Welcome
to the
World of Dathan Charles
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Welcome to the World of Dathan Charles |
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The Book
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| In
a literary time too often distinguished by formulaic storylines, cookie-cutter
characters and predictable plot twists, a refreshing voice of sophistication
and distinctive narrative has emerged. Make no mistake, Dione M. Coumbe
is not your typical novelist, and Dathan Charles is not your typical
novel. As readers are quickly discovering, it is a book difficult to categorize,
and even more difficult to put down.
Blending extraordinary historical accuracy with a multi-tiered plot and colorful assortment of international characters, Coumbe's Dathan Charles chronicles the unconventional life and times of the unorthodox title character - a woman with uncanny business instincts and a mercurial yet surprisingly vulnerable personality. From England to the United States, Dathan weaves a complex web of equal parts intrigue and romance, dancing dangerously with a ruthless Nazi SS officer and a notorious American gangster. Nothing of Dathan's life is what it appears to be, and she only allows adversaries and friends to know enough to suit her ultimate goals. The depth and enormity of her ultimate business empire is matched only by the complexity and mystery surrounding her personal adventures. Battling the forces of the U.S. Justice Department, organized crime and her double-crossing uncle, Dathan flirts with disaster and repels adversaries via any means necessary. Perhaps the most compelling aspect of Coumbe's work is also its most mysterious - the line between fiction and reality is tantalizingly blurred. Amidst the array of fictional characters are 'real life' people, portrayed within amazingly accurate historical and social contexts. Moreover, important historical themes and events are detailed with precision, adding previously unheard of insights to historical debate. As a result, the world of the Dathan Charles is both real and imagined; delightfully colorful yet perhaps all too real. When Dathan Charles first appeared in print, Coumbe was deluged with requests 'for more immediately' about the de Charles family by readers unable to 'let go' of the story. Having created some memorable characters, she went on to devise a complete family tree with the very early generations based on her own, dating from about 950AD which brings the reader into the 21st. century. Many of the 'family' in this genealogy are actually the cast of two further books which will complete the 'Dathan Trilogy'. Throughout the family is intermingled with tantalising vignettes adding background and continuity to the many plots and themes in Dathan Charles. To view this companion to the current novel visit the de Charles, Alcantara and Lazarus families. It is woven so finely Coumbe says even her own family cannot tell where truth ends and deception begins. Understanding the author helps in understanding Dathan Charles. Dione Coumbe's own story is full of apparent contradictions and an air of mystery. A dedicated historian, pianist, lithographer, designer, smuggler and owner of one of the toughest Mediterranean bars, she went on to found various companies, engage in international high finance, and now is the Managing Director of the company she created, Book Publicity Ltd. In her travels Coumbe mingled with mobsters and blazed trails in fields where no woman had gone before. In a classic Dathan Charles move, Coumbe acknowledges that some of Dathan Charles parallels her own life - but declines specifics. |
