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Come Running
Darrell Anderson falls in love with Matthew Lawford, a married man, and wonders if they will ever find happiness together
249 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
6 people are currently reading
59 people want to read
About the author
Anne Mather
798 books358 followersAnne Mather is the pseudonym used by Mildred Grieveson, a popular British author of over 160 romance novels. She also signed novels as Caroline Fleming and Cardine Fleming.
Mildred Grieveson began to write down stories in her childhood years. The first novel that she actually finished, Caroline (1965), was also her first book to be published. Her novel, Leopard in the Snow (1974), was developed into a 1978 film.
Mildred Grieveson began to write down stories in her childhood years. The first novel that she actually finished, Caroline (1965), was also her first book to be published. Her novel, Leopard in the Snow (1974), was developed into a 1978 film.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
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August 27, 2018Forget the “adultery” theme, I’m struggling to cope with a heroine who within seconds of learning of her best friend’s death in a plane crash starts getting turned on by her best friend’s brother’s “hardness of muscle” and “clean fragrance of skin” when he hugs her to comfort her shock/grief.
And then minutes later is putting on makeup and “wondering what he must think” of her puffy, tear-stained face and telling herself “not to get the wrong idea” about his intentions towards her.
Who thinks like this?!
The Other Woman (hero’s wife) may be an absolutely spoiled, self-centred bitch, but even she doesn’t reach the deranged sociopathy of the heroine.
So I've now finished this book. It got worse and worse. I don't know what Anne Mather was thinking, because it was deeply unpleasant from start to finish. I found myself more interested in what the hell made her write this? Was she instructed to include certain elements? Was she having problems in her personal life and just dialled this in? Did someone else write this or edit it beyond recognition, and stick Anne Mather's name on this?
No one's reaction to the death of a beloved young couple was normal. Neither hero nor heroine had any redeeming qualities. I longed for them to die. So here's an extended ending, to try and redeem this horror:
And then minutes later is putting on makeup and “wondering what he must think” of her puffy, tear-stained face and telling herself “not to get the wrong idea” about his intentions towards her.
Who thinks like this?!
The Other Woman (hero’s wife) may be an absolutely spoiled, self-centred bitch, but even she doesn’t reach the deranged sociopathy of the heroine.
So I've now finished this book. It got worse and worse. I don't know what Anne Mather was thinking, because it was deeply unpleasant from start to finish. I found myself more interested in what the hell made her write this? Was she instructed to include certain elements? Was she having problems in her personal life and just dialled this in? Did someone else write this or edit it beyond recognition, and stick Anne Mather's name on this?
No one's reaction to the death of a beloved young couple was normal. Neither hero nor heroine had any redeeming qualities. I longed for them to die. So here's an extended ending, to try and redeem this horror:
Matthew's eyes caressed her. "Just how did you intend getting back to Sedgeley tonight ?"
"I didn't," she replied honestly.”
Just then the telephone rang. It was Mrs Lawford, and she was nearly too emotional to speak. "You'll never guess what has happened! We've just had a visit from the police. They've found Susan and Frank, they're alive! They survived the crash and have been living in a cave in the wilderness all this time, waiting for rescue! It turns out there was some terrible mix up over the bodies."
It seemed too thrilling to be true. Feeling slightly piqued that her night of becoming Matt's mistress now had to be postponed, Darrell forced a smile. "I suppose we'd better go to Sedgeley," she said.
Matthew was also putting on a brave face. He'd got over his sister's death long ago, after all he'd barely seen her in the years leading up to it. All he wanted to do was make Darrell his mistress. But he also supposed they'd better show up in Sedgeley.
Setting off from the farm, he drove them along the motorway. Just then there was a huge bolt of lightning. It struck the BMW, which skidded off the road and exploded into a fireball as it crashed over the side, down a steep precipice into a twisted mangled mess of burnt metal. Darrell and Matt were killed instantly, with no hope of recovery.
Fortunately for the Lawford family, the joy of having Susan and Frank returned to them safe and sound was more than ample compensation, and Darrell and Matt were soon forgotten. "Put the kettle on, Jennifer," Mrs Lawford said. "Let's have a nice cup of tea to celebrate."
THE END
September 20, 2018
I really should have just re-read Noel's review especially her alternative ending
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
instead of actually reading Come Running.
The only-good-die-young nice characters die at the beginning of the book. The rest, with the exception of the H's parents, are a self-serving, selfish, amoral bunch of assholes that aren't even fun to read.
The hero:
Marries his wife for her father's influence and money. He doesn't pull out the old chestnut, My wife doesn't understand me but it's a close one. Still, he can't leave her.
And, after hunting down the heroine, taking a shower and lying in her bed naked accuses her of luring him on. He's going to cheat on the heroine as sure as shooting.
The heroine:
No moral compass. Feeling bad about having an affair with a married man doesn't make you moral.
Not to mention judging the H's wife for being a snob in practically the same paragraph where you are being condescending about the nice big NORMAL family of the H makes you a hypocrite.
The wife:
Aka the other woman. Well, at least she added color to the story. She's a snobby, cheating, drugging bitch who lies.
The heroine's mother:
Surprise! She's a snobby, materialistic woman who is more concerned about the social and economic impact of her daughter's potential affair on her own life than she is the moral issue at heart.
Conclusion:
Don't bother. No fun characters. No action. No real drama. NO romance. Not even any sex.
Secondary conclusion:
Looking over the A. Mather books that I have read, she is a half-glass full kind of chick. Sad and tawdry drama with a side of ickiness seems to be her preferred mode.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
instead of actually reading Come Running.
The only-good-die-young nice characters die at the beginning of the book. The rest, with the exception of the H's parents, are a self-serving, selfish, amoral bunch of assholes that aren't even fun to read.
The hero:
Marries his wife for her father's influence and money. He doesn't pull out the old chestnut, My wife doesn't understand me but it's a close one. Still, he can't leave her.
And, after hunting down the heroine, taking a shower and lying in her bed naked accuses her of luring him on. He's going to cheat on the heroine as sure as shooting.
The heroine:
No moral compass. Feeling bad about having an affair with a married man doesn't make you moral.
Not to mention judging the H's wife for being a snob in practically the same paragraph where you are being condescending about the nice big NORMAL family of the H makes you a hypocrite.
The wife:
Aka the other woman. Well, at least she added color to the story. She's a snobby, cheating, drugging bitch who lies.
The heroine's mother:
Surprise! She's a snobby, materialistic woman who is more concerned about the social and economic impact of her daughter's potential affair on her own life than she is the moral issue at heart.
Conclusion:
Don't bother. No fun characters. No action. No real drama. NO romance. Not even any sex.
Secondary conclusion:
Looking over the A. Mather books that I have read, she is a half-glass full kind of chick. Sad and tawdry drama with a side of ickiness seems to be her preferred mode.
August 26, 2023
Here’s a romance where the heroine is the other woman.
The hero is married to the queen bitch, and as soon as he sees the young and innocent heroine he’s smitten.
She’s his sister’s flat mate and a nurse, and both suffers from insta lust.
The wife is a snob, spoiled, rich and bored. The hero married her for money and connection and now he’s living the life on the fast lane, thanks to her, but there’s obviously no love between them.
The hero clearly tries to make a pass on the heroine, who tries very feebly to resist, he will subsequently go to her flat and basically declare his ahem interest in her.
Because yes, AM would like us to believe the hero a serious and committed person, the truth is he’s the usual lecher who wants only an affair. The heroine is without moral even if he’s a virgin and the worse is that her mother was dumped years before for a younger and sexier model, and never recovered. She should stay very far from married man who dally with young virgins, but no, she wants him and is ready to have an affair with him. Just like that.
Because she loves him. What?
The hero tells her his sob story of course, of how his wife was pregnant and he was driving drunk and they had an accident so she lost her child and became sterile, then also became a junkie, so he doesn’t love her nor touch her but he can’t abandon her.
Here it goes.
And the heroine eat all his crap.
Because she’s and idiot.
What was amazing is that she has also two other men who would be ready to marry her in a minute, one is also the hero’s younger brother. Seems that every man she meets wants to marry her. Except the hero of course.
He’s the one that is always following her and the poor naive girl starts losing weight and fading away while he’s there, telling her he won’t marry her but they can have an affair. Because he’s such a lonely, serious man. And his duty is with his wife.
I didn’t understand the commitment to his wife, because she was actually a slut and a junkie. She has affairs with more than one man and doesn’t even hide them, she does drugs, the hard ones, and the hero feels responsible for her. Was he waiting for her to OD? Maybe, knowing AM. I was expecting it.
Then, just when it seems that the hero is going to divorce her and marry the heroine, the wife tells him she’s pregnant and causes a scene. The heroine believes her when she tells her the child is his, and well, a cheater has not much for himself so I cannot blame her for it. She leaves him and goes to a holiday with her mother but is always pining for the hero, what a bore.
Then she reads a gossip rag and finds out his wife died, and she comes back because he might need her.
No self respect here.
Eventually it turns out it was the father in law who lied and actually it was the wife who drove and crashed the car and no, she was never sterile. And the hero is now basically a monk living in a hut, so the heroine has to go back to him and take him back to life. Oh the romanticism.
The book is written in 1976, and is very progressive for that time and age. The hero and the heroine are some kind of Jane eyre snd mr Rochester. Marriage was still a serious affair so it’s possible that the hero had some kind of sense of responsibility for his wife, and as usual AM solves things in her way, that is killing her in the end.
I didn’t dislike it, because I understood that this is AM and it was many years ago, and she loved forbidden affair. But it may be a trigger for who doesn’t accept cheating.
The hero is married to the queen bitch, and as soon as he sees the young and innocent heroine he’s smitten.
She’s his sister’s flat mate and a nurse, and both suffers from insta lust.
The wife is a snob, spoiled, rich and bored. The hero married her for money and connection and now he’s living the life on the fast lane, thanks to her, but there’s obviously no love between them.
The hero clearly tries to make a pass on the heroine, who tries very feebly to resist, he will subsequently go to her flat and basically declare his ahem interest in her.
Because yes, AM would like us to believe the hero a serious and committed person, the truth is he’s the usual lecher who wants only an affair. The heroine is without moral even if he’s a virgin and the worse is that her mother was dumped years before for a younger and sexier model, and never recovered. She should stay very far from married man who dally with young virgins, but no, she wants him and is ready to have an affair with him. Just like that.
Because she loves him. What?
The hero tells her his sob story of course, of how his wife was pregnant and he was driving drunk and they had an accident so she lost her child and became sterile, then also became a junkie, so he doesn’t love her nor touch her but he can’t abandon her.
Here it goes.
And the heroine eat all his crap.
Because she’s and idiot.
What was amazing is that she has also two other men who would be ready to marry her in a minute, one is also the hero’s younger brother. Seems that every man she meets wants to marry her. Except the hero of course.
He’s the one that is always following her and the poor naive girl starts losing weight and fading away while he’s there, telling her he won’t marry her but they can have an affair. Because he’s such a lonely, serious man. And his duty is with his wife.
I didn’t understand the commitment to his wife, because she was actually a slut and a junkie. She has affairs with more than one man and doesn’t even hide them, she does drugs, the hard ones, and the hero feels responsible for her. Was he waiting for her to OD? Maybe, knowing AM. I was expecting it.
Then, just when it seems that the hero is going to divorce her and marry the heroine, the wife tells him she’s pregnant and causes a scene. The heroine believes her when she tells her the child is his, and well, a cheater has not much for himself so I cannot blame her for it. She leaves him and goes to a holiday with her mother but is always pining for the hero, what a bore.
Then she reads a gossip rag and finds out his wife died, and she comes back because he might need her.
No self respect here.
Eventually it turns out it was the father in law who lied and actually it was the wife who drove and crashed the car and no, she was never sterile. And the hero is now basically a monk living in a hut, so the heroine has to go back to him and take him back to life. Oh the romanticism.
The book is written in 1976, and is very progressive for that time and age. The hero and the heroine are some kind of Jane eyre snd mr Rochester. Marriage was still a serious affair so it’s possible that the hero had some kind of sense of responsibility for his wife, and as usual AM solves things in her way, that is killing her in the end.
I didn’t dislike it, because I understood that this is AM and it was many years ago, and she loved forbidden affair. But it may be a trigger for who doesn’t accept cheating.
August 15, 2014
So I know I marked it adultery but it was really an almost situation. They meet at his sister's wedding and can't seem to stay apart. It was a pretty instant thing. Real readable and you didn't hate him too bad. It all ended in a pretty predictable but happy way in the end.
August 22, 2012
It was a good book but I just expected more. I mean the end seemed so half ass and some of the loose ends annoyed me to no end. I love how the heroine got her man in the end but something so very crucial seemed to be missing from this novel.
June 23, 2021
Encontrar el amor en esas circunstancias es simplemente horrible, solo queda seguir el ejemplo de la protagonista correr, pero con ganas en serio y no solo hacer un intento, porque estar en un triángulo tóxico es simplemente inaceptable, terrible la verdad...
April 20, 2020
One of my favorites! Read it back when it was first published and did a revisit today!
not-interested-in-reading
June 27, 2022Did Not Read. Refuse to Read. Not My Cuppa. Hero was married and had no problem taking Heroine as a mistress. Nope. Nada. Nyet. No Way Jose. No Thanks!
June 30, 2023
HAIKU BOOK REVIEW: Come Running, by Anne Mather
Two cheaters get to
finally be together
after his wife dies.
Two cheaters get to
finally be together
after his wife dies.
February 14, 2021
"Θα μείνω κοντά σου" - Άνν Μάθερ, ΒΙΠΕΡ ΝΟΡΑ, νούμερο 51, έτος έκδοσης στην Ελλάδα: 1976.
Στα μεγάλα συν πέρα της ενδιαφέρουσας πλοκής, είναι και η εξαιρετική μετάφραση της Τασσώ Καββαδία.
Ένας απαγορευμένος έρωτας ενάντια σε κάθε λογική!!! ΜΟΥ ΑΡΕΣΕ ΠΑΡΑ ΠΟΛΎ!!!!
Στα μεγάλα συν πέρα της ενδιαφέρουσας πλοκής, είναι και η εξαιρετική μετάφραση της Τασσώ Καββαδία.
Ένας απαγορευμένος έρωτας ενάντια σε κάθε λογική!!! ΜΟΥ ΑΡΕΣΕ ΠΑΡΑ ΠΟΛΎ!!!!
September 30, 2014
Another intense emotional read by Anne Mather. A wonderful read from the 1970's not a lot of sex scenes but still some very emotional moments. Darrell is a kind caring girl looking for true love when she meets Matt at her BFF and roommate, Sarah's wedding. Matt is Sarah's older married brother. There is instant attraction between them which they both fight but still feel drawn to each other. Sarah and her new husband tragically die on the way to their honeymoon drawing Darrell and Matt closer together in grief. Both are still fighting against their love because it is wrong as he is married. The emotions they feel as they struggle against these unwanted feelings of love and guilt are so intense you can not help but be moved by them. Matt is locked into a loveless marriage due to misplaced guilt and has suffered for 5 long years. His love for Darrell and their unhappiness at being apart convince him to ask for a divorce. His wife makes a scene and leaves Darrell to feel shame and guilt so she runs away. They spend months apart missing each other until another tragedy and help from loved ones brings them together again. But can they overcome their sense of guilt to believe in their love? What an intense emotional rollercoaster read but still a great one!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews