Only a Girl's Love

by Charles Garvice, Barbara Cartland (Editor)

It is a warm evening in early Summer; the sun is setting behind a long
range of fir and yew-clad hills, at the feet of which twists in and
out, as it follows their curves, a placid, peaceful river. Opposite
these hills, and running beside the river, are long-stretching meadows,
brilliantly green with fresh-springing grass, and gorgeously yellow
with newly-opened buttercups. Above, the sunset sky gleams and glows
with fiery red and rich deep chromes. And London is almost within sight.

It is a beautiful scene, such as one sees only in this England of
ours--a scene that defies poet and painter. At this very moment it
is defying one of the latter genus; for in a room of a low-browed,
thatched-roofed cottage which stood on the margin of the meadow, James
Etheridge sat beside his easel, his eyes fixed on the picture framed in
the open window, his brush and mahl-stick drooping in his idle hand

224 pages, Paperback

First published December 28, 1979

About the author

Charles Andrew Garvice was born on 24 August 1850 in or around Stepney, England, UK, son of Mira Winter and Andrew John Garvice, a bricklayer. On 1872, he married Elizabeth Jones, and had two sons and six daughters. He got his professional start as a journalist. On 1875, his first novel, "Maurice Durant" was published in serialized form, but when was published as a novel, it did not sell well. He concluded it was too long and too expensive for popular sales - this early experience taught him about the business side of writing. On 1910, according to Arnold Bennett in 1910, he was ‘the most successful novelist in England’. He published novels selling over seven million copies worldwide by 1914, and since 1913 he was selling 1.75 million books annually, a pace which he maintained at least until his death. Despite his enormous success, he was poorly received by literary critics. He published over 150 romance novels, and also signed some of his novels under the female pseudonym of Caroline Hart .

He suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on 21 February 1920 and was in a coma eight days until his death on 1 March 1920.

Reviews

[Paige Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was a toughy. I had to keep reminding myself that it's a classic to excuse all the tired tropes #instalove #playafallsforvirgininnocence. None of which I wanted to read, but 1) I'm trying to get into reading more classics and 2) the book kept promising angst and I wanted to read about the drama. So I toughed it out. It's not that I'm averse to those tropes, they've just been done better by a lot more authors sorry Charles Garvice. So I'd tell people to skip this one.

Spoilers follow:

My discontent with the hero started early and was solidified by a scene of him going off on some guy for almost, accidentally, hurting the heroine. It reminded me of the guy that yells at the waiter for bringing the soup out with too much Cayenne knowing the menu says it comes with Cayenne. I was also not amused by the heroines excusing of this horrid behavior simply because she liked him.

The professing of love scene was dramatic and heavy-handed. I was rolling my eyes like puhlease.

The sweet dreamy uncle in the beginning quickly turned into the nonsensical uncle. He just let her go off with his neighbor all willy-nilly, no questions asked. I don't care how well he knows the guy. In a time where a woman's virtue was gold, there's no way he wouldn't be tracking his niece like a hawk. Least of all letting her go off with men with no supervision. Even when he's in the same room with them he's not all there. He's not picking up on the flirting, the questions, or planning. Yet the author only calls him dreamy. Is it that or mental issues?

So he just gone assume she wants to turn into a spinster and live with him for the rest of her life. In that time period. . .puhlease. Cousin Frank, gave me the creeps and I could go on about that, but wont.

Lenore's reveal was also farfetched, with one letter, he just knew she was guilty. Guilty of what, because from what I read she ain't did nothing much. Eapecially while he was off getting drunk and nursing a broken heart. This was just not a favorite, but an exercise in drudgery.

So why is it not a one star, I actually did read the whole thing. For the most part, it was well-written. And I was living for the drama provided by Lenore and Adelstone. They kept this book alive for me. And sticking with the classic frame of mind, I can totally see these tropes being new and reinvigorating to the reader. So three-star. But its a new day. Avid romance readers wont catch the feels from this one.

[Lucinda Elliot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two and a half stars which will show up as three.
This was so ridiculous it made me laugh.
The usual purple prose, the usual wild young earl and innocent maiden, the inevitable pale, snarling, underhand villain who wnats to marry the heroine - called 'Jasper Adelstone' in this one, the usual proud aristocratic woman with her heart set on the hero - in this one, she does a bit of forgery to sabotage the love match -and a happy ending for all the upright characters.
So bad it's good.

[Lindsay McMullen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple and sweet love story. Worth the read!

[Cheesebro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this a while back, on and off. I loved it. Sure descriptions got a bit repetitive at times, but that didn't spoil too much for me. Not a big deal, but the shock when I really took in the detail that Leycester has a moustache... gross, but once again, it's not a big deal. Recommend for people who like older books and romances of course.

[Happy · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first book form this author. I will say I enjoy the beginning of the story more so than trotting towards the conclusion, which lost a lot of its luster. In all mostly enjoyable drama about Stella young first and only love in Lord Leycester.