Сцена на любовта

by Judith Michael, Джудит Майкъл, Елена Павлова (Translator)

Отраснал с баба си - прочутата актриса Констанс Бернхард, Лукъс Камерън е възпитан в любов и преклонение пред изкуството на сцената. Това го превръща в един от най-успелите нюйоркски театрални режисьори, докато смъртта на баба му не го връща обратно към първите дни на увлечението му в нейната къща в Италия.
Там той открива цялата й кореспонденция с младата и обещаваща актриса Джесика Фонтейн, чиято кариера е внезапно прекъсната от жесток инцидент. Впечатлен от мъдростта и живия й език, Камерън решава, че трябва да я открие. Неочаквано това запознанство се превръща в най-големия триумф в кариерата му.

Genres: Romance, Fiction, Contemporary Romance, Contemporary, Adult Fiction, Drama, Novels

288 pages, Paperback

First published December 12, 1991

About the author

Judith Michael is the pen name of husband/wife team Judith Barnard (b. 1934) and Michael Fain (b. 1937).

Reviews

[Marcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the first romance books I've read. The kind you randomly picked up from the bookshelf in your house, start to read out of boredom and unexpectedly loved.

I can still remember I started reading this on a New Year's eve while waiting for my sister to come home so we can start preparing for the New Year's celebration. This book has a nostalgic feel to it and every time I look back to that December of 2008, I can remember feeling the warmth brought by the extraordinary love presented in this book.

I loved the unusuality of the story of romance, how Luke fell in love with Jessica through her letters to Constance - Luke's grandmother - that he has read when Constance died. He found the box full of Jessica's letters when he was looking through her grandmother's stuff and one by one, he read them and developed a special connection to her as he got to know her through her letters.

Jessica was a famous theater actress and after a train accident, everybody believed her to be dead. Through the letters, Luke found out that she isn't and out of the growing affection he has developed for Jessica, he started looking for her. Luke went to Sydney.

When he found her, he introduced himself and Jessica tried to shut him out because she was trying to build a new simple life for herself far away from her past. Luke couldn't understand himself but he wanted to stay and so he did. He continued to love her despite all her insecurities of the physical flaws she has acquired from the accident.

This was a very powerful and extraordinary story of love. I will definitely give it 5 stars basing from the time I finished reading it, and I'm pretty sure I'd still give it the same rating if I read it again.

[Elena · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book and found it very unusual. People said that it is a "light read/romance novel", but i really did not find this to be a romance novel (at least not the typical sappy romance i'm used to) > characters had depth, the plot was interesting, there were numerous themes expolored, etc...

When i started reading, i assumed it was a regular romance novel with the mandatory happy ever after, however the heroine was handicapped physically and emotionally, the hero got to know her through her letters to someone else and overall it got off to a slow start, so i almost wanted to put it down unfinished, thinking it would be a boring romance novel. The book turned out to be more of a "drama" than a romance, with loveable characters, good plot, lots of developement...

I think it is definitely more of a serious read than beach fluff...

[Laura Naro Reuther · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful love story, sad though, so much time wasted.
A great insight into the makings of a play. I rather enjoyed that quite a bit.

[Rania yousife · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am sorry, but this is not my type. Just NO!!

First, I feel like mentioning that I have bought this book merely because I was mistaken her name with another author.

While reading this, all I was thinking about was:
1. How am I living my life.
2.Why am I torturing myself reading something I don't even like?
3. I would die before even finishing this!! " But of course, thanks to the Almighty, I managed so.

What I did:
1. 56% , or less, reading it by heart.
2.10% spacing out, and thinking about like in general.
3. the remaining, which is 34%, scheming and passing my eyes through the words, literally. Which is the most scheming I have ever done to any book. That is how disinterested I was about the book.

Lets jump to what the book is about:
Lucas Cameron is a successful director. His beloved grandmother dies. While going to Italy to finalize his grandmother's death (not sure how to write that properly), he finds his grandma's will. He also finds letters from the famous actress, Jessica something ( Sorry, I forgot her Sir-name), who no one know where she is. He reads them and find out that she is not the Jessica he met once in a party. He keeps reading her correspondences with his grandmother, leading him to grow feelings for her,then seeking for her.

I don't want to go deeply through the characters because , honestly, I was not paying attention to them. My only concern was for me to reach the last page. So I will be brief.

First of all, Luck is very patient toward Jessica. He keeps up with her temper and encourages her to peruse her dreams even though she declared that she no longer feel like being an actress; since she is "ugly" and "crippled".

While, Jessica keeps being angry at Lucas ,Luck, for bringing up the idea of going back to New York. I believe that she is also angry at herself for being the way she is now. But towards the story, she ,makes peace with the idea and things happen which leading her to discover new life causing her to face new opportunities she never thought about.

It might have been because I was thinking of other books while reading this, a book affair I can say. And, as I said, because I was mistaken her of another Judith. Sorry!!

[Carol · Rating 2 out of 5]

Written by husband and wife team of JUDITH Barnard and MICHAEL Fain to get Judith Michael. These are my notes, you can read book description elsewhere. Story of young actress Jessica Fontaine and older actress Constance Bernhardt who developed a close friendship that lasted years and Constance's grandson, Lucas Cameron who was a New York City director in the theater. Jessica had a tragic train accident and she went into hiding. After Constance died, Lucas read the letters Jessica wrote to Constance over the years and fell in love with her and since his grandmother left plays for Jessica, Lucas went to Washington State to deliver the plays to her and stayed a week where they fell in love but. . . Jessica couldn't go to New York when Lucas returned there so she went to Australia to direct a play,her first. Lucas kept in touch but Jessica had things to prove. She found the play Journey's End and worked hard on it but at the last moment, the star had to go back to the states to be with her sick husband so Jessica did the part and did it well. Course Lucas had arrived to see her play and they will live happily ever after! Even if the end was predictable, it was a good book. I really like how the authors went into details on items.

[Jessica Brockmole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Luke Cameron, a famous Broadway director, finds a box of letter written to his beloved grandmother by her protogee, Jessica Fontaine, who had disappeared from a successful stage career after a devestating train accident. Luke reads the letters and, falling in love with Jessica, sets out to find her and return her to the stage.

I was very uncertain of this book at first. I thought the author to be overzealous in her use of details. Really, who cares what Luke's butler leaves for him to eat as a midnight snack or what color place mats Luke chooses to set the table with? I almost put the book down a few times in the beginning.

But when I got to the second half of the book, I suddenly couldn't put it down and I was glad that I stuck it out. The story became very compelling, the characters fragile, the writing elegant and emotional.

If you can wade through the excessive details in the beginning of the book, you won't be sorry.

[Thelma Long · Rating 4 out of 5]

The wonderful thing about the heroine in this book is that she's not exactly beautiful in a conventional way and there are other things about her that may be off-putting, for instance she's something of a recluse and certainly not ready or interested in a relationship. But this beautiful story shows that love is really about whats in the heart and not about the alabastar globes or flowing blonde hair

[Sandy Forman-Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

very slow read but well worth it

[Sharon Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts slow but by the end you are part of their story. Loved it

[Sayantani Dasgupta · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don’t know how and when this book landed in my home in Delhi but I finally got around to reading it this time. It’s written by a husband-wife duo, which seems like an impossibility in itself. How do they agree on what to write, and most importantly, how to write? I enjoyed that one third of the book is set in the world of Broadway, something I know nothing about. I loved the fact that for a while the story moves to Lopez Island, WA, a part of the world I’ve been to and love deeply. It was that much more meaningful reading about it sitting in India. However, all the main characters were fabulously wealthy and enormously talented and lived in impeccable, palatial homes and that made me want to stop reading many times.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lucas Cameron, un exitoso director de teatro en Broadway, ha perdido a su abuela, la persona que lo crió después de la muerte de sus padres y la única que ama en el mundo. Al revisar sus pertenencias, descubre una caja con cartas entre su abuela y Jessica Fontaine, una famosa actriz, desaparecida de los escenarios desde hace años. Descubre la íntima relación entre ambas y le llama la atención lo que pasó con ella, por qué desapareció, así que decide buscarla y comienza una historia entre ambos donde él tiene un papel muy importante en ayudarla a rescatar lo que más ama, el teatro.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful love story but it took them a lifetime to get together! An actress & a director, brought together through a death & some letters. Jessica was a very famous actress,then she was involved in a terrible accident that sent her into hiding for many years. Lucas’s grandma dies only to leave a box of letters behind that he reads. He must find her....does he? What happens when he first sees her? You must read it all to find out.

[Susan Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is so forgettable! I had read it prior but forgotten it. I kept thinking... I have read this! I have kept reading logs for years, so I looked back. And sure enough..... I had read it in 2016! Not one of my favorites!

[Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story line combined with theater.

[Georgetowner · Rating 1 out of 5]

What I liked best about this book was it's brevity, which is the only thing that kept it from being painful. I only finished it because I was listening to the audio book while commuting.

[David]

Letteratura americana

[Dulcinea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good. Mostly a light read.

[Bradley Brill · Rating 4 out of 5]

A compelling story for a 'romance' genre production.

[Carol Gibbons · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute love story but too long to get to the end.

[Lucia · Rating 4 out of 5]

And nothing feels like a book given by a dearest friend, who utterly knows your heart and its calls

[Caroline Berner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picking up a Judith Michel novel to re-read is like visiting with an old friend. Light read, perfect for the holiday season.

[Sandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not your typical love story, but what a wonderful story. How original!

[Olga Godim]

DNF at 45%
I wanted to like this book, but I couldn’t. I abandoned it almost half-way in. It is summarized as a love story, but so far, no love of any kind manifested. In the part that I read, the book told a story of a rich and powerful man, a top Broadway theatre director, Luke Cameron.
Luke doesn’t love anyone, doesn’t really care about anyone. At 40+ he is self-absorbed and bitter, jaded by his success and money and disdainful towards anyone who has less than he does. He is also having a midlife crisis, but I couldn’t bring myself to sympathize with him. Everything is too easy for him, so his wallowing in self-pity left me unmoved.
There is the second part of the story, which might be a better one, as its female protagonist has real problems, but I couldn’t continue with the novel. I had to stop before I expired from tedium at the book’s endless descriptions of gilded furniture and Italian villas.
The dialog is also bad. Nobody I know talks like the characters in this book, in long, winded diatribes, stilted and quasi-sophisticated.
Besides, not much happened in the plot. Of course, it is lit fic, so not much is supposed to happen, but I got bored with so much nothingness.
Definitely not for me.

[J. V. Belisle · Rating 4 out of 5]

*4 stars*

A slow and long, but beautiful and inspirational story. It took me three months to get through because I just wasn't motivated enough to finish it. But finally, in the third "act" of the story, I was fully connected to the characters and wanted to see them have a happy ending. The second "act" was when I first truly became intrigued and we met Jessica, so I trudged on, interested in her story. Lots of beautiful descriptions, and it was a comforting story. It also had so much dialog. Most of the story was told through characters' conversations (often random arguments that got solved or moved on from immediately) and descriptions of the scenery. So if you're looking for a long and very slow-moving story, this is the one. I may read it again, in years down the road when I've forgotten what it's about. But it was unique and I enjoyed the main characters (especially Hermione). Some of the spacing was confusing with paragraphs jumping ahead in time with no warning or no extra space between paragraphs. And with the characters thoughts, it was either in italics or like this: I don't know what to do, thought Luke. So a bit confusing, especially with the story being in third person. Like why is there a random sentence, not in italics, starting with "I"? But those are just minor, probably irrelevant, things. I got used to it.
Overall, a beautiful story about two people who came to love each other even when they thought they could never be loved like that (though it takes literally the whole book to get there.) -1 star for the torturous pacing and organizational style and occasionally the dialog. +4 stars for everything else.

[unai quintela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Acts Of Love my beloved... I keep reminding of you everytime.

I did love this book. I did actually love Luke, and I did have an attachment to Jessica. He is undeniably handsome and she is deserved to heal and to open herself to him, for letting him love her.

I also have to say I did enjoy the New York part the best, but Sydney was cute too. It is the kind of book that although I liked it as a whole, I would have definitely preferred the story to continue in the first 1/3 set or stage.


Overall, it is such a pleasure to read this. 4/5

🎬☁️💕🎬☁️💕🎬☁️💕🎬☁️💕🎬☁️💕

[Jintana · Rating 5 out of 5]

ถ้าจะบอกว่าสนุก ก็ไม่ใช่ ไม่สนุกก็ไม่ใช่อีกแหละ เป็นเรื่องที่อ่านแล้วซีเรียสแต่น่าติดตาม เพราะให้ความรู้เกี่ยวกับการทำละครเวที อีกทั้งตัวละครและเรื่องราวไม่ได้หวานชื่นเต็มไปด้วยความสุข สดชื่น สมหวัง ออกจะทำให้คนอ่านห่อเหี่ยว แต่พออ่านไปกลับวางไม่ลง

เรื่องนี้เสน่ห์อยู่ที่ไม่ได้เป็นหนังสือโรมานซ์อย่างที่เข้าใจในตอนแรก แต่ความเป็นจริงของเรื่องและตัวละครทำให้เรื่องน่าติดตาม พระเอก นางเอกกว่าจะได้เจอกันตัวเป็น ๆ ก็ท้าย ๆ เรื่องแล้ว ตลอดทั้งเรื่องเป็นเรื่องราวที่พระเอกอ่านจากจดหมายที่เขียนติดต่อกันระหว่าง ยายของพระเอกกับนางเอกที่เป็นเพื่อนรักต่างวัย นางเอกเป็นดาราละครเวทีที่มีชื่อเสียงมาก แต่ประสบอุบัติเหตุและก็หายจากวงการไป ไม่มีใครรู้ว่าทำไม ส่วนพระเอกเป็นผู้กำกับละครเวทีที่มีชื่อเสียง ที่แม้จะหย่าขาดจากภรรยามาแล้ว 10 กว่าปีแต่ก็ยังเป็นห่วงและให้ความช่วยเหลืออยู่ตลอดเวลา

พระเอกได้อ่านจดหมายที่นางเอกเขียนถึงยายของเขา (ดาราละครเวทีที่มีชื่อเสียงมาก)ก่อนที่ยายจะเสียชีวิต จากจดหมายที่อ่านทำให้พระเอกหลงรักนางเอกโดยไม่รู้ตัว จนในที่สุดก็ทนไม่ไหวต้องพยายามติดตามหานางเอกจนพบ แต่ยังไม่จบแค่นี้ เพราะอย่างไม่ใช่เรื่องรักโรแมนติคอย่างที่หวัง

เรียกได้ว่ากว่าจะจบคนอ่านลุ้นแล้วลุ้นอีก เอาใจช่วยพระเอกซะเหนื่อย จนบางทีอยากจับนางเอกมาเขย่า ๆ แทนพระเอกซะจริง ๆ

[Jamie Casey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lucas Cameron is a director and his grandmother is a world famous actress. Constance Cameron has become close to another actress Jessica Fontaine and because they travel so frequently, Constance and Jessica write letters to one another. When Constance dies, Lucas is cleaning/boxing up her house and comes upon these many letters and is intrigued because Jessica has vanished mysteriously after a tragic train accident. Lucas becomes determined to find her. When they finally meet they have one week of passion and love. But they still cannot share one anothers worlds-until they each discover the many kinds of love, and inner strength so that they may overcome their past to make way for the future.

[Lynn Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

SYNOPSIS:
When Hollywood film director Lucas Cameron finds letters to his grandmother from her protégé—the brilliant young actress Jessica Fontaine, who had vanished mysteriously after a tragic accident—he is intrigued and determined to find her. When finally they meet, they have one magic week of passion and love. But still Jessica cannot return with Lucas to his world—and he cannot share hers—unless, with inner strength, they can triumph over the past and open the way for their hands and hearts to join. This novel spans several locations around the world from the Pacific Northwest to the glitter of Broadway and Sydney, Australia. It will take several acts of love to reunite a lost woman with her dreams, her destiny, and the one man who truly believes in her talent--and in their love.

[Janice Cafarelli · Rating 3 out of 5]

Constance is a theater star who raises her grandson Lucas who becomes a well known director. She befriends an up and coming star ,Jessica,and they have a deep bond.. Constance wants Lucas and Jessica to meet as she things they belong together.. After a tragic accident Jessica disappears from the stage but after Constance's death Lucas discovers a box of letters between Constance and Jessica and that his grandmother had left something in her will to Jessica. He goes on a journey to know and find Jessica .. This book kept me very interested, it took twists and turns I did not expect.. I would recommend this to any romance, Judith Michael fans or anyone looking for a nice read..

[Many8 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Voto 2,5

Nel complesso la storia è carina, lineare, senza nessun gesto inaspettato che non possa essere previsto precedentemente, uno di quei libri che non ti dà nulla.
Non mi ha emozionato, una storia quasi scontata, in alcuni punti superficiale e lenta.
Lo stile dell'autrice non è dei migliori, ma è leggibile, piacevole in alcuni punti.
Ciò che mi è piaciuto di più è la capacità dell'autrice di creare dei personaggi che rimangono impressi, che ti seguono, come una presenza.
Non trabocca certo di originalità, e non essendo il mio genere preferito non ho potuto apprezzare appieno.