @mhillis you‘re another #OGofLitsy 😍🥰😘 5y
mhillis @Cinfhen 😂😂😂 5y
MrBook So very glad indeed that you‘re still here 🤗🤗🤗!!!! 5y
Kalalalatja I‘m home sick today, and that‘s the only way I could find enough time to scroll back through all my posts. #NeverEnding 😳😳 5y
Reviewsbylola LOVED Bella Cora! 5y
Matilda Wow it‘s been that long?! 📚 5y
Cinfhen I still equate you with the adorable GOAT & chalk drawings @Matilda ❤️ from wayyyy back in the early days 5y
Matilda @Cinfhen the goat is still goating 🐐 5y
111 likes1 stack add18 comments
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BrainyHeroine
Belle Cora: A Novel | Phillip Margulies
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My last year's birthday books!! I'm an August baby so I'm not that far off from my 26th birthday. Happy early birthday @Liberty !!!!! #LIBERTHDAY

Reviewsbylola Loved Belle Cora! Now spill and tell us how many in the stack you've read since your birthday. 😁 7y
BrainyHeroine Lol @Reviewsbylola I've read them all about about 300 since then. 7y
Reviewsbylola That's awesome! I have the bad habit of buying and receiving books and then never reading them. 😂😂 7y
36 likes1 stack add3 comments
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Cinfhen
Belle Cora: A Novel | Phillip Margulies
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Day 18 #JuneTunz More 80's awesomeness, today's song is from @KerriNTurner 🎶🤘🏼💟One of my favorite HF novels is the story of famed San Francisco madam Belle Cora. Starting with the 1906 earthquake/fire, Belle regales the reader with her incredible life story starting in luxurious NYC, to dusty Midwest farm eventually to California and the #Gold Rush. It's an epic novel. So well researched & crafted 🏆🥇🏆💝Definitely #Gold standard

LibrarianRyan Tangerine speedo is one of my favorite songs. My friends and family hate it!😄 7y
kalinichta And now, as is tradition, this song will be stuck in my head for the next three days. 7y
Cinfhen #sorrynotsorry 👂🏼🐛 @kalinichta (edited) 7y
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Cinfhen Ha! I need to check out that tune on YouTube @LibrarianRyan 😊 7y
TrishB Still singing 😀 7y
Reviewsbylola Loved Belle Cora! 7y
AlaMich ❤️Spandau Ballet back in the day!! 7y
Dragon Nicely done ! Gold star ⭐️ 7y
Cinfhen Thanks @Dragon 💕 7y
Cinfhen I loved Belle Cora too & it was a #chunkster @Reviewsbylola 7y
Cinfhen Yay for Spandau Ballet @AlaMich @TrishB 💖🎶 7y
Reviewsbylola If you liked this I def think you'll like 7y
Reviewsbylola Even tho it's a chunkster! ^^ 7y
110 likes3 stack adds13 comments
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tcheer4life
Belle Cora: A Novel | Phillip Margulies
Pickpick

Think you know what a woman will do if she is left emotionally and financially destitute? Now you'll know. Don't judge until you've read the entire book.

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Jensol77
Belle Cora: A Novel | Phillip Margulies
Pickpick

Slow start but the middle is picking up....SCANDAL

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LitHousewife
Belle Cora: A Novel | Phillip Margulies
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In addition to the books I've read and attempted to read, I thought it would be interesting to track my purchases as well. All four books I finished were good this month. Picking a favorite was hard.

brendanmleonard Cool idea! 8y
LitHousewife @brendanmleonard I can't claim it as my own. I don't remember who did it first, but I thank him/her for doing it. I'm working on my reading plans for June, too. 8y
BooksTeasAndBookishThings I think my purchased list will always be bigger... And the ones I get in the subscription services would probably count since technically I pay for them ? 8y
LitHousewife @Books,Tea,AndBookishThings I don't belong to any subscription services, but if I did, I would. What I didn't count in here but need to next month are review copies. I need to write myself a list! 8y
BooksTeasAndBookishThings Lists are always great with books ;) 8y
31 likes1 stack add5 comments
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LitHousewife
Belle Cora: A Novel | Phillip Margulies
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Pickpick

It took me a long time to read it, but I'm finally don't. I really enjoyed this book, even though the last third wasn't as compelling as the rest. I enjoyed reading about early San Francisco. It only made me want to visit that city someday soon.

Bakingbookworm I read it a couple of years ago and remember enjoying it. But my interest waned a bit towards the end. I had rated it 3.5 stars 8y
LitHousewife @Bakingbookworm That sounds about right. About the time the trial started it slowed down for me. I like it, though. It kept me interested. 8y
26 likes1 stack add2 comments
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LitHousewife
Belle Cora: A Novel | Phillip Margulies
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"...You wear so much armor. You resist so much. I think that is why God has put us together. You're a hard case. You need special attention."

Oh, Arabella. What have you done?

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LitHousewife
Belle Cora: A Novel | Phillip Margulies
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Thank you, Mother Nature, for agreeing with my plans to read all night.

ramyasbookshelf Best reading weather!! 8y
LitHousewife @ramyasbookshelf Isn't it??? I'm in my jammies reading on the couch. It feels luxurious! 8y
ramyasbookshelf @LitHousewife when I read, I like to play rainfor.me in the background.. It's just continuous rain sound.. It's much better when it's the real thing though :) 8y
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LitHousewife @ramyasbookshelf Okay. I'm checking that out! 8y
Jess_Read_This Rainy days are so perfect for reading! 8y
LitHousewife @Jess_Read_This It is. I got about 125 pages in, which is a lot for me. 8y
43 likes7 comments
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LitHousewife
Belle Cora: A Novel | Phillip Margulies
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I'm finally making some progress with my reading this week. It feels good to want to read during my breaks and before bed. I read over 100 pages last night. I could see this made into a miniseries like @jennifersmeth said.

brendanmleonard My goal is 20-50 pages a day! 8y
LitHousewife @brendanmleonard That's typical for me during the week. I'm hoping to make good progress again tonight. 8y
21 likes2 comments
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LitHousewife
Belle Cora: A Novel | Phillip Margulies
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Okay. I forgot about laundry, so I've only read a few pages today. Here's the cake wreck, but it was so good! If you don't expect Cake Boss, the inside was pretty, too. :) DH is doing the clean up, so now I will read a little more. #goodday

NatalieR Looks great and like a lot of fun! Glad you are having a good day. 🍰😊 8y
19 likes1 comment
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LitHousewife
Belle Cora: A Novel | Phillip Margulies
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The girls and friends made tie dye cakes. Now that they're in the oven and they're outside, I can finally sit down to read.

MyBookLife What is a tie dye cake? 8y
LitHousewife @MyBookLife Its was a cake mix that came with food coloring and instructions. Basically you separate the batter into six different bowls, mix the food coloring and then pour the batter in by color. It was a lot of fun for the girls. I'll have to take a picture of a finished piece tonight. 8y
MyBookLife @LitHousewife It sounds like fun to me too 😆 8y
18 likes3 comments
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LitHousewife
Belle Cora: A Novel | Phillip Margulies
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I know it's getting late, but it won't hurt anybody if I read a few pages of my next book before turning out the lights. I'm looking forward to this one. @jennifersmeth loved it.

Megabooks It never does. Read that book! 8y
jennifersmeth Yes I did! I could see it being made into a miniseries! 8y
candc320 Belle Cora was really good. I hope you enjoy it! 8y
LitHousewife @Ebooksandcooks @jennifersmeth @candc320 I haven't been able to read much due to parenting, but I'm hoping to get some reading done this weekend. I have good feelings about it. 8y
25 likes3 stack adds4 comments
review
Cinfhen
Belle Cora: A Novel | Phillip Margulies
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Pickpick

An outstanding epic of a novel.
Rich in detail and historical accuracy.
Belle Cora is loosely based on real life 1800's madam. A fascinating read that spans some 80 years from NewYork to California.

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