Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 26, 1995 TAG: 9511270108
SECTION: BOOKS PAGE: G-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
By Johanna Lindsey. Morrow. $22.
Even though the plot has been trotted out hundreds of times, Johanna Lindsey provides enough freshness for her characters to please those readers who enjoy historical romance.
Here the impoverished Scottish laird must quickly find a rich wife to restore and maintain his crumbling castle in the Highlands. Here also the rich heiress must, on her cruel father's orders, wed so that he can marry again to a woman who will tolerate no other females in her household. Add a ducal couple willing to be matchmakers.
Lachlan MacGregor, a giant of a man, possesses both a fine sense of humor and a bewildering dialect, as in, "I wouldna be trying' that ... A fire would alert those Sassenach tae where we are." Lady Kimberly, abandoned by her fiance and in dire need of a husband, also shows a fine sense of humor when she submits to her fate on the marriage market. Sparks, of course, fly when the two meet at the palatial home of the Duke and Duchess of Wrothston. In spite of their growing passion (lots of passion), Lachlan and Kimberly resist each other's attractions for all the wrong reasons. When they finally get together over a matter of stolen horses, the reader fully enjoys the situation.
Johanna Lindsey's list of "Other Books" includes 30 titles, so she is obviously doing something right.
- HARRIET LITTLE
Half Hidden by Twilight.
By D.S. Lliteras. Hampton Roads Publishing Co. $9.95 (trade paper).
This is the third novel in Lliteras' Robert Llewellen trilogy. Llewellen is on a pilgrimage of self-discovery. In "Half Hidden at Twilight," we find him living alone as a firefighter in Norfolk, Va. He is trying to integrate the memories of two radically different pasts into his present life: as a hospital corpsman with the Marines in Vietnam, and as a monk in a Buddhist monastery. Both have changed his life in ways he still does not fully understand.
He meets a girl, Sandy, and thinks he might be falling in love. Then, a friend, Fish, turns up. He is dying of stomach cancer and asks for a place to die. He refuses to see a doctor or go to the hospital. Llewellen and Sandy are stretched to the limit of patience and ingenuity to care for him, but they choose to do so, on his terms.
The author puts his protagonist's metaphysical presuppositions to work in the construction of this piece. It makes for a most interesting reading experience, to say the least. Throughout the book are bits of haiku-like poetry, and frequently the prose itself drifts off into a state "half hidden" from the reader's immediate perception.
Lliteras is a fine writer with a clear grasp of what he is trying to do. And he knows how to tell a story that will leave you wondering.
- MARIE S. BEAN
The Dogs Who Came to Stay.
By George Pitcher. Dutton. $18.95.
This small-in-size and short-in-length memoir traces the relationship between a pregnant stray black-and-tan dog and two Princeton professors who befriend her. The prose shows how dogs acting like dogs can illuminate lonely lives. The author is constantly surprised by standard dog behavior, and tries to pass this wonder on to readers. The sadness conveyed in this book is how adults can grow through middle age not having felt the unqualified loyalty and love given by a dog. Buy this book if you must, but bringing a dog into your life obviates the need.
- LARRY SHIELD
Harriet Little teaches at James River High School.
Marie S. Bean is a retired college chaplain.
Larry Shield trains dogs and horses in Franklin County.
Note:
"What If? Exploring the Paths Not Taken in American History," reviewed here on Oct. 29, is available for $15 from McDonogh School; P.O. Box 380; Ownings Mills, Md. 21117.
by CNB