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una_macchia's review against another edition
5.0
A beautiful, mature love story. I wasn't expecting so much spirituality (rather a silly thing to say about a book called The Rosary!) but I really liked it.
It's interesting to read older romances because, naturally, I can't rely on the tropes or conventions of modern romance novels to predict what's going to happen.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the heroine is both a bit older than the hero and a bit taller than him -- both still sadly rare in romance novels now.
It's interesting to read older romances because, naturally, I can't rely on the tropes or conventions of modern romance novels to predict what's going to happen.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that the heroine is both a bit older than the hero and a bit taller than him -- both still sadly rare in romance novels now.
nwhyte's review against another edition
2.0
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1513757.html
This romance novel was apparently the best-seller of the year 1910, so I thought I would test the durability of its appeal. What immediately struck me was that this tale of the young English gentry working through the difficulties of their love lives in order to reach the safe haven of engagement and marriage is exactly the kind of thing that P.G. Wodehouse was parodying (there is even an eccentric Duchess with peculiar taste in pets here); so even if nobody actually reads The Rosary these days, it has a certain legacy.
It is well enough written - I certainly liked it much more than 1909's bestseller - with the plot concerning a youngish woman who turns down a proposal of marriage because she feels she is not beautiful enough for her artistic admirer, though she lies and tells him that he is too young for her. She then travels around the world, bitterly regretting her choice, and on hearing that her young man has been struck blind by a plot device, persuades a friendly doctor to allow her to nurse him while pretending to be someone else who just happens to have a similar voice to the woman he loves. Well, you can guess how it ends, but it would probably make a decent film, either set in 1910 or updated to the present. Though we might skip over the unexpected revelation two-thirds of the way through that she had gained nursing experience in the Boer War (why did this not come up earlier?) and I suspect that the author is not well-informed about Scottish marriage law (oh, darn, I gave away the ending).
The Rosary of the title, incidentally, was a very popular song of the day which our heroine sings, thus convincing our hero that she is the one for him. If you really want to hear it, I've found a Vera Lynn rendition on Youtube, though I could have done without the picture sequence.
And my friends list have satisfied me about the sperm.
This romance novel was apparently the best-seller of the year 1910, so I thought I would test the durability of its appeal. What immediately struck me was that this tale of the young English gentry working through the difficulties of their love lives in order to reach the safe haven of engagement and marriage is exactly the kind of thing that P.G. Wodehouse was parodying (there is even an eccentric Duchess with peculiar taste in pets here); so even if nobody actually reads The Rosary these days, it has a certain legacy.
It is well enough written - I certainly liked it much more than 1909's bestseller - with the plot concerning a youngish woman who turns down a proposal of marriage because she feels she is not beautiful enough for her artistic admirer, though she lies and tells him that he is too young for her. She then travels around the world, bitterly regretting her choice, and on hearing that her young man has been struck blind by a plot device, persuades a friendly doctor to allow her to nurse him while pretending to be someone else who just happens to have a similar voice to the woman he loves. Well, you can guess how it ends, but it would probably make a decent film, either set in 1910 or updated to the present. Though we might skip over the unexpected revelation two-thirds of the way through that she had gained nursing experience in the Boer War (why did this not come up earlier?) and I suspect that the author is not well-informed about Scottish marriage law (oh, darn, I gave away the ending).
The Rosary of the title, incidentally, was a very popular song of the day which our heroine sings, thus convincing our hero that she is the one for him. If you really want to hear it, I've found a Vera Lynn rendition on Youtube, though I could have done without the picture sequence.
And my friends list have satisfied me about the sperm.
eleneariel's review against another edition
4.0
Absolutely, positively beautiful. What a sweet and tender love story!
4kids4me's review
3.0
While the writer was certainly talented and I could see this being a popular book when published, it was just a little too flowery for me. I suppose for fans of classic romance, it would really rate a 5 but the characters were a bit too flawless for me. I took me forever to even get into the book as the dialogue in the beginning was a bit much for me. I found myself just reading it to get to the end as I could basically predict what would happen. I read this for a book challenge in the category "book published over 100 years ago" but doubt I would recommend to my friends unless is a genre they enjoy.
aasplund's review
3.0
What a fun and sweet little book!
This book was ultimately enjoyable for me, but many parts of it felt problematic (which I'll explain more below). I think if I had a greater understanding of the literary culture of the early 20th century, I could overlook many of my critiques. Even understanding a bit about gender relations in that era have helped me to be kinder to this book than I would be normally. Looking at this book through a modern lens leads to some harsh critiques. However, when one simply lets themselves get caught up in the romance and drama of the story, it's much more enjoyable. That being said, while I was enthralled while reading, looking back on the book, I could not forgot the problems that had eluded me as I read.
For the first 1/3 of this book, I was incredibly bored. There were pages and pages of unnecessary details and small conversations and lengthy stories that people told amongst themselves. However, once the actual plot got going, I was hooked and could hardly put the book down. While I knew exactly how it was going to end up, I was sure exactly how this ending would be achieved. I had to keep reading to find out.
And I think that's where I started having some issues with the plot. It was so much like many romance novels I've read - you know the heroine and hero will be happy together in the end, but the scheme to get to that point is so convoluted that it couldn't possibly work out, could it? It was difficult for me to wrap my brain around how our lovers would come together.
I was also kind of bothered by the heroine's willful exploitation of her lover's disability. It felt kind of mean and nasty - especially when other characters would encourage or help her exploit him (by staying in the room when he thought she'd left, by not revealing her identity from the beginning, etc). And if you're so certain that's he's upset about his new disability, why are you taking advantage of it for your own ends? It felt unfair to me.
Many of the reviews I read compared this book with Jane Austen. Now, on that front, I will have to disagree (though the basic premise in the first 1/3 of the novel reminded me greatly of Persuasion). In fact, most of my issues with this novel stem from making that comparison in my mind. While Jane Austen's characters can definitely be melodramatic, most of that is to display the character's weaknesses or for comedic effect (i.e. Mrs. Bennett). However, the characters in The Rosary were always completely serious in their melodrama and this made it difficult for me to relate to them much. They were players in a soap opera, not real people. Austen's books also have a depth (and a critique of society) that The Rosary lacked so, while I can understand the comparison, I strongly disagree -The Rosary is no Persuasion and it never will be.
Lovers of romance stories will enjoy this book, as will those who enjoy stories set in the early 20th century.
This book was ultimately enjoyable for me, but many parts of it felt problematic (which I'll explain more below). I think if I had a greater understanding of the literary culture of the early 20th century, I could overlook many of my critiques. Even understanding a bit about gender relations in that era have helped me to be kinder to this book than I would be normally. Looking at this book through a modern lens leads to some harsh critiques. However, when one simply lets themselves get caught up in the romance and drama of the story, it's much more enjoyable. That being said, while I was enthralled while reading, looking back on the book, I could not forgot the problems that had eluded me as I read.
For the first 1/3 of this book, I was incredibly bored. There were pages and pages of unnecessary details and small conversations and lengthy stories that people told amongst themselves. However, once the actual plot got going, I was hooked and could hardly put the book down. While I knew exactly how it was going to end up, I was sure exactly how this ending would be achieved. I had to keep reading to find out.
And I think that's where I started having some issues with the plot. It was so much like many romance novels I've read - you know the heroine and hero will be happy together in the end, but the scheme to get to that point is so convoluted that it couldn't possibly work out, could it? It was difficult for me to wrap my brain around how our lovers would come together.
I was also kind of bothered by the heroine's willful exploitation of her lover's disability. It felt kind of mean and nasty - especially when other characters would encourage or help her exploit him (by staying in the room when he thought she'd left, by not revealing her identity from the beginning, etc). And if you're so certain that's he's upset about his new disability, why are you taking advantage of it for your own ends? It felt unfair to me.
Many of the reviews I read compared this book with Jane Austen. Now, on that front, I will have to disagree (though the basic premise in the first 1/3 of the novel reminded me greatly of Persuasion). In fact, most of my issues with this novel stem from making that comparison in my mind. While Jane Austen's characters can definitely be melodramatic, most of that is to display the character's weaknesses or for comedic effect (i.e. Mrs. Bennett). However, the characters in The Rosary were always completely serious in their melodrama and this made it difficult for me to relate to them much. They were players in a soap opera, not real people. Austen's books also have a depth (and a critique of society) that The Rosary lacked so, while I can understand the comparison, I strongly disagree -The Rosary is no Persuasion and it never will be.
Lovers of romance stories will enjoy this book, as will those who enjoy stories set in the early 20th century.
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