I loved stepping into the life of Peggy Battenburg the "black sheep of the black sheep" and her struggle to maintain her newfound independence, in a time when women's voice was expected to echo that of her husbands. 

I thought the setting set between the lavish Oriental Hotel and the loud, bustling Coney Island was fantastic. The blend between the life of the upper-class and the working class was very nicely done yet still showcasing how vastly different Peggy's life was in comparison to Stefan's and his friends at Dreamland. 

Peggy herself was an interesting voice for this historical romance. Here was a girl who felt like an outsider in a family who prided wealth and status over everything, in a family whose name even today is iconic, struggling to separate herself from her family by joining the world of work.

I did find the relationship between Peggy and Stefan to be a bit too instant. As far as a holiday romance goes it was perfect but it was very obvious that the relationship would never last. These two characters crashed and burned just like a 4th of July firework. 

As for Henry Taul, his character was incredibly jarring, and that might be what Nancy Bilyeau was going for but I struggled to get a read on who he was, what he actually wanted from life and his role in this story. Obviously, his role is explained quite quickly as the villain of the piece but, I didn't feel that this was a true representation of this character. Henry Taul, in my opinion, was a damaged individual with warped ideas and an understanding of the world. He had a mother who enabled and encouraged these fantasies and delusions rather than get him the help he needed, and a couple of lackeys who preyed on his weaknesses and used him to fulfil their own desires.

Nancy Bilyeau's Dreamland is a stunning piece of Historical Fiction focusing on love, loss, mental illness and class divide. I just wish the ending was different. I would have liked Peggy to go back to Moonrise Bookstore, and for Stefan to be able to set out on his own and become a celebrated artist.

Thank you to NetGalley and Endeavour Quill for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I had high hopes for this book as the cover didn't really tie in with the story, there was plenty of twists and turns but a very disappointing ending.

This book was an absolute joy to read and exactly my sort of novel. In 1922, Peggy Battenburg is a member of one of the wealthiest families in America. However, alongside money and status comes scrutiny and Peggy doesn’t always behave the way a young lady, of her social standing, should. She bucks against the traditional respectability expected of her and the idea that she should be told how to behave by the male members of the family. This rebellious streak means she doesn’t really fit, whether it be in high or low society. People of her family’s class are scandalised by her and the ordinary people of Coney Island mistrust her because of this rich background. She really can’t win. 

Peggy’s family bring her back home for the summer. She’s been working in a bookshop, but now she needs to be back in high society. They hope to secure a prestigious marriage proposal for Peggy’s sister, to a groom who will ensure the financial security of their family going forward. They have someone in mind, but Peggy hates the potential husband and desperately wants to escape the claustrophobic atmosphere. This is where she decides to set out for Dreamland and meets Stefan, an artist working at the amusement park just a short distance from where the family are staying at the Oriental Hotel. Dreamland is a pleasure palace and a real juxtaposition to the hotels where the wealthy elite are staying. Hotel residents might stroll to the amusements for an afternoon’s diversion, but police are stationed along the route so that identification can be checked when walking back towards the hotels. The haves and have-nots are quite separate. 

By contrast Peggy becomes immersed in the life of artists, dancers, food vendors and acrobats. She finds that despite their lack of money and status they have a lot of freedom whereas, for all her money, Peggy is kept in a cage, albeit a gilded one. I love the setting of Coney Island and enjoyed Alice Hoffman’s Museum of Extraordinary Things set within a freak show. This book was equally well researched and Bilyeau’s description of period clothing and the sounds and smells of the park really set the scene and helped me disappear from 2020 into this exciting other world. We learn about the manners and behaviour of the time and how it differs between classes. Peggy learns more about her family too, and many secrets are revealed. Added to the excellent characterisation and immersive world created by the author, is the fact that bodies of young girls start turning up on the beach. While this plot line is not the strongest part of the novel it does pose certain questions for Peggy, not least about her own family. How much are the Battenburg’s willing to lie and cover up? 

I liked Peggy. She is a thoroughly modern young woman who, despite family riches, has her own job in a bookshop. She is intelligent and inquisitive. I can see why she would want to experience more than the stifling role of ‘rich daughter’ allows. Added to this rebellious nature are simmering tensions within the family and a menacing air of control from the fiancé and his brother. Reading this felt like being thrust into a technicolour world of sun, sea, and scandal. I absolutely loved it.

I received a free digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Great read! I loved every second of this. The complicated relationship tropes in this book were very well thought out and written. This was definitely more character driven than story driven. 

I really enjoyed this book a lot more than I had anticipated.

Set in the early 20th century, Coney Island comes alive in this entertaining novel. A pretty good murder/mystery, although with a vapid protagonist, this is a good light read.

It is June 1911. Summer in New York. America is in the midst of it's Gilded Age - a time of transformation in economy, technology, government, and social customs. During this time a growth in wages also led to millions of skilled workers immigrating from Europe to America. Set against this background we're drawn into the world of Peggy Batternberg - granddaughter of the richest man in America (or so they say) and loosely based on Peggy Guggenheim.

Despite her financial status, Peggy prefers to work as an assistant at the Moonrise Bookstore in the city. Her feminist tendencies earns her the title of "New woman" and the scorn of her family. Forced to spend the summer holiday at the Oriental hotel on Manhattan beach with her own family, as well the future in-laws of her sister, Lydia, Peggy has no choice but to abandon her job. 

Ironically, spending time away with the family turns into the perfect opportunity to escape from their prejudices. In stark contrast, right next to the upmarket hotels, lies Coney Island, America's playground or also referred to as "Sodom by the sea". This was where immigrant workers went to over the weekends to get away from their brutal working conditions, enter another world and indulge in a bit of escapism. And escapism is exactly what Dreamland provided - an opportunity for working class people to experience fear, delight and lust.

Built in 1904 Dreamland was one of three theme parks in Coney Island, the other two being Steeplechase Park and Luna Park and also one of the costliest amusement parks ever built. It personified an era of huge, inventive and fantastical parks and was a beacon of illuminated white light which could be seen by ocean liners from miles away.

"It was a city on the water, of tall towers and colourful spires and wheels and castles... "

When Peggy first experiences Dreamland on an outing with her cousins and brother, she's both in awe and thoroughly made aware of her privilege. Even more so when she meets Stefan, a Serbian artist working at the park and she tries to hide her social position from him. More complications arise when three women are found strangled to death in the area.

The complication of relationships between the family members, secrets being kept and in particular, the role of Henry Taul, Lydia's fiancé, adds additional tension to the story-line. Henry, "a man of sudden, unmovable enthusiasms", appears to be a wolf in sheep's clothing and less and less likely to be marriage material. The unravelling of the crime almost comes as a bonus and isn't the main interest of the novel.

Nancy Bilyeau is first and foremost a writer of historical fiction and her ability to capture a moment in history is what makes Dreamland magical. Her vivid descriptions of the smells, sights and sounds transports you to a place and time which no longer exists.

"It was like being dropped into a hot cauldron of sickly-sweet smells - saltwater taffy, sugared lemonade and cotton candy - while surrounded by shrieking laughter."

Dreamland encapsulates the essence of a bygone era against a magical backdrop combined with the complexity of social class, a changing economy and its subsequent challenges. Highly recommended.

Twenty year old heiress Peggy Batternberg was “invited” by her family for a holiday in the beach but the summer will not be a relaxing affair. Romance, a serial killer, rich people doing what they do best and Coney Island on the background...

Sounds good? It sure does yet this book was a tremendous disappointment and really boring.
The first few chapters got me very happily glued to the book while I learned more about our protagonist and her family. Then things started to happen and they kept happening... In the spam of a few days we were being bombarded with more and more new plot lines and events.

It was too much and made me feel like the author tried to condensate a classic novel, known by the huge number of pages and narratives that could spam from months to years, into a handful of days.
That led to a severe case of “insta-love” and the need to tell us rather than show us that Peggy was a girl beyond her times. We did saw the characters personalities, we were told, because it was simply too fast for us to get a grasp of it.

The mystery was just cheap, with too many clues and descriptions of people that were border line cartoony as it was the case of the social critique that was intended with this story.

Overall it felt like a sketch of a mystery book rather than an accomplished novel.

A wonderfully researched piece of writing, about women living in a family of wealth, privilege and how their lives were ruled by men, with the etiquette and assumptions of this era's time.

I felt this book was in some ways similar to the authors last novel, yet a very different read. We have the same strong female role, desperately trying to find a way on her own, without the ties of her family and status but constantly finding hurdles along the way.

However, where I felt it differed, was that this novel's strengths were more geared towards its characters and social situations as opposed to the plot. The characters really shine through as the different cultures and classes collide in the melting pot of what is Coney Island.

Peggy, our headstrong main character, is whisked from her job at the bookshop, to spend the summer with her family in the hope to secure a marriage proposal for her sister, in a much needed attempt to obtain financial security for the family. Peggy already knows the 'hopeful husband' and doesn't get on with him at all. Once in the hotel Peggy can't think of anything other than escaping the boredom of pretending to be the obedient daughter and sets off for the wonders of Dreamland!

Here she meets Stefan and her adventure begins!

I really enjoyed the characters and the clashing worlds of the Island and the hotels. The authors research is evident and I learned lots of different things about the area at this time, which had me researching myself!! I love a book that does that!

Peggy's world is beautifully described with reference to manners, fashion and attitudes of the time that propel the plot along to its conclusion.  The way she is treated, as a young woman, by members of her own family and members of the police force had me fuming! Yet when she ventures out to the delights of Coney Island she is yet again greeted with dislike and mistrust as a member of the rich and influential American set.  She can't seem to win.  However on meeting Stefan, an artist and worker on the park, she is perhaps finally seen for her real self.

A super read that has you totally engaged from the outset.

Thank you to the publisher for a digital copy of the book.

A young women striving to become her own person slips between the privileged life sharing space with the Vanderbilts and Rockefeller’s,while holding a job in the Moonrise bookstore. All this in the quest of independence and a need to have meaning in a life she sees restricted by antiquated rules and outdated animosity’s. Peggy aka Margaret is approaching spinsterhood with a relish and distain for the way things have been since childhood. She is dismissed and overlooked since turning down the one chance she had to secure her future through a “good” marriage. Her family while prominent still needs her sister Lydia to make a good match to secure the mining bids they need in Bolivia. Enter Peggy’s jilted beau , who has taken in Peggy’s view an unhealthy fasicination in Lydia. It is the insistence that Peggy go with the family to the shore for the summer that sets this story on its terrible path to murder,drugs, and unveiled family secrets. Being a member of genteel society is as much a prison as the jail Peggy funds herself in ,ironically it is that station in life that sees her free and her young artist lover confined. In the end it is her younger sister’s engagement that serves as the catalyst to the mysteries conclusion.

I have to be honest, this story turned out to be totally different than what I thought it would be. From the summary and the cover, I thought this novel's setting would have a huge impact on the story. I expected the novel to have an atmosphere that would be fantastical and magical, set in a historic Coney Island. I thought the setting would be something similar or akin to "Water for Elephants" or "Caraval" where it made the whole story feel somewhat whimsical and fascinating. 

However, this novel didn't truly need to be set in Coney Island because I didn't feel like it truly was featured. Aside from mentions of the beach and various hotels, it didn't really have much importance to the story and because of that, I think the cover is kind of misleading. 

For a historical young adult murder mystery, it was okay. I will admit that I found the story boring but it also wasn't the story that I expected to read. If others are going into this novel expecting the setting to be a huge factor in the story, they may be disappointed as well.

***Thank you to the publisher for supplying me with an ARC of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review***

The year 1911 in America was hard for progressive women and Peggy was different from the other young women of her class. She was an heiress and though she was pretty naïve about money, she knew her position and family invariably brought restrictions of every kind.



When she was coerced to accompany the family to Coney Island to one of the most aristocratic hotels in the holiday atmosphere, it was with reluctance she went. Mainly to please her mother, and because it seemed that her younger sister's marriage to the heir Henry Taul depended on this trip.

The trip gives Peggy the chance for freedom of some kind where she gets to mingle with normal folk and in time she meets up with a small time Balkan origin entertainer cum odd job man who very unlike her she falls deeply in love with. She knows that this will not be tolerated by the Family at all and it does not bode well as you know how it is going to turn out.

Things take an unexpected turn when bodies of young women turn up, and when the Police try to pin it on either Stefan (Peggy's love interest), him being Balkan and hot headed and Peggy herself. Will the Batternberg money be able to spin a web to cover up the actual murderer and will Peggy have the courage to uncover the actual murderer.

Descriptive of a period long past, of a culture in America which was very distinct and the problem of immigrants (still existing) and how America dealt with it then. Very good reading.

It also showed the machinations of a manipulative scheming family where respectability was paramount even though everyone knew what everyone was upto!

A very good historical mystery, gripping and entertaining.
I liked the excellent character development, the vivid and well researched historical background, and the well crafted plot that kept me hooked.
The mystery was solid and kept me guessing.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

The setting for this story was believable and it appears that the author completed an in-depth research into the time and location. The main character was less believable, I found her difficult to root for and believe in. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for an egalley.

Atmospheric period piece, which really brought to life the best and worst of the time. One young woman searches for independence and answers amidst a string of murders on Coney Island.  I enjoyed this book very much. Would recommend, particularly to fans of historical fiction.

I give this novel high points for evoking Coney Island in  the early 1900s.  OK, the heroine was pretty whiny about her privilege, and pretty dismissive of the immigrant experience of the time.  But I really liked the setting!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

3.5 stars in truth

The middle of this story was interesting, I enjoyed Peggy's amateur sleuthing and I was kept guessing until near the end. That said, there was a lot focusing on just how good Peggy has it, and though she hates being part of the "ruling class" and is made to feel uncomfortable, she still spends a lot of time talking about how much she loves caviar etc. It sort of jarred because it didn't contextualise the difference between her and Stefan, just seemed over the top to me. 

In addition, the very beginning, and the reason to start the story "I had a job once, here's what happened" seems completely bizarre. Who says "you can't understand, you've never had a job"? Also, considering the end of the story states that she goes around the world investing money in good causes, that's kind of a job. The ending feels very rushed. She solves the murder, Stefan says goodbye, it's all over.

All the same, it was an enjoyable read.

In 1911, Margaret (aka Peggy) Battenberg is a member of one of the richest families in America, but she’s a bit of a black sheep and a rebel. She wants to be her own woman, and being only months away from getting her inheritance from her grandfather when she turns 21, she’s almost there. In the meanwhile, she found some small escape from her family working in a bookshop, until she was spirited away by her uncle to show some solidarity with the clan by accompanying them to Coney Island for one of the hottest summers on record. There they all hope that Peggy’s sister’s fiancé (who Peggy dated for a while) will finally set the date for their wedding. This union is important since Peggy’s father died in debt, which his brothers have been hiding from her mother. Things seem like they’re going to plan, but Peggy is more interested in the amusement parks, until two things happen to shake up her stay at the luxurious Oriental Hotel. She meets an artist by the name of Stefan, selling his paintings in Dreamland, and not one, but two women are found murdered on the beach.

I’ve never visited Coney Island, although I have heard of it; to be honest, if I want to go to an amusement park, New York wouldn’t be my first-choice destination. However, a novel set in that location is fine with me, and one that sounded like it has a murder mystery at its heart was surprisingly appealing, since I don’t really read many of those books these days. I did enjoy Bilyeau’s novel “The Blue” and her novella “The Ghost of Madison Avenue” so when I was asked to join this book tour I readily agreed, mostly because I already like Bilyeau’s writing style and character development. By the way, in the author's notes, we find out that several of the characters in this book were inspired by some well-known people, with Peggy loosely based on Peggy Gutenberg. In addition, although the timelines don't match, some of the events were also based on things that actually happened on Coney Island. That's another plus for me, even if historical purists might not agree. But I digress.

As far as the writing style and character development are concerned, Bilyeau didn’t disappoint one bit. In fact, this felt much more of a portrait of Peggy than anything else. Bilyeau draws Peggy in sharp contrast to her family. She’s outspoken and what would probably be called a “free thinker” back then, while almost all of her clan members are far more conservative, cold and abrupt. This set her apart, even though she can’t completely rid herself of that world. One critical reviewer of this book said she found Peggy to be unbelievable because “She flip-flops from wanting to be a suffragette to acting like a prim and proper young woman from old money.” I can’t totally agree with that reviewer’s assessment, however. Yes, Peggy really wants to be a “new woman” but her background and upbringing seem to be what holds her back. I don't see it as flip-flopping so much as wavering, mostly because she doesn’t really know how to keep from being pulled back by family obligations to live up to the social conventions they aspire to; even though the society they aspire to join hasn’t fully accepted them yet. This made Peggy a very sympathetic character for me, and an interesting, and believably imperfect, first-person protagonist.

What did bother me about this book was the feeling that the murder mystery part of this novel didn’t get quite enough attention during the middle of the book as I thought it would get from the first few chapters. Discovering the bodies of these two women, at two different times, was the thing that got me hooked on this story. That was why I was expecting that Bilyeau would turn Peggy into an amateur sleuth throughout the novel. Until materialized later in the book, I’m afraid I was feeling a bit disappointed. Instead, Bilyeau switched focus towards Peggy’s other relatives staying at the Oriental, which this got me wondering if any of them could be the murderer. I also wasn’t as convinced by Peggy’s romance with Stefan, which seemed contrived, particularly because of the brevity and scarcity of their meetings. Then again, that could be mostly forgivable because… Love at first sight, right? I should mention that Bilyeau seems to suggest that drinking Coca-Cola gave the characters a type of “high,” which seemed strange. All traces of cocaine were removed from that drink after 1902, unless she was referring to the high sugar content.

From what I’ve written so far, you might be thinking that I didn’t care for this novel, but I must say that isn’t true. In fact, I enjoyed it a great deal – especially the parts surrounding the murders, which really got underway about ¾ of the way into the novel, and that’s when she puts us on a real rollercoaster (sorry!) of an adventure, with all the needed fireworks (couldn’t resist) with its conclusion. I also enjoyed the very detailed descriptions of Coney Island and its many fascinating attractions. Also, Bilyeau did a lovely job describing the Oriental Hotel and its surrounds, together with descriptions of the other fancy hotels in the area. Furthermore, I really enjoyed how the heatwave practically became another character in this novel, together with how the discomfort this brough with it, effected the way people acted throughout the book. So, there were lots of things to like about this book, even if I felt it was a bit less focused than her last novel, but I still will recommend it with a very good rating of four out of five stars!

Brought history to life.  Truly enjoyed the character development, the pieces of society in the early 1900s and the desire for independence  of a woman during this time.

I have many feelings about this book. Most of them are possitive luckily so I'll start with them. I loved loved loved looooved the era and setting. 1911, New York City, Coney Island. It can't get any better than that for me. I absolutely love reading about the early 1900's. And I thought that the author really captured the essence of it, especially the contrasting differences of the often corrupt ruling class versus the much lower classes. She really wrote that splendidly.

Although overall not the most likable character, I did enjoy reading about Peggy Batternberg, a 20 year-old heiress, for the most part. She was kinda the misfit of the family, prefering to work at a bookstore. Which is something I can totally understand, of course. And I've always been a sucker for misfit characters. In the story she was basically forced to leave her bookstore job and spend the summer with her family at a hotel near the beach. She agrees so it, but reluctantly so. Once at the hotel, dead women are found on the beach and Peggy unwittingly becomes involved in it all when the man she falls for gets arrested for the murders.

Now the not so good things. I really did enjoy the story for the most part but the last 40% or so were a little less interesting to me. I liked reading about Peggy, but sometimes I also wanted to strangle her for her lack of communication, especially towards her sister Lydia. Also towards the end the story became quite tangled too much. A lot at once seemed to be happening, maybe a little too much and my attention was getting a little lost in it all. I had wished that the identity of the killer had been more of a surprise. I wanted it to be someone unexpected but it wasn't unfortunately. I also was a little disappointed by the ending in general, I must say. 

But again I want to point out that for most of the book I was really into the story and enjoyed the various characters and of course the setting of Coney Island was very magical indeed. I also thought that a lot of the topics in the book are very relevant. For example the prejudice against immigrants was a big theme in this book and obviously that's still relevant to today time and age. I just wanted to mention this because I think it's something really important. So overall this book was good but not quite good enough for me to give it four stars. I've kind of been going back and forth about the rating but now I've settled on 3.5/5★

Lashings Of Historical Detail....
Atmospheric historical mystery, set 1911, Coney Island. Murder mystery at heart with intriguing social and family commentary. Protagonist Peggy is both likeable and strong and heads up a colourful cast of characters. Engaging reading with lashings of historical detail.