Be My Guest

by Elizabeth Cadell, Nikita Garets (Illustrator)

On holiday in Portugal, to take their daughter’s mind off a troubled love affair, the Channing family are befriended by the hospitable Baronesa Narvao—but soon find her hospitality something of an embarrassment.

Genres: Fiction, Romance, British Literature, Classics

275 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1963

About the author

Violet Elizabeth Vandyke was born on 10 November 1903 in Calcutta, British Raj, daughter of British parents, Elizabeth Lynch and Frederick Reginald Vandyke, a colonial officer. During the Great War she studied music in London, but refused a musical career and returned to India where she married in 1928 Henry Dunlop Raymond Mallock Cadell, and they had a son and daughter. After she was widowed ten years later, she returned to England.

Elizabeth wrote her first book 'My Dear Aunt Flora' during the Second World War in 1946, there after producing another 51 light-hearted, humourous and romantic books which won her a faithful readership in England and America. In addition to England and India, many of her books are set in Spain, France, and Portugal. She finally settled in Portugal, where her married daughter still lived.

She died on 9 October 1989, aged eighty-five.

Reviews

[Sathya Sekar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I shipped through this book in a day. It's a short, sweet and utterly charming story involving a bunch of people holidaying for a few weeks in Sintra, Portugal. If you were to ask me my top characteristics in a book to make it a comfort, I would say- countryside, a relaxed ambience, a small set of people, humour, gentle romance.. and this book has them all.

Mr and Mrs Channing are enjoying a quiet life in the country with all but one of their children happily married away. Their youngest, Christine, returns home despairing over her romance with James, who is the heir to vast land and a castle. His grandfather insists he marry into money, a criteria Christine doesn't meet. So he withholds his consent to their marriage asking them to prove the permanence of their live with a 3 month seperation. Christine is despondent and her siblings force their parents to take her on a vacation to Portugal. The rest of the book is part travelogue and part anecdotes of the events in Sintra.

I enjoyed the book immensely. It's a very cosy read and you will wear a smile on your face through the book. Recommended.

[Evelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the first Cadell that I read, but this one not so much. Her characters are one dimensional and the love stories are too much like fairy tale romances.

[Joy O’Toole · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars. An amusing romantic comedy set in Portugal.

[Jannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite funny and absurd

[Jackie · Rating 5 out of 5]

absolutely charming!

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Channing does not want to travel. But when James, his daughter's fiance decides to obey his autocratic grandfather's dictates and cut all ties with Christine for the next three months, Mr. Channing is persuaded by his wife and family to take Christine abroad. They settle on Portugal, where an old friend has moved. Unfortunately, the Channings are victims of a clever, exploitative woman who has found a way to make others pay for her luxurious lifestyle. James and his grandfather turn up unexpectedly, and the comedy plays itself out. The romance is as much about the Channings' gradual fascination with Portugal as about the love story of two young couples.

[Terri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Probably not my favorite book, because the 'heroine' is somewhat of a whiny crybaby...but there's some paragraphs in here that ...well,
"-and partly,....because the presence of parents during the preliminaries proved prejudicial to the passivity of the prey, pushing him into panic, if not partial or practical paralysis, or to prevarications previous to plunging precipitately from his plight.....Period."

Gotta love that.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the way Ms. Cadell gives so much time to her supporting characters. The books starts with Christine's father who has the reader rooting for him right away. You get to know her mother, but perhaps with less sympathy. In some ways, this book is as much about Christine's father emerging from his shell as it is about Christine and James and their romantic difficulties, which I found very refreshing.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The things that I like about Elizabeth Cadell's books are:
1. They are upbeat. Cheerful for when I need cheerful.
2. They are clean. No profanity, no explicit sex.

I have been pretty impressed with how characters in her novels value families, and personal morals. This book actually talks about purity and virtue. I seldom encounter that in books anymore.

[Miki · Rating 2 out of 5]

A decent read until close to the end, when the MMC says of the woman he loves "And now I'm going after her, and when I catch up with her, I'll knock all the spirit out of her, and the temper, too." Ruined the whole thing.

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light hearted fun. Set in Portugal

[Miriam · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another one of Cadell's novels where the supporting characters are more interesting than the young romantic couple the book is supposed to be about. There's something depressing about the Baronesa and her scheme, so it's not my favorite of her books. But there are a lot of great characters, and I like the way she portrays the Portuguese village where they are staying. It's been a while since I read Be My Guest, so I don't remember how different it is, but I didn't notice a low of new material.

[Sep · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming romance that includes the delightfully funny secondary characters. Mr. Channing has NO interest in traveling but in the face of his daughter's broken heart he agrees to a trip to Portugal. On the ship out he meets the Baronesa Narvão who appears to be a gracious hostess but is not. A Scotish lord, a retired set of ex-pats, and Christine's parents provide endless page of laughter.

This is the longer edition and explain why I was awake until have midnight reading it.

[Wendi · Rating 1 out of 5]

A candy read, Cadell wrote romances and mysteries in the sixties and seventies. They are all dated, sometimes that datedness is charming, sometimes less so. This romance is a lesser effort. I expect she wrote these for bread and butter and I hope she got enough for this one to ease her conscience.

(Also, my copy is older and has a pretty cover. Had it looked like the one pictured I should have known better what I was getting.)

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What do you do when your daughter's fiance is ordered to marry his millionaire cousin? You take her to Portugal, right? On the ship, you make friends with a Baronesa, who decides to help you. This was one gift horse you needed to look in the mouth. The Baronesa was known for her wily friendships, which seemed to cost everyone an arm and a leg. Who turns up in Portugal? The cousin! The fiance! The miserly grandfather(Earl)! Another contender for the daughter's hand! Oh my! Who manages to get the upper hand? Who ends up with the girl? It is fun, warm, and sunny! Going to Portugal seems like a fabulous idea, but stay alert.

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining if somewhat short on plot. Somewhere along the way it started to feel like there wasn't much point to the story—beyond sightseeing and waiting out the earl's three months. But it was a lovely travelogue of Portugal (educational too: stay in the pensão, avoid the Baronesa) and filled with memorable characters. So all in all, not half bad.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

my favorite Cadell so far

I should love Elizabeth Cadella books, they are exactly my type. However I usually just don’t find enough likable about her characters to care what happens to them. This one however was quite nice. I liked everyone even the baronessa. Fun coincidences abound but almost reasonable.

[Bonnie Gilbert · Rating 5 out of 5]

An engaging plot...

I am so glad that Elizabeth Cadell's novels are being released on Kindle. I had read most of her books over the last 40+ years but some were out of print and not available. This book is one of my favorites...great characters and a lovely location.

[Bookworman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had many of the usual Cadell elements but was only OK. I’m glad I read it but it won’t be on my future re-reading list.

[Vicki O. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The second Elizabeth Cadell book for me. I found the character development very interesting. There was much more to all of them than first impression. Enjoyed it.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cozy book with kind of annoying characters

A cozy book with kind of annoying characters. I liked the setting in Portugal. The heroine was not very likable.

[Carolyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable reread. I love it when a deceiver gets what they deserve.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The pacing of this felt slower than the other books by Cadell.

[Kathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect Cadell

This is Cadell at her best. Unusually this story is mostly told from the point of view of the husband and wife who, when the story begins, are trying to cope with a heartbroken daughter. To cheer her up, a family trip to Portugal ensues, with all the accompanying Cadell madness. A hilarious bad guy, a lovely Portuguese family, several cranky English people abroad, all make appearances. This is one of her funniest books, with a nice love story to cap it off. Excellent.

[Jessi]

okay...