My Barbara Cartland Addiction

Dear Ladies

I am not sure I should call it an addiction, but here I am, in bed recovering from severe back pain. At my side "The best of Barbara Cartland" a used book I bought long ago. It even has this number sticker proclaiming that I saved it from the book pond. I have read it before so it is a good thing that my memory of this plots is shortlived. Even remembering vaguely what will happen sometimes, I still enjoy to re-read them.

My well-read copy of "The best of Barbara Cartland" including "the Proud Princess" (in the cover), "the Magnificent marriage", "The Bored Bridegroom", "Kiss the Moonlight and "The Devil in love"

And I try to explain why is that. I consider myself, as well as my readers, intelligent, up to date,  tolerant. I believe that men and women have the same mental capacity and that we can achieve big things against great odds without the need to be rescued. I don't believe that the English are a superior race or that nobility (as in being from the nobility) has any physical manifestation. I don't think a woman has to be small, beautiful and innocent to deserve to be happy. I don't believe that we can transmit love and much less commands through some sort mental waves. I could keep going about all that is wrong in Cartlad's Universe. Especially her racist remarks. And don't forget the ridiculous names of many of her heroines (Lady Dorinda comes to mind, "Dorina" beeing a margarine brand in my home country) 

"The Bored Bridegroom", by Barbara Cartland. A story that takes a lot from "The Scarlet Pimpernel" and sees Lucretia follow her beloved Marquis while pursued by French soldiers.

And here am I reading "The Bored Bridegroom", the third on this compilation book. And I was crying at the heroin's suffering. I couldn't wait for the end of the dramatic adventure and for the sexual tension between Lucretia and Max finally get resolved into a cast kiss and some insinuation like "....he took her to the heaven reserved only for true love" or something along that lines. We, readers, know she means they went to bed. Finally!  

Everything they feel will be meticulously explained at end of the book when they open their hearts to each other. As expected. 

"the Magnificent marriage" by Barbara Cartland where our ugly-dickling, Lady Dorinda, flourishes on a trip to Indonesia. She can't tell the magnificent Max Kirby that she loves him because he will marry her beautiful sister.

So what is it? at least for me, I think it is all that she conveys without saying. The feelings, the emotions, which despite Cartland's failings as a writer spring out of the pages real and honest. There is also this nostalgia for fairy tails where good deeds are rewarded and happiness is attainable.

Cartland herself was also a historian and a fighter for the rights she considered important. Her books have a lot of history in them and some sparks of women's revindication too. The scenarios tend to repeat themselves, but I think this reflects the small world where the English aristocracy lived. A while ago I found this neat little books at my local library. It contained a treasure trove of aquarelle drawings depicting the Edwardian era London with many of the scenes so present in Cartland's story. Here I share it with you.

"The season" by John S Goodall

enjoy,

Miranda

PS: You may want to join my Barabara Cartland fan site on G+

Barbara Cartland (Author's fan site)

The Fake Romance cover

 Dear Ladies and gentlemen;

It is still summer, let's have some innocent (or not so much) fun. After a friend posted an amazing romance novel cover I started a board on pinterest "the most outrageous romance novel covers" cover- pined looking for "material" for my board I started to find some covers that made me suspicious: was this for real? 

Tender is the Storm by Johanna Lindsey. From the book cover: 

"For Lucas's beautiful, unsuspecting pawn was not supposed to be so irresistible alluring. And freedom-loving Sharisse never dreamed she could ever desire one man so much! "

After a few I had decided that the FAKE ROMANCE COVER was a new child of the photoshop era, an easy victim of the times. While "Tender is the storm" is a real book "A bit lower, lassy" couldn't possibly be. Don't you agree. So where there others?

And what about this brave Scotsman fallen in the hand of an evil hairdresser of a rival clan: 

Here a few more inventive examples

What a temptation! Could I make my own contribution to the genre? This is my first try using the late Jo Beverley's cover for "tempting fortune" my least favorite of the series featuring the family of the Marquess of Rothgar. I don't like the cover either but it reflects the character of the heroine quite well. 

I am not convinced this is funny. Maybe it is easier if I start with a funny cover in its own right? let's see. This is an illustration without text. A blank slate. An exercise That maybe some of my readers would want to try?

Maybe I am improving, but this isn't as easy as I though, I am mainly making fun of the cover picture itself. I think the masterstroke is the author's name. So here I go again, I found a cover that can be "enhanced" with little effort (you can find the original in my pinterest link above) 

With my last effort I am afraid I have descended to potty jokes, but I just had had to take one of Favio's cover pictures! 

The truth is covers are not like this any longer for a reason. Even without the mischievous text on top, the picture in itself is the biggest joke. Nowadays covers leave most to the imagination. The most common covers show only the heroine in a sweeping long dress. If some still imagine that the hero looks like Favio, that is between her and the virtual pages of the ebook. 

enjoy the rest of your summer,

Miranda