الشريدة

by Violet Winspear, فيوليت وينسبير

The Strange Waif by Violet Winspear released on Jan 25, 1979 is available now for purchase.

Genres: Harlequin, Romance, Harlequin Presents, Contemporary Romance

157 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1962

About the author

Violet Winspear was a British author renowned for her prolific output of romance novels, publishing seventy titles with Mills & Boon between 1961 and 1987. In 1973, she became a launch author for the Mills & Boon-Harlequin Presents line, known for its more sexually explicit content, alongside Anne Mather and Anne Hampson, two of the most popular and prolific British romance writers of the time. Winspear began writing while working in a factory and became a full-time novelist in 1963, producing her works from her home in South East England, researching exotic settings at her local library. She famously described her heroes as lean, strong, and captivating, “in need of love but capable of breathtaking passion and potency,” a characterization that provoked controversy in 1970 when she stated that her male protagonists were “capable of rape,” leading to considerable public backlash. Her novels are celebrated for their vivid, globe-spanning settings and dramatic tension, often employing sexual antagonism to heighten conflict between the alpha male hero and the heroine, who is frequently portrayed as naïve or overwhelmed by his dominance. Winspear never married or had children, and she passed away in January 1989 after a long battle with cancer, leaving a lasting influence on the romance genre.

Reviews

[Rahaf Potrosh · Rating 3 out of 5]

لم تكن كما توقعتها أن تكون ولا كما اعتدت على قرائته من هذا النوع من الروايات ولكنها لم تكن سيئة
بالمجمل وجدتها فاصل لطيف وخفيف 😄😅

[Naksed · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was okay. The amnesia plot, as hokey as it was, was at least revealed in a clever way and at a good pace.

There is a bit of gothic mood established as the heroine shows up at a gloomy, ancient manor in the middle of the night with no idea of who she is except for her unusual name, Lygia. She wears sparkly shoes a few sizes too big and her ring finger looks marked even though the ring is missing. Who is this little waif with giganto violet eyes framed by black fern? A runaway wife? A con artist? A desperate girl down on her luck?

Added to that is a weird subplot that hints at reincarnation, at least that's the way I interpreted. Lots of talk about the hero being a descendant of ruthless English pirates of the Elizabethan period, having a streak or two of Spanish in him (in Violet Winspear's world, Spanish blood = Alpha hotness), being the reincarnated spirit of an ancient family portrait that gazes down at the heroine with the same hostile cynicism as the hero does. But no, we do not actually go the full supernatural route.

Enjoyable tidbits involve a super cute dog who unfortunately gets a thorn in his eye (aouch) and that the heroine rescues, a wise grandmother who is an active player in this intrigue, and thankfully very little of an unusually subdued OW (in VW's world, an OW who doesn't try to push the heroine down a cliff or scratch her face bloody is very subdued).

The conclusion was rather sweet but I was just not emotionally invested enough in the characters to melt at their happy denouement.

Not bad, but not the greatest of VW's extensive oeuvre.

[Jacqueline J · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know I read this one back in the 70s but I only vaguely remembered it as I read. Boy they wrote romances differently back in 1967. This one had a pretty gothic feel to it. There were five important characters, two men, two women and a grandmother. The other woman got a lot of page time with the hero, and she wasn't truly evil, just not a good match for the hero. The other man of course was decent and kind and really it would be fun to read about him meeting his heroine. The heroine, Lygia, was the waifiest of all waifs. But somehow even with limited face to face time with the hero, Robert, the heroine managed to be the only person who could ever match the tortured hero and bring him happiness. But somehow I just bought into the idea that the hero really loved her.

The book had a bit of a lyrical, misty quality and was an enjoyable read especially if you approached it as an interesting trip to the writing styles of the past.

[Margo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The H is the most tortured H I think I've ever read about, and that means something. Part of it is that he is an AC-TOR, with an AC-TOR's soul, which automatically increases the intensity. The h is OK, mysterious and stoic and vulnerable and strange and amnesic (I think that's the word), but this is all about the H getting past his terrible spiritual malaise. Glad I read it just because it's important to acknowledge the ones that set the standard, but I have no need to ever read it again.

[Omnya Ahmed · Rating 5 out of 5]

شعرت وكأنى انا البطله واحبب روبرت ..شخصيته وطريقته وتناقضه راق لى كثيرا احببته كثيرا اعلم انه شخصيه خياليه ولكن هذه الشخصيه الغامضه هى التى تجذبنى ف الواقع .. الورايه رائعه ♥♥

[Tia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was strange. Immediately you are so lost and confused you don't know which way is up nor down. We start off with the Chase cousins arguing over a girl that has amnesia but we have no clue who or how this girl came to be. She seems very sucky and wary. The story wasn't fluent at all and at the end I was still confused about a lot of things even though the story was apparently "sorted out" I just don't know what to think..

[Eman · Rating 5 out of 5]

لقد أحببتها بشده و أعدت قرائتها أكثر من مرة أعجبنى فيها تعمق الكاتبة فى نفسيات البطل بطريقة مثيرة بحيث توجه أنظارنا الى نفسية أطفالنا كما أنها تعرضت لموضوع شائك و هو زواج وريث عائلة ثرية من فتاة فقيرة ككل الرومانسيين من قبلها

[Alsanea · Rating 5 out of 5]

أحببتها كثيراً

[تَسْنيمٌ الأزرق · Rating 1 out of 5]

لأكن صادقة لا اعرف عن الكاتب الكثير,ولم يسبق لي ان قرت له...
و ليس هذ النوع من المحتوى الذي أفضل....
الرواية قصيرة بالنسبة لي من 155 ص تقريبا..
القصة قصيرة ومحدودة...و تقليدية جدا لا شئ مثير...
فتاة فاقدة للذاكرة...بعض الرومانسيات...شخصيات مملة لا تثري أبدا..و حبكة مقلدة....
ليس لدي شئ لقوله...شعرت بأنها مسرحية...
الشئ الوحيد الذي أحببت...انها رواية تثير خياالك...هناك اشياء كثيرة و أماكن و مواقف تستثير خياالك لترسم لها صورة في مخيلتك..
فقط لا غير...

[Jay.FB · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very 70s romance novella. I needed the sweet break from my currently reading books (Dostoyevsky’s and the clockwork orange)

I loved the mix of romance and mystery, but because the novel is less than 200 pages I felt as if it’s rushed. All in all, it’s a good 3 star book.

[Safa · Rating 3 out of 5]

البطل كان أكبر مقلب في القصة

[RomLibrary]

It annoyed Doctor Avery Chase to hear his cousin Robert denounce as a phoney the frightened young girl found late one night sitting on the doorstep of Chase, the family home on the edge of the Devon moors.

But Robert was convinced that the girl who said she thought her name was Lygia was acting the part of a person who had lost her memory just to see what she could get out of the wealthy Avery.

Lygia was tormented by her inability to remember, but the sole clue to her identity seemed to be the mark of a ring on the third finger of her left hand; a mark which Lygia noted with some misgiving.

[Abdelaziz · Rating 3 out of 5]

لمست اشياء بداخلى أكثر مما توقعت

[Amal Hassine]

...

[Enas Alsayed]

كيف اقرأ الكتاب؟؟
من اى موضع؟؟