The Benedict Bastard

The Benedict Bastard by Cate Campbell, 2014 Kensington Books

     Margot Benedict Parrish has fought for every privilege she now enjoys as a female doctor in 1923 Seattle. After the drama of her younger brother's betrayal and subsequent incarceration in Walla Walla Sanitarium Margot and her husband Frank take a short vacation to visit his parents in Montana. Preston is not finished with his family, especially his sister. He continues to implore his shell-shocked mother to bring him the sapphire he believes holds a magical sort of power. His parting shot at the family is news of a Benedict child out in the world without the protection of his family.
     The reader meets Bronwyn Morgan of the Port Townsend Morgans. Preston seduced the young woman and, though she had no idea of the mechanics, impregnated her. Bronwyn's child is taken from her and sent to a well-known Seattle children's home. When she searches for the son who was taken from her she encounters first Margot at the children's home, then the rest of the Benedicts when she saves little Louisa (Dick and Ramona's daughter) from drowning in a wading pool.
     The Parrishes are enjoying their vacation in Montana, living the simple life and meeting local people. Margot learns from Frank's mother the various folk remedies and problems women faced without a nearby doctor and Dr. Benedict has a chance to show her in-laws her skill.
     While Margot and Frank are on vacation Mrs. Edith Benedict kidnaps Bronwyn from Benedict Hall and takes her to visit Preston in Walla Walla. Until she stands in his presence Bronwyn still believes Preston had died in the fire which destroyed Margot's original clinic. When the two do meet Preston's fury drives Miss Morgan from the Sanitarium.
     Bronwyn's presence confirms the family's fears - Preston has fathered a Benedict child who is missing in the Greater Seattle area. When Mrs. Benedict suffers a hysterical fit Dickson calls his daughter home to care for her mother and assess Preston's situation. The Parrishes cut their vacation short and return to Washington to support the family.
     The Benedict family has faced challenge after challenge despite the money Dickson Benedict has accumulated. Dick, Ramona, Margot and Frank are faced with holding the family together while Edith and Dickson face what could be the loss of their first grandson. When hope blooms they feel Bronwyn should be consulted on the fate of her son; yet still worry she could take him away.
     Three years after their story began the Benedicts have been confronted by their youngest son's psychopathy, they have lost and discovered members of the clan. The family has grown stronger as it has grown larger, yet the question remains: will the Benedict Family simply endure or will they thrive? The final installment of their story is not meant for younger readers with issues of birth control and race laced throughout the tale.

Hall of Secrets

Hall of Secrets by Cate Campbell, 2014 Kensington Books

     A year after her brother Preston perished in the destruction of her medical clinic, Margot Benedict is finally putting the pieces back together to reopen. She has spent the last year encouraging her romance with Major Frank Parrish and avoiding her mother's accusing looks with work. And Dr. Benedict has been relatively successful.
     When her young cousin Allison Benedict is swamped in scandal Margot suggests to her father that they invite the young woman to Benedict Hall. Allison's mother has declared that the young woman is ruined after an escapade while returning from Europe and her Grand Tour. While Allison's only fault is finding friendship outside her parents' snobbish class, she is made to feel as if she is a great burden. Margot hopes having a young person in the house will bring Edith Benedict out of the stupor she sank into with Preston's death.
     At first Allison believes Margot is complicit in the plans to punish her with banishment to Seattle, but when Margot is genuinely concerned for her cousin's welfare Allison begins to wonder if she's found an escape. Rowena Benedict enjoys having another young woman in the house whose interest is in fashion and the feminine arts, unlike Margot, but Allison's troubles follow her from her parents' San Francisco home.
     Margot's relationship with Frank is strained when she develops a relationship with Margaret Sanger and her family planning initiatives. Like many in Seattle's Jazz Age, Frank believes birth control and family planning are something to be handled privately, Margot believes providing women the education to handle their families privately is the only way to proceed. It doesn't help that Frank is sent to California's March Airfield to examine their airplanes for the Boeing Company. The distance is both a blessing and hurdle the two must face before embarking on any sort of life together.
     Just as things seem to be coming together and the family's plans are to be realized an enemy from the past resurfaces. Allison must face the demon her mother has thrust upon her, and the Seattle Benedicts find the skeletons in their closet have not gone to rest.
     Hall of Secrets transitions readers from the conflict between Margot and Preston to the struggles of a modern woman in 1920s Seattle. Margot's privileged background gives her advantages over the women she treats, but their challenges drive her to make their lives better with access to healthcare and education. The story looks into women's rights and family planning as they become hot button issues in America, younger readers may misunderstand some nuances of the challenges Margot and the women of her acquaintance face.

Benedict Hall

Benedict Hall by Cate Campbell, 2013 Kensington Books

     No one believed her when as a child Margot Benedict's younger brother repeatedly acted violence on her. The daughter of a Society Bride and wealthy businessman, Margot has risen above the expectations set for her by society and her family to become one of the few female doctors of the United States in 1920.
     Preston Benedict has never liked his siblings, but especially not the overly-smart, unfeminine Margot. Preston joins the Great War and finds himself in the East. He meets several characters during the war, including Major Frank Parrish and Preston's batman, Carter. When he returns home, Preston Benedict is in possession of a strangely powerful jewel. The Sapphire of Roxanna - the sultan's bride - appears to give the young Benedict an unusual power over the world around him which only enhances his inherent malice.
    Frank Parrish was sent from the East to an Army encampment where his arm, damaged in an explosive clash between Arab and British forces outside Jerusalem, is amputated. His journey takes Frank through a Virginia hospital . There his childhood sweetheart erases any hope from their understanding. Frank decides to travel beyond his Montana home to Seattle, Washington.
     In Seattle, Frank runs into Preston Benedict again, and their enmity reignites. When Frank appears to form an attachment to the Benedict doctor-daughter, Preston's already unstable temperament finds new ways to display itself. Frank and Margot, along with others from Preston's past, must find a way beyond the sapphire to freedom before Preston Benedict has a chance to spoil the chance.
     The first installment of the Benedict story introduces the reader to a world of luxury and the elite. Though the Benedict family is blessed with anything they could hope for, something in the youngest son's make-up dictates danger for the rest of the family. Strong themes of class and race relations weave through the Benedicts' story. Relationships both familial, platonic, and romantic play a key role in the development of both Margot and Frank's story. With intermittent violence and mature events this is an adult read; though more mature high school readers are able to follow Campbell's complex storytelling.