A Wild and Heavenly Place

November 6, 2023
Oliveira (My Name Is Mary Sutter) sets this middling melodrama of lovelorn Scots against the backdrop of Seattle’s rapid rise in the 1880s. It’s love at first sight when apprentice shipbuilder Samuel Fiddes and well-to-do Hailey MacIntyre lock eyes on a Glasgow street in 1879. Unfortunately, Hailey’s stern parents disapprove of impoverished Samuel, forcing the two would-be lovers to see each other in secret. When Hailey’s father loses his fortune, he upends his family and moves to Seattle, where he has a new job prospect. Samuel refuses to give up on Hailey and works passage on a ship bound for America. Arriving in Seattle, he finally tracks her down, but he’s too late. Her family’s fortunes have taken another downturn, forcing Hailey into a loveless marriage with a local laborer, who treats her cruelly. As the years pass and Samuel tries to figure out a way to win back Hailey from her abusive husband, the city grows around them. This has the sweep of an old-fashioned romantic epic, but Oliveira’s narrative is undone by too many coincidences, predictable plot twists, and outlandish villains. These ardent young lovers deserve a better story. Agent: Marly Rusoff, Marly Rusoff Literary.