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Σε Παλιά Μονοπάτια - Χρυσά Άρλεκιν #74
Ο ρόλος της Ροζαλίντα στο έργο "Όπως αγαπάτε" του Σαίξπηρ, ήταν μια στιγμή που πάντα περίμενε η Ιμογένη. Ιδιαίτερα μάλιστα γιατί θα ήταν η πρώτη φορά που θα δούλευε χωρίς την ασφυκτική επίβλεψη του πατέρα της, του διάσημου σκηνοθέτη Τζέραρντ Άντερ.
Όταν όμως άρχισαν οι πρόβες, διαπίστωσε με τρόμο πως σκηνοθέτης ήταν ο Νατ Μπομόν, ο άνθρωπος στον οποίο είχε χαρίσει την καρδιά της, για να τη δει να κομματιάζεται από τη σκληρή του στάση. Θα μπορούσε η Ιμογένη να αντισταθεί στη γοητεία του, δουλεύοντας καθημερινά μαζί του;
Όταν όμως άρχισαν οι πρόβες, διαπίστωσε με τρόμο πως σκηνοθέτης ήταν ο Νατ Μπομόν, ο άνθρωπος στον οποίο είχε χαρίσει την καρδιά της, για να τη δει να κομματιάζεται από τη σκληρή του στάση. Θα μπορούσε η Ιμογένη να αντισταθεί στη γοητεία του, δουλεύοντας καθημερινά μαζί του;
160 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1982
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
December 7, 2017
So a quick summary:
The H and h had whirlwind courtship and wedding, she is an actress and he directs. He is also her famed actor father's most hated nemesis. He wants her to dump everything and go with him to Australia.
She is worried about leaving her dad as he has a drinking problem and she had been caring for him for years. She doesn't tell the H this and he accuses her of being a daddy's girl and walks out. She decides to go with the H and when she goes home to tell him, finds him partying with another lady. (He pulled another woman to shag in a fit of petulance)
Well that idear is over, so she goes on with her life without the H, thinking he just used and abandoned her. 3-4 Years later they meet up when her dad is on tour and he is the substitute director in the As You Like It.
They fight a bunch, have dinner with the lady who consoled him before he left the h and then her cat dies and her dad dies on the same day right before the big play finale. The H wants the h back by this point, but she has found out that her father hid the H's letters to her asking her to come be with him. She is fairly furious and goes off to be by on her own.
The H then tells the entire world in a TV interview that they are married and she is starring in his next miniseries. Big HEA with a dog but no cat, although they will get one in the future.
I like this book cause the h seems to be just a doormat on the surface but is actually really strong like Rosalind in the play. I cried when Poseidon the cat died and loved the ending. One of my favorites, except I would have cheerfully poisoned the H and kept Pos, the cat alive - he was the best and his death got it downgraded.
The H and h had whirlwind courtship and wedding, she is an actress and he directs. He is also her famed actor father's most hated nemesis. He wants her to dump everything and go with him to Australia.
She is worried about leaving her dad as he has a drinking problem and she had been caring for him for years. She doesn't tell the H this and he accuses her of being a daddy's girl and walks out. She decides to go with the H and when she goes home to tell him, finds him partying with another lady. (He pulled another woman to shag in a fit of petulance)
Well that idear is over, so she goes on with her life without the H, thinking he just used and abandoned her. 3-4 Years later they meet up when her dad is on tour and he is the substitute director in the As You Like It.
They fight a bunch, have dinner with the lady who consoled him before he left the h and then her cat dies and her dad dies on the same day right before the big play finale. The H wants the h back by this point, but she has found out that her father hid the H's letters to her asking her to come be with him. She is fairly furious and goes off to be by on her own.
The H then tells the entire world in a TV interview that they are married and she is starring in his next miniseries. Big HEA with a dog but no cat, although they will get one in the future.
I like this book cause the h seems to be just a doormat on the surface but is actually really strong like Rosalind in the play. I cried when Poseidon the cat died and loved the ending. One of my favorites, except I would have cheerfully poisoned the H and kept Pos, the cat alive - he was the best and his death got it downgraded.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 8, 2016
This is one of my favorite second chance romances and it held up well to a re-read. This was published in 1982 and I found it amusing that the actress heroine is agog that the Prince and Princes of Wales are attending a charity event where her actor father is performing. Her estranged director husband is also there having just returned from Australia after a three year absence. To further the tension, no one knows they are married since their short marriage only lasted six weeks or so.
Her possessive father (and cause of trouble in their marriage) is off to America and H/h have ample contact time since it turns out he is going direct As You Like It with the h playing Rosalind. There's lots of tension. The hero is cold to the heroine for awhile, but she holds up nicely. There are things she won't tell him about her father and he won't admit to behaving badly before he left for Australia, but they manage to make a success of the play. There's also a documentary being filmed about the hero, so the entire cast will also be on TV eventually.
After many encounters they remember what they liked about each other and they end up in bed together. It seems that it's all going to work out and then
This is just a sweet story, with some strong minor characters. The heroine is a character of integrity and strength. The hero was crazy about her. There is a hint that the hero was not faithful during their separation, but the hero says no. I believed him and so did the heroine. Whatever happened, they're together now.
Her possessive father (and cause of trouble in their marriage) is off to America and H/h have ample contact time since it turns out he is going direct As You Like It with the h playing Rosalind. There's lots of tension. The hero is cold to the heroine for awhile, but she holds up nicely. There are things she won't tell him about her father and he won't admit to behaving badly before he left for Australia, but they manage to make a success of the play. There's also a documentary being filmed about the hero, so the entire cast will also be on TV eventually.
After many encounters they remember what they liked about each other and they end up in bed together. It seems that it's all going to work out and then
This is just a sweet story, with some strong minor characters. The heroine is a character of integrity and strength. The hero was crazy about her. There is a hint that the hero was not faithful during their separation, but the hero says no. I believed him and so did the heroine. Whatever happened, they're together now.
March 1, 2017
I have to agree with everyone else... Why the heck did
Anyhow all that aside, I couldn't help feeling important plot points were rather distantly conveyed. For example, her father who plays such a large role in their separation is never actually seen at all. Nevertheless, it was a good story and I liked all of the characters.
Anyhow all that aside, I couldn't help feeling important plot points were rather distantly conveyed. For example, her father who plays such a large role in their separation is never actually seen at all. Nevertheless, it was a good story and I liked all of the characters.
March 3, 2022
3/3/22 cover info edit: Hqn by Len Goldberg—does anyone do the sophisticated man in a suit better? Rocco Tedesco—the M&B cover artist has a way with suits too although he's sooo brilliant with environmental details in general that the hero's outfit can sometimes be overlooked.
The Trodden Paths is another story where the heroine is an actress playing Rosalind from As You Like It, (see Force Field for another) and I was so determined to re-read this I tracked down a paper copy—I'm certain I was once able to work paper books but I really struggle with the technology now—even the thought has me reaching for the hand lotion. It was absolutely worth it though because The Trodden Paths is everything a Harley should be. The plot isn't groundbreaking: a second chance story where H and h have grievances which like most problems in Harleyland can be explained and forgiven with the help of a few added years of maturity and the coming to light of previously unknown facts.
Their whirlwind courtship and six week marriage was so brief that when they meet again three years later they're basically still in the honeymoon/can't keep their hands off each other phase of physical awareness and so the sexual tension between them is palpable. But after the standard—forcefully persuasive, prove he can still make her want him kiss—the tension is just left to build and build because JG is about to let these two fall into bed together until they get the sarcastic comments and bitter silences out of their systems and admit (though not explicitly to each other yet) that they're still in love.
Sadly AYLI isn't used to much effect. There are only a few scenes where H imparts some directorial wisdom mainly regarding how to play the cross dressing scenes in AYLI and how one can indeed mistake a girl for boy—which he did the first time he saw the h.
The Trodden Paths is another story where the heroine is an actress playing Rosalind from As You Like It, (see Force Field for another) and I was so determined to re-read this I tracked down a paper copy—I'm certain I was once able to work paper books but I really struggle with the technology now—even the thought has me reaching for the hand lotion. It was absolutely worth it though because The Trodden Paths is everything a Harley should be. The plot isn't groundbreaking: a second chance story where H and h have grievances which like most problems in Harleyland can be explained and forgiven with the help of a few added years of maturity and the coming to light of previously unknown facts.
Their whirlwind courtship and six week marriage was so brief that when they meet again three years later they're basically still in the honeymoon/can't keep their hands off each other phase of physical awareness and so the sexual tension between them is palpable. But after the standard—forcefully persuasive, prove he can still make her want him kiss—the tension is just left to build and build because JG is about to let these two fall into bed together until they get the sarcastic comments and bitter silences out of their systems and admit (though not explicitly to each other yet) that they're still in love.
Sadly AYLI isn't used to much effect. There are only a few scenes where H imparts some directorial wisdom mainly regarding how to play the cross dressing scenes in AYLI and how one can indeed mistake a girl for boy—which he did the first time he saw the h.
January 17, 2021
I don’t know what the writer was smoking towards the end of the story. I mean: WTF??
The h’s cat dies, probably poisoned. The h acts as if nothing happened. Actually why did her cat have to die, Jacqueline Gilbert? What was the point? It just made no sense and as a reader expecting a romantic HP novel, you are suddenly confronted with the horrible death of an innocent pet.
Then a few pages later her father dies. Again the h acts as if nothing happened.
What made me dislike this book even more is that the H is not denying (or admitting) that he cheated with that Zoe woman. There’s never an explanation given for the fact that Zoe was in his apartment wearing his bathrobe. I think he cheated on her.
The h’s cat dies, probably poisoned. The h acts as if nothing happened. Actually why did her cat have to die, Jacqueline Gilbert? What was the point? It just made no sense and as a reader expecting a romantic HP novel, you are suddenly confronted with the horrible death of an innocent pet.
Then a few pages later her father dies. Again the h acts as if nothing happened.
What made me dislike this book even more is that the H is not denying (or admitting) that he cheated with that Zoe woman. There’s never an explanation given for the fact that Zoe was in his apartment wearing his bathrobe. I think he cheated on her.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 16, 2017
So very sad *sniff*
Read
March 22, 2022I don’t know how to rate this because the rating hinges entirely on whether he cheated or not.
If he did cheat with Zoe after their big fight he was pretty damn blasé about it. But to me it was a very big deal – they were married and they had a big fight, and then he just shags someone after getting drunk. Nuh-ah. No way. Shows complete lack of integrity, morals. etc. It’s completely despicable.
But if he didn’t cheat, then she was pretty high maintenance and he was long-suffering. I mean she really gave him the run-around, first with her stifling relationship with her father, and then later when the hero was trying to win her back.
Urgh. I hate it when an author tortures the reader by making the cheating opaque. Did he or didn’t he?
And killing the cat was just awful. Who would poison a cat for God’s sake? I get that cats can get run-over sadly, but to deliberately kill it was twisted. It’s funny that I could cope with someone trying to finish off a cruel hero or the OW, but animals are sacrosanct!
If he did cheat with Zoe after their big fight he was pretty damn blasé about it. But to me it was a very big deal – they were married and they had a big fight, and then he just shags someone after getting drunk. Nuh-ah. No way. Shows complete lack of integrity, morals. etc. It’s completely despicable.
But if he didn’t cheat, then she was pretty high maintenance and he was long-suffering. I mean she really gave him the run-around, first with her stifling relationship with her father, and then later when the hero was trying to win her back.
Urgh. I hate it when an author tortures the reader by making the cheating opaque. Did he or didn’t he?
And killing the cat was just awful. Who would poison a cat for God’s sake? I get that cats can get run-over sadly, but to deliberately kill it was twisted. It’s funny that I could cope with someone trying to finish off a cruel hero or the OW, but animals are sacrosanct!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 24, 2023
Interesting that it ends with in the last paragraph - bc the fantasy of perfect understanding isn't achieved - or the point is that it's not necessary or desirable?
May 3, 2023
As a romance it's quite tame. As a story of a girl finding out who she is it's quite interesting.
Imogen is a curious character. She's so level-headed, so self-possessed, so stable, yet so illogical, so whimsical and so unreasonable.
No wonder she needs time after her father's death and finding out the truth about the past to test her own feelings.
Nevertheless, I must say her pet's death is completely unnecessary, her father's addiction is questionable and the separation towards the end is mind-baffling.
Imogen is a curious character. She's so level-headed, so self-possessed, so stable, yet so illogical, so whimsical and so unreasonable.
No wonder she needs time after her father's death and finding out the truth about the past to test her own feelings.
Nevertheless, I must say her pet's death is completely unnecessary, her father's addiction is questionable and the separation towards the end is mind-baffling.
dnf
June 16, 2017It's not you it's me :|
I kinda believed his denial of infidelity though!
I kinda believed his denial of infidelity though!
June 18, 2025
A great read on the typical well loved style of years gone by.
October 14, 2025
I'm giving this an extra star because I liked all the behind-the-scenes stuff at the theatre, that was really entertaining, making you feel like you're part of the process from the beginning.
As for the story, as seems to be the case with this author, she lets too many weak points get by when she should be giving them strength. The h's father was too possessive, wanting the h to stay a daddy's girl her whole life, but I don't think it was necessary to have him die in a plane crash for the h to achieve her independence. (She was on the verge of that anyway, with her decision to resume her marriage to the H, even though she was putting it off until her father came back from his American tour.)
It was also too much to have the h find out her father was killed on the same day her beloved pet cat was poisoned (never explained, BTW), which was also the day of her final performance as Rosalind in "As You Like It", that her father was supposed to attend. I know, "The show must go on!", but that was damned ridiculous!
I also didn't like the h going into martyr mode, first keeping the H at a distance because of the animosity there had been between the H and her father during their short marriage (she didn't want to be around him while she grieved because it felt wrong), then after finding out her father had hid letters the H had sent her after their separation (he didn't read them, just didn't give them to her and for some reason kept rather than dumped them), she felt she couldn't be around him out of guilt at what her father had done. It got to be too much! First, she felt the H's trying to comfort her would be insincere, then she felt his loving her would be insincere, because how could he possibly still care knowing what her father had done?
ENOUGH!! This h didn't know when to get off the melodrama stage!
As for the H, if he had been more patient when they got married (after one of those whirlwind romances) instead of getting angry and telling her to choose between coming to Australia with him and staying in the acting company with her father, she wouldn't have felt so compelled to pick being a daughter over wife. Worse, when she changes her mind and goes to see him, she finds him asleep in bed and another woman there en deshabille. He never actually says what did or didn't happen, first implies that they did the deed, then later that he was too drunk to do anything. He just told her this "OW" (now happily married) was a friend, just like the OM was only a friend to the h (also her leading man in the play), but she and the OM dated casually, and she let him kiss her.
But he seemed to like the idea of letting her think he had played around, because when they meet again after three years (he's the director of the play) he tells her it suits him to remain legally married as it keeps women from getting any ideas that he wants more than a casual affair. He never says whether or not he had any affairs, but it's obvious he wanted the h to be bothered by the fact, so he wasn't above playing games. (Meanwhile, he sure was bothered by the OM.)
It's interesting to note that this author tends to make the OM in her books the carefree, happily single type, hoping to be more than a friend to the h but accepting that it won't happen, with no harm to his heart. I like that, rather than have him be in love with her and then get hurt.
As for the OW, it's another interesting note that she was in another novel ("Scorpio Summer"), where she was the roommate of the h in that story. She also got engaged at the end of the book, and in this one she and her husband socialize with the theater crowd. They're happily married, and if she and her husband were at the same party with the married man that she had a fling with as well as his wife, wouldn't she have been at least a tad uncomfortable? Judging by her calm demeanor, either nothing (or nothing much) happened or else she has a jaded outlook, and that certainly wasn't the case in the other book.
Anyway, the "fling" happened a year before she met her hubby, so at least that's in her favor. The rest the author leaves up to the reader, I guess.
Where she goofed up was in having the father killed. Instead, she should have had him live, finally accept that not only was the h talented in her own right, but that she had a right to her own life, and accept the H as her husband, even if they're never at a stage where they're friends. (And have him apologize for the letters.)
And I think I've cleared up a mystery that's bothered other readers (me included). Why did the cat (whom the h loved since he was a kitten) have to die? I think it was because the cat had never taken to the H, seemed to resent him in fact, kind of symbolic of her father. Having them both get killed was a way of saying the obstacles are gone, now there's no one but themselves standing in the way of getting back together.
A bit extreme, however. Why have the cat poisoned? That was never explained, and the h didn't even make an effort to find out how it happened. And why not have the cat have a change of heart and start to at least tolerate the H, instead?
And because of all the delays in the two of them getting back together, when it does happen (even though the author found a good way to bring that about) it just fell flat.
And once again (just like in "Scorpio Summer"), the H ends up in a car accident. Someone threw a rock at his window, and he ended up coming to a party with his arm covered in blood! He needed some stitches and a sling, which isn't as bad as being temporarily blind (the H in "S.S.") but COME ON!!! Does Ms. Gilbert have a thing for men who get into car smashes??? Well, whatever turns you on, I guess but still WEIRD!!!
Wouldn't it have made more sense if the H had been in a car accident while they were separated, maybe have it that instead of the thinking he hooked up with the OW, she went to see him, discovered he wasn't living there anymore and finds out he left for another country, so she thinks he's making a new start without her when meanwhile he went somewhere for the best rehab care. Meanwhile, later on he thought she knew about the accident but didn't care enough to get in touch, or something along these lines.
Once again, I find myself wishing I could write the story, instead.
As for the story, as seems to be the case with this author, she lets too many weak points get by when she should be giving them strength. The h's father was too possessive, wanting the h to stay a daddy's girl her whole life, but I don't think it was necessary to have him die in a plane crash for the h to achieve her independence. (She was on the verge of that anyway, with her decision to resume her marriage to the H, even though she was putting it off until her father came back from his American tour.)
It was also too much to have the h find out her father was killed on the same day her beloved pet cat was poisoned (never explained, BTW), which was also the day of her final performance as Rosalind in "As You Like It", that her father was supposed to attend. I know, "The show must go on!", but that was damned ridiculous!
I also didn't like the h going into martyr mode, first keeping the H at a distance because of the animosity there had been between the H and her father during their short marriage (she didn't want to be around him while she grieved because it felt wrong), then after finding out her father had hid letters the H had sent her after their separation (he didn't read them, just didn't give them to her and for some reason kept rather than dumped them), she felt she couldn't be around him out of guilt at what her father had done. It got to be too much! First, she felt the H's trying to comfort her would be insincere, then she felt his loving her would be insincere, because how could he possibly still care knowing what her father had done?
ENOUGH!! This h didn't know when to get off the melodrama stage!
As for the H, if he had been more patient when they got married (after one of those whirlwind romances) instead of getting angry and telling her to choose between coming to Australia with him and staying in the acting company with her father, she wouldn't have felt so compelled to pick being a daughter over wife. Worse, when she changes her mind and goes to see him, she finds him asleep in bed and another woman there en deshabille. He never actually says what did or didn't happen, first implies that they did the deed, then later that he was too drunk to do anything. He just told her this "OW" (now happily married) was a friend, just like the OM was only a friend to the h (also her leading man in the play), but she and the OM dated casually, and she let him kiss her.
But he seemed to like the idea of letting her think he had played around, because when they meet again after three years (he's the director of the play) he tells her it suits him to remain legally married as it keeps women from getting any ideas that he wants more than a casual affair. He never says whether or not he had any affairs, but it's obvious he wanted the h to be bothered by the fact, so he wasn't above playing games. (Meanwhile, he sure was bothered by the OM.)
It's interesting to note that this author tends to make the OM in her books the carefree, happily single type, hoping to be more than a friend to the h but accepting that it won't happen, with no harm to his heart. I like that, rather than have him be in love with her and then get hurt.
As for the OW, it's another interesting note that she was in another novel ("Scorpio Summer"), where she was the roommate of the h in that story. She also got engaged at the end of the book, and in this one she and her husband socialize with the theater crowd. They're happily married, and if she and her husband were at the same party with the married man that she had a fling with as well as his wife, wouldn't she have been at least a tad uncomfortable? Judging by her calm demeanor, either nothing (or nothing much) happened or else she has a jaded outlook, and that certainly wasn't the case in the other book.
Anyway, the "fling" happened a year before she met her hubby, so at least that's in her favor. The rest the author leaves up to the reader, I guess.
Where she goofed up was in having the father killed. Instead, she should have had him live, finally accept that not only was the h talented in her own right, but that she had a right to her own life, and accept the H as her husband, even if they're never at a stage where they're friends. (And have him apologize for the letters.)
And I think I've cleared up a mystery that's bothered other readers (me included). Why did the cat (whom the h loved since he was a kitten) have to die? I think it was because the cat had never taken to the H, seemed to resent him in fact, kind of symbolic of her father. Having them both get killed was a way of saying the obstacles are gone, now there's no one but themselves standing in the way of getting back together.
A bit extreme, however. Why have the cat poisoned? That was never explained, and the h didn't even make an effort to find out how it happened. And why not have the cat have a change of heart and start to at least tolerate the H, instead?
And because of all the delays in the two of them getting back together, when it does happen (even though the author found a good way to bring that about) it just fell flat.
And once again (just like in "Scorpio Summer"), the H ends up in a car accident. Someone threw a rock at his window, and he ended up coming to a party with his arm covered in blood! He needed some stitches and a sling, which isn't as bad as being temporarily blind (the H in "S.S.") but COME ON!!! Does Ms. Gilbert have a thing for men who get into car smashes??? Well, whatever turns you on, I guess but still WEIRD!!!
Wouldn't it have made more sense if the H had been in a car accident while they were separated, maybe have it that instead of the thinking he hooked up with the OW, she went to see him, discovered he wasn't living there anymore and finds out he left for another country, so she thinks he's making a new start without her when meanwhile he went somewhere for the best rehab care. Meanwhile, later on he thought she knew about the accident but didn't care enough to get in touch, or something along these lines.
Once again, I find myself wishing I could write the story, instead.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 13, 2014
ahh I loved this book... its so sweet.. I dont usually read about married couples meeting again... but ahh its an old fashioned tender romance full of misunderstandings and just loveliness... im all aglow
October 4, 2023
I liked this but the H didn't show enough interest in the h in the beginning to middle. If the h thought H had cheered I think she should have showed more anger. They never did discuss why she wanted to wait to join him in Australia. I really liked the theater setting. I found it interesting that in this book there was no "break a leg". They all said Good luck. Didn't realize that was American theater.
pback-to-read
November 13, 2020In the three years that had passed since she had last seen Nat Beaumont, Imogen had had plenty of time to think about their relationship.
Had it been her fault that they had broken up - or was her father at the bottom of it? And how would she cope now that she was being forced into Nat's company again?
Had it been her fault that they had broken up - or was her father at the bottom of it? And how would she cope now that she was being forced into Nat's company again?
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews