Book Review by France Soar: When Agatha Christie, already renowned for her detective fiction, chose to write certain novels under the pen-name Mary Westmacott, she was presumably seeking to avoid any preconceptions on the part of her readers. By the time I came to read Absent in the Spring, in the spring of 2022, anonymity … Continue reading
Tagged with romantic fiction …
Women Who Seek (1928) by Denise Robins
Book review by George S. This month at the Popular Fiction reading group we have been exploring the steamy world of Romance, by looking at early Mills and Boon novels. I read a book by one of the publishing house’s most successful writers – Denise Robins. Women Who Seek is an odd title for this … Continue reading
WAAF into Wife (1943) by Barbara Stanton
Book Review by Chris Hopkins. I was very pleased to discover this Mills & Boon novel about five years ago when I first started to explore fiction about British Servicewomen in the Second World War. I have just finished it for the second time and have to confess that I enjoyed it at both readings. … Continue reading
The Young Clementina (1935) by D.E. Stevenson
Book review by George S: I ordered this book from Kindle as The Young Clementina, partly because its cover picture suggested a light and jolly romp. Only later did I discover that back in 1935, its title was the more ominous Divorced From Reality; then in 1966 it was reissued as Miss Dean’s Dilemma. And … Continue reading
Three Weeks (1907) by Elinor Glyn
Book Review by Kathryn R: I found this book in the Old Pier Bookshop* in Morecambe while browsing for other books from 1900-1950. It was in the ‘collectables’ case. There is no publication date in this edition, but the cover and the preface suggest that it was published in the early 1960s, as the writer … Continue reading
This Rough Magic (1964) by Mary Stewart
Book review by Sylvia D: I’m almost certain I read Mary Stewart novels when I was in my teens but cannot now remember any specific titles or plots. However, reading the reviews of her books that have already been posted, several themes seem to emerge: the combination of suspense and romance, a young, spirited female … Continue reading
Madam, Will You Talk (1955) by Mary Stewart
Book Review by George S: Madam, Will You Talk (1955) was Mary Stewart’s first published novel, and it is obviously the work of someone with a gift for thriller-writing. It begins in Avignon, where Charity Selbourne, a youngish widow, is enjoying a relaxing holiday with a teacher friend, but Mary Stewart keeps the exposition from … Continue reading
Man and Maid (1922) by Elinor Glyn
Book Review by George S: This is a thoroughly unpleasant book. It takes the form of the journal of Sir Nicholas Thormonde, who has been wounded in the Great War: I am sick of my life—The war has robbed it of all that a young man can find of joy.I look at my mutilated face … Continue reading
The Rector’s Daughter (1924) by F. M. Mayor
Book review by George S: The first sentence of this book sets an unromantic tone: Dedmayne is an insignificant village in the Eastern counties.
The Vanity Girl (1920) by Compton Mackenzie
Book review by Sylvia D: When Compton Mackenzie’s The Vanity Girl (the copy I read being the Remploy reprint of 1973) was first published in 1920 by Macdonald, it was dedicated to Mackenzie’s sister, Fay Compton, the actress. When it was republished in 1954, Mackenzie (1883-1972) re-wrote the original dedication, with the words ‘Dearest Fay, … Continue reading
Reading 1900-1950 