I, unfortunately (or maybe fortunately), didn't really know my grandmother well, or even appreciate what she had accomplish, while she was still alive, being the youngest of her 4 grandchildren. She was for me elusive and somewhat of an enigma. Mike (my brother) couldn't agree with you more, though. He has some valuable insights into the difference between TC the writer, the person, and the "personality" and I'm sure (or at least hope) he will continue to write about that in this forum.

That would be fantastic, Robert. To have that in the TC memorabilia archive would be a great addition.

Hi, Robert, the following is a reply from my sister, Drina, to your recent post on this. As I mentioned there is a technical issue that prevents her from easily replying at length From Drina Fried: Yes, she was one of the first who wrote about that role of the International Financiers and Globalists in American politics. She used to talk about that regularly at Thursday night dinners at my parent’s house. Anyone who listened thought she was out of her mind. But NO, she wasn’t!

Michael, readers of your post that might have seen the mini-series (as well as those that haven't) should find good reason to read the novel, as all these mechanisms of power and control are very much in play today internationally. Thank you very much for this contribution!

Within a family dynasty or generation, a sudden rise in wealth will be the leading cause of lasting, impactful change. Behind the rise in wealth then lie the wars (key examples in Europe being the 30-Years War, the Napoleonic wars, and the 2 World Wars) and their long-lasting impact on industry and technology. Not that TC would say this is right or good (or that “might makes right”), but she would probably say “what does right or good have to do with it?” This seems to be the stuff behind TC novels like Dynasty of Death among her others work.

Following on my last post, I live in Prague and can see a great audience here for her books in Czech (as as in other places in the local language.) This is something that, as a descendent of TC, I am actively pushing to make happen. English is a popular language, but there are others out there with huge book readerships. So I'm hopeful.

And not just the well of words, but the diversity (or babel) of languages, through which meaning is filtered, adapted, and inevitably changed to suit it's speakers (or readers) own world view.

A great comment that raises the question: what are the factors underlying the large and meaningful changes within a generation or so of a single family/dynasty such that they reverberate on society as a whole and thereby represent some lasting historical shift - sometimes referred to as progress?

There are plenty of references and quotes in Peter Gemma’s article that will pique the interest of anyone even marginally familiar with Caldwell’s novels. One that particularly caught my attention and spoke to me directly, as one of Taylor Caldwell’s direct descendants (I am the youngest son of Caldwell’s first child, Peggy), was her take on children, Gemma quotes “‘Children are not as important as the man in your life,’ she told People magazine in 1976, adding: ‘I don’t believe that they should be allowed to eat with their parents until they are 21.’” And indeed in our household, with the exception of occasional holiday gatherings, as far as I can remember until I was well into my early 20s, we children never ate with our parents.

Alhough the specific subject matter and time period of their novels is so radically different, both Thomas Hardy and Taylor Caldwell can be remembered as masterful novelists who captured their respective country’s “contentious agrarian-to-industrialization era”. Is this a fair comparison?