Beth Livingston :: The Chautauqua Belles

#Historical Christian #Adult Fiction

The Chautauqua Belles

#Historical Christian #Adult Fiction

From a mansion on Buffalo's Delaware Avenue to the shores of idyllic Chautauqua, the secrets of a beautiful Victorian maid are best left hidden.

After the death of both parents and the sale of the farm, eighteen-year-old Rebecca Galloway is hired as a parlor maid in the Eaton's Buffalo mansion in 1885. Her life becomes a nightmare with a secret so awful that she prays no one will find out. But it can't stay hidden, and the consequences are not what anyone expected.

The Chautauqua Belles is a stand-alone first book in The Tour of Mansions series, imaginary stories that take place in real mansions that are open to the public. This book features:

the Fenton Mansion in Jamestown, New York (the model for the Eaton mansion)
the Wilcox Mansion on Delaware Avenue in Buffalo
the Hotel Athenaeum at the Chautauqua Institution

Look below to see pictures of the actual locations.

BUY ON AMAZON

The Chautauqua Belles Gallery

Click on images to read full descriptions.

The Fenton House

Most of the homes on Delaware Avenue in 1885 were torn down to build more ornate mansions in the 1890's, so the Eaton's house is not there. However, I modeled their home after the Fenton House in Jamestown, New York. You can visit it at the Fenton History Center, 67 Washington Street, Jamestown, NY 14701. Here is their website for more information: http://www.fentonhistorycenter.org/.

The Fenton House

Notice the red door at the back where Rebecca first entered

The Wilcox Mansion

You can visit Grace and Ansley Wilcox's mansion on Delaware Avenue in Buffalo. It is at Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural National Historic Site, 641 Delaware Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14202. Theodore Roosevelt was actually inaugurated as President in their library upon the sudden death of President McKinley in 1901. The library and the dining room have been restored. Here is their website: http://www.trsite.org/

The Chautauqua Institution - Historical Pictures

The Chautauqua Institution was founded in 1874 by Lewis Miller and Bishop John H. Vincent as a two-week training course for Methodist Sunday school teachers. It was so successful that it grew to become an ecumenical religious, cultural, and educational center. Today 145,000 people during the summer season attend concerts, theater, symphony, ballet, opera, art exhibitions, and lectures.

People stayed in tents those first few years and gradually built houses on their tent platforms. More people came and build bigger houses with gingerbread trim and tiers of porches. Most of them are still standing, and you can step back into time as you stroll the quaint, tree-lined streets.

The Hotel Athenaeum

The pier

The title for my book, The Chautauqua Belles, is actually named after a steamboat called The Chautauqua Belle which rides Chautauqua Lake today.

The bridge where Patricia and Lance talked

The grocery where Patricia worked was destroyed by fire in 1904.

The Mayville Depot and pier

Celoron

Near Jamestown, New York, Celoron was a huge amusement park that rivaled Coney Island. It opened in 1894 and closed in 1962. Today nothing stands.

The Chautauqua Institute Today

At the Chautauqua Institution, you can stay at the Hotel Athenaeum, attend a concert at the Amphitheater or a lecture in the Hall of Philosophy, play in the gymnasium, walk across Thunder Bridge, climb on Palestine Park, or walk the streets among the quaint gingerbread cottages. There still is a gate fee during the summer season, but it is free on Sundays, except for parking. Fall-Spring there is no gate fee, but none of the buildings are open either. Here is where you will find more information: www.ciweb.org