1929 by deb24601
Review by AnonymouslySufferingFromOCD
Genre: Suspense/Romance
Characters: Edward & Bella
Summary: In 1918 Edward survives the Spanish Flu only to find his world forever altered. He goes on, playing piano in a speakeasy during Prohibiton, struggling to find meaning in life. Meeting Dream Girl gives him hope. He gives her a new take on "life". Not A/H
This story begins in 1918, where Edward is a teenager dreaming of joining the war effort while his parents are hoping that the war will end before his eighteenth birthday. As Edward’s family is stricken with the deadly Spanish Influenza his father makes a rather quick recovery. Unfortunately his mother Elizabeth isn’t so lucky and we find her begging our favorite Dr. Carlisle Cullen to save and protect her son no matter what measures he needs to take in order for that to happen. Edward Sr. making a full recovery isn’t the only difference from the original Twilight Saga. After his mother passes Edward Jr. is brought home to be nursed back to health by Dr. Cullen, the key word here is health.
Edward Sr. begins to battle some demons without his beloved Elizabeth and Edward has to find his own way in life. The war ends shortly after Edward recovers and he instead decides to pursue his mothers dream for him by attending college in Boston.
Edward majors in music and after graduating, returns to Chicago to work in a speakeasy during prohibition. When we join him again it is 1928 and he is haunted by dreams of his father, Dr. Cullen and a mystery woman whom he has never met.
I still dreamed about losing my father in the fog. Once I was away at school though, I dreamt more and more often about the girl with mahogany hair. Always the same scenario: the thick mist, me following her, realizing I was gaining on her and then reaching out to touch. Sometimes I missed and she would disappear in the fog, leaving me feeling empty, hollow. Sometimes, I caught her. With each dream I was more determined to turn her to me. I needed to see her face. Always, I felt the surprising shock when I grasped her shoulder. Always, I felt the amazing warmth that made me wake feeling more alone.
It isn’t until Edward meets his dream girl that he really begins to live. Edward was an old fashioned gentleman even in the 1920’s but Bella helps him find a new way. While he never gives up being a gentleman he is willing to make some sacrifices to be with a feisty, independent, free thinking Bella. Bella, who lives with her equally independent Aunt Rose (not to be confused with Rosalie) really turns his world upside down with her independence and he is in complete awe of her.
Edward and Bella begin a romance that can survive anything, as we all know they are destined to be together. He learns to be less old fashioned and more willing to go with the flow, while she learns to be less independent.
Bella was twisting the kaleidoscope in her hands and a little frown was creasing her forehead. Clearly, she still had something on her mind.
"The problem is I've made and changed decisions so often in the past couple of months. I would never marry, I might marry, I'd travel around the world on my own, I'd stay right here. That's not like me." She screwed up her nose. "I'm not indecisive or," she searched for the right word, "flighty". I chuckled lightly at her expression; that prospect was horrifying to her.
Bella brought the kaleidoscope up to her eye and gave a little sniff. "See there isn't anything in particular wrong with this picture... I just don't like it. I can feel the life being sucked right out of me just looking at it and I couldn't explain why. But I know I could never live with that picture."
She gave the copper tube a vigorous shake and looked again. "Well that's very pretty; I could live with this picture." Bella didn't look at me as she told me how much she admired Rose's adventures and thought I felt her wavering, questioning herself again. I'd had almost ten years of dreaming, hoping for Bella, my Dream Girl and I was still overwhelmed with the intensity of the feelings, the changes they had brought to my life. I had some sympathy for what she was going through and her struggle to reconcile her plans with my unexpected presence in her life. But that didn't mean I was going to give up without a fight. I reminded her of Rose's own words about how rare this thing between us was and how lucky we were to have found one another.
We do have some drama in this story and as the summary states it isn’t all-human. Dr. Cullen checks in on Edward from time to time, and it is a lucky thing he does when Bella gets into some trouble that Edward can’t help her through.
1929 is mostly in Edward’s POV, Bella’s POV comes around after we meet Carlisle again. Deb24601 really does a great job with writing this era. She has done a ton of research and it really shows in the story. Many times you feel like you are there and if you don’t feel like you are, you feel like you want to be. I love when authors really take the time to understand exactly what they are writing about instead of just guessing. This is a great, timeless story and I am sure you will enjoy it as much as I have.
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