1. It Happened at the Fair
    Deeanne Gist
    Howard Books / 2013 / Trade Paperback
    Our Price$14.39 Retail Price$15.99 Save 10% ($1.60)
    4.2 out of 5 stars for It Happened at the Fair. View reviews of this product. 31 Reviews
    Availability: In Stock
    Stock No: WW692371
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  1. Trudi
    Bath, NY
    Age: 55-65
    Gender: female
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    The Amazing 1893 Chicago World's Fair
    May 16, 2013
    Trudi
    Bath, NY
    Age: 55-65
    Gender: female
    Cullen McNamara is the son of a farmer and is an inventor. His father recognizes that Cullen's allergic reactions to farm work mean he needs to find a new way to earn a living, and gambles everything to send Cullen to the 1893 Chicago Worlds Fair with his latest invention, an automatic building sprinkler system. Unfortunately, a slight hearing impairment plus the deafening noise of the Machinery Hall make it impossible for Cullen to communicate with potential buyers, and in desperation, Cullen hires Della Wentworth, a teacher of the deaf, to teach him to lip-read. As payment for the lessons, Cullen escorts Della around the various exhibits of the fair during the evenings.

    I have always enjoyed history and I learned as a young child that the easiest way to absorb history is in the pages of a fictional account. While I enjoyed the story of Cullen and Della, it was definitely made more fascinating by the wealth of description provided about the fair itself. It's easy in today's world to take a lot for granted, and based on our experiences of products displayed at trade shows or state fairs, to think we can picture what it would have been like. Thanks to the impressions of Cullen and Della, and to the actual photographs displayed throughout the book, I now realize that any picture we could imagine would never come close to the splendor of the 1893 Chicago World's Fair! When you add the intrigue and events of the fictional storyline, you come up with a real winner! I greatly enjoyed this story and at the same time, learned a tremendous amount about the fair as well as public opinion about deafness more from this book.

    I received a free copy of these books in exchange for my fair and honest review.
  2. Its About Time Mamaw
    Cleveland, Texas
    Age: 55-65
    Gender: female
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    1893 Chicago World's Fair
    May 1, 2013
    Its About Time Mamaw
    Cleveland, Texas
    Age: 55-65
    Gender: female
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    Cullen McNamara can't believe his father went behind his back and entered his invention in the exhibition at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. There is no way he can go since there is no one to help with the farm and his father unable to do the work. But his father had already paid for the train ticket, entry, along with room and board. This money was non-refundable. They are barely surviving how did his father get the money for all of this?

    When he arrives at the fair and gets settled in the fair's Machine Hall the noise was so intense that he could hardly hear when someone talked to him. He was deaf in his right ear and loosing his hearing in his left ear how was he going to communicate with potential buyers if he couldn't hear. Someone recommended he learn to read lips. He was told of a young woman, a Miss Della Wentworth, at the fair that worked with deaf children so he made arrangements with her to teach him lip-reading. All he had to do was be her guide and escort in the evening to tour the fair. She was young and attractive therefore having to spend so much time concentrating on her lips was creating havoc with his emotions.

    Will he be able to continue with his exhibit or will he have to return home a failure, again? There was little left of his father's money and a large debt that needed to be payed down. He had to succeed!

    The author writes of hardtimes for our nation at the same time of the 1893 Chicago World Fair. She had provided many astounding images of the fair. I had no idea of the advancement in architecture and machinery in the latter 1800's. To make it even more interesting she adds romance between a young man and woman that are part of the exhibition A beautiful love story in the midst of secrets and a need to succeed. The author shows us how reaching out to God in all things that he will make our paths straight. Always looking for the good in a bad situation.

    I highly recommend this book.

    Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from Author/Simon and Schuster/Litfuse Group for review. I was in no way compensated for this review. This is my honest opinion.
  3. Irene
    United States
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    Liked the setting!!
    January 11, 2014
    Irene
    United States
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    I enjoyed this book! I liked the setting of the Chicago's World's Fair. You could picture it so well with the excellent descriptions from this author. I thought the two main characters were well developed and you could see them growing throughout the story. I gave this book 5/5 stars. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys this brilliant author, Deeanne Gist. I would also recommend this book to anyone who likes Christian historical fiction with a touch of romance. I could not put this down until I found out how the story ended! I would gladly read this book again.

    I would like to thank the publisher for the copy of this book I enjoyed reading. I gave an honest review based on my opinion of what I read.
  4. ruthhill74
    Yelm, WA
    Age: 35-44
    Gender: female
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    Nice Christian Historical Read
    December 29, 2013
    ruthhill74
    Yelm, WA
    Age: 35-44
    Gender: female
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    When I first picked up this book, I wondered why on earth I was reading another "sappy historical romance." I am so glad that the author proved me wrong! I was absolutely enthralled by this book to the point that I did not want to put it down. The story was somewhat predictable at times, but it was different enough that I was intrigued. I fell in love with Della and Cullen, and I wanted to see how the author drew everything together at the end. And she did draw it together extremely well.

    I really appreciated several things about this book. First, it was clean in every way. The Christian message was there but not too strong. I think the sovereignty of God was there, and it was clear that both characters could not have made it without their faith in God. Secondly, the historical accuracy of the book was a bonus. The author explains at the end how she took a lot of creative license with the story and historical facts, but the gist of the story about the World's Fair was true. She took no more liberties than most historical fiction writers do. I had not realized what a big deal the Chicago World's Fair was. Nor had I known of the lip-reading movement amongst the deaf--or at least not the extent of it.

    If you like clean historical romances, I invite you to check out this wonderfully sweet book for yourself.

    I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.
  5. wfnren
    St Cloud, FL
    Age: 55-65
    Gender: female
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    Another one of Deeanne's HITS!
    September 30, 2013
    wfnren
    St Cloud, FL
    Age: 55-65
    Gender: female
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    Cullen McNamara finally agreed to set a wedding date with Wanda Sappington the day before he's forced to take his invention to the World's Fair in Chicago. His father has faith in him and has taken every last bit of money he has and made all the arrangements without telling Cullen, that way Cullen can't refuse to go, there are no refunds. His father also knows that Cullen has to get off of the farm because of his allergies.

    It is so loud in the building where Cullen is located and he thinks he's losing sales because he can't hear when the people try to talk to him about his invention. When it's suggested that he learn to lip read, he finds the woman he saved, Della, is the teacher so he strikes up a deal with her to teach him. He can't afford lessons so he explores the exhibits of her choice in the evenings while she teaches him. Cullen and Della spend every evening together and he finds it hard to concentrate on his lessons because he finds himself thinking about her more and more. He loves Wanda but Della is the one on his mind.

    He is having a hard time learning and is still losing sales. Cullen decides to have a demonstration but that gets sabotaged as does his exhibit. Not only has he wasted six months at the fair, he's lost the money his father invested and in turn they will lose the farm. Then when he thinks things can't get any worse, Wanda shows up unexpectedly and demands to get married immediately.

    I just love Deeanne's books and this one is no different. A wonderful story about how people looked down on the deaf, even if a person was just starting to lose their hearing, which was the cause of some of the loss of Cullen's sales. Also I loved reading about the world's fair and the 'new' ferris wheel, elevator, etc., things we take for granted today and how they amazed people in 1893.
Displaying items 1-5 of 31
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