In her latest novel, TITANS, Leila Meacham takes on the epic story of fraternal twins separated at birth who live through the oil boom in a changing Texan landscape at the turn of the century. Meacham knows quite a bit about the history of the Lone Star State, as she has lived in Texas for most of her life (she was born in Minden, Louisiana). Unlike GIANT author Edna Ferber, a former journalist who had never been to Texas and spent more time in the Midwest than the South, Meacham is all about the South --- and it shows in TITANS as it has in several other multi-generational tomes of hers, such as the bestselling ROSES and SOMERSET.

"Meacham’s easy-to-read prose helps to maintain a pace that you won’t be able to quit, pushing through from chapter to chapter to find the next important nugget of this dramatic family tale."

TITANS is the story of Samantha Gordon, an elegant, sophisticated and privileged heiress to the sprawling Las Tres Lomas cattle ranch near Fort Worth, and Nathan Holloway, a sweet-natured and charming farm boy from far north Texas. Meacham mines every thick ounce of their particular difficulties as Samantha and Nathan try to survive a changing world and their changing selves. Finding their missing siblings never fades against the backdrop of big oil, open meadows and beautiful blue skies; in fact, the predicament of the twins makes the novel even more emotionally resounding. Their story is unnatural but completely romantic in its own way. The search for family has never faced a truer foe than the rush to big oil and the changing of Texas from a backwater land to a miserly captain of industry.

Texas has never seemed grander --- not even South Fork can hold a candle to the world that TITANS inhabits. The characters’ personalities, vernacular and cultural references knit together a story that easily could have unfolded too quickly or histrionically. Fortunately, though, we get the details of their individual lives and the lives of those around them wrought in fine etchings instead of broad watercolors. Just as colorful, this literary tactic helps us find lasting connections with the characters, creating Texas as a mammoth human filled with longing and ambition.

TITANS is a long book, but you won’t feel like it goes on in too lengthy a fashion. Meacham’s easy-to-read prose helps to maintain a pace that you won’t be able to quit, pushing through from chapter to chapter to find the next important nugget of this dramatic family tale. It is best savored over a great steak with a glass of wine and evenings to yourself as you dedicate some valuable time to the twins’ unbelievable lives.