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Rosemary Gard has spent 3 months in Croatia in a village where she observed the customs and living habits of her relatives. Rosemary and her husband, Bob, lived for a year in Vicenza, Italy while he was with the army. They have also traveled to Bogota, Columbia in the early 60's.
Destiny's Dowry is Rosemary Gard's first novel. In the past she has written feature articles for newspapers.
She is considered quite a Croatian Historian of Immigrants who came to the U.S. in the early 1900s. She travels to various states giving talks and selling her books.
Reviewed by Kimberlee J Benart for Readers' Favorite
Danica's Destiny is the sixth novel in the Destiny series by Rosemary Gard. Danica is a sweet, intelligent, unsophisticated young woman who flees her rural Texas home to avoid a traditional marriage arranged by her immigrant Croatian parents. Finding work in a hotel owned by a wealthy Croatian, in the sophisticated and uniquely cosmopolitan city of 1915 New Orleans, Danica is introduced to a very different life. The complex web of relationships that swirls around her new employer takes up much of the novel, and his “like a son” friend, Tomo, and Tomo’s friend, John, provide a romantic interest when both men are attracted to Danica. Will her destiny lie with one of them? And will she ever see her family again, especially her beloved father?
I really enjoyed reading Danica’s Destiny. The theme of cultural identity runs strongly throughout the story in elements of language, faith, food, music, and customs. The cast of characters is rich and wonderfully varied as we watch New Orleans meet Croatia by way of Gary, Indiana. Even though Danica takes a sideline through much of the narrative, the romantic interests and dramatic happenings of her employer and the others are engaging and had me turning the pages. Although it takes a few chapters to get a good grip on what these other characters mean to each other, Gard does an excellent job of giving them dimension and making them sympathetic. This is an entertaining story which has awakened in me a desire to read the rest of the Destiny series.
