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Love in the dark
Love in the dark [Jan 01, 1979] Cartland, Barbara
161 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1979
27 people are currently reading
117 people want to read
About the author
Barbara Cartland
1,084 books835 followersBorn in 1901, Barbara Cartland started her writing career in journalism and completed her first book, Jigsaw, when she was just 24. An immediate success, it was the start of her journey to becoming the world’s most famous and most read romantic novelist of all time. Inspiring a whole generation of readers around the globe with her exciting tales of adventure, love and intrigue, she became synonymous with the Romance genre. And she still is to this day, having written over 644 romantic fiction books.
As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, plays, music, poetry and several advice books on life, love, health and cookery – totalling an incredible 723 books in all, with over 1 billion in sales.
Awarded the DBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 in honour of her literary, political and social contributions, she was President of the Hertfordshire branch of the Royal College of Midwives as well as a Dame of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem and Deputy President of the St John Ambulance Brigade.
Always a passionate advocate of woman’s health and beauty, she was dubbed ‘the true Queen of Romance’ by Vogue magazine in her lifetime. Her legend continues today through her wonderfully vivid romantic tales, stories that help you escape from the day to day into the dramatic adventures of strong, beautiful women who battle, often against the odds, eventually to find that love conquers all.
Find out more about the incredible life and works of Dame Barbara Cartland at www.barbaracartland.com
As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, plays, music, poetry and several advice books on life, love, health and cookery – totalling an incredible 723 books in all, with over 1 billion in sales.
Awarded the DBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 in honour of her literary, political and social contributions, she was President of the Hertfordshire branch of the Royal College of Midwives as well as a Dame of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem and Deputy President of the St John Ambulance Brigade.
Always a passionate advocate of woman’s health and beauty, she was dubbed ‘the true Queen of Romance’ by Vogue magazine in her lifetime. Her legend continues today through her wonderfully vivid romantic tales, stories that help you escape from the day to day into the dramatic adventures of strong, beautiful women who battle, often against the odds, eventually to find that love conquers all.
Find out more about the incredible life and works of Dame Barbara Cartland at www.barbaracartland.com
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 1, 2021
Boring
Too much talking about Florance which I didn't care about.
We have a fat and ugly 18 years old girl, hated by her perfect angelic looking mother who about to have her debut and she decides to run away bc she doesn't want to be sold off to a rich aristocrat like her sister.
And we also have a blind man because of an accident who will love the heroine for her voice and personality. I mean come on, how can we ask a man who can see to fall for the ugly girl 😕
My first ever romance book that I ever read was a decade ago and it was by the same author so I thought I should try her books again. I enjoyed the first half but I had to put it down and when I picked it up again I just couldn't care about anything or anyone. One thing I didn't remember is that this author likes to put so many historic things in her work which I don't enjoy because I only want to know about the couple.
Too much talking about Florance which I didn't care about.
We have a fat and ugly 18 years old girl, hated by her perfect angelic looking mother who about to have her debut and she decides to run away bc she doesn't want to be sold off to a rich aristocrat like her sister.
And we also have a blind man because of an accident who will love the heroine for her voice and personality. I mean come on, how can we ask a man who can see to fall for the ugly girl 😕
My first ever romance book that I ever read was a decade ago and it was by the same author so I thought I should try her books again. I enjoyed the first half but I had to put it down and when I picked it up again I just couldn't care about anything or anyone. One thing I didn't remember is that this author likes to put so many historic things in her work which I don't enjoy because I only want to know about the couple.
February 16, 2009
Ah, to be young and innocent again!... I read this book a very, very long time ago, and I remember I liked the story because the heroine was a "chubby" and clumsy girl - sorry, but I cannot see Barbara Cartland´s heroines as women - and not the usual delicate "belle of the ball". The hero was (temporarily) blind and, of course, he fell in love with "her voice and her soul".
Why must a hero be (literally) blind in order to fall in love with a less than beautiful heroine? It´s such a cliché!
I´m sure I couldn´t stand rereading this book, but I enjoyed it back in the "old days".
Why must a hero be (literally) blind in order to fall in love with a less than beautiful heroine? It´s such a cliché!
I´m sure I couldn´t stand rereading this book, but I enjoyed it back in the "old days".
October 24, 2013
I remember the first time I read this book! It was one of the first times that I ventured over to the "grown-up" side of the library. I was probably 12 or 13. I saw a shelf full of books by this author and every book had such a pretty cover on it! So I picked this one up at random. My little pre-teen heart just melted when I read this! Such an average heroine! Such a tragic hero (in my mind)! And he fell in love with her without even seeing her! Pretty heady stuff for an awkward (to say the least) adolescent!
I had to eventually return the book to the library and I promptly moved on to the next book, forgetting about my average heroine and tragic hero for decades. I had even forgotten the name of the book. Finally, I found it and had to buy it just to see if I could recapture the "magic." And there, the dream died.
If you have read this book, you...will...understand that ...every...word...the leading lady...says...is...separated...like...this! SO irritating! I know it is supposed to convey a hesitation and feeling of insecurity, but honestly how could he ever fall in love with someone who has to pause between every other word that comes out of her mouth!
It is a very simple, innocent love story. I am very happy that I read it when I was younger. It is a much better book in my memories than it really is. But I did enjoy reading it again as an adult. Not a bad way to spend a lazy afternoon.
I had to eventually return the book to the library and I promptly moved on to the next book, forgetting about my average heroine and tragic hero for decades. I had even forgotten the name of the book. Finally, I found it and had to buy it just to see if I could recapture the "magic." And there, the dream died.
If you have read this book, you...will...understand that ...every...word...the leading lady...says...is...separated...like...this! SO irritating! I know it is supposed to convey a hesitation and feeling of insecurity, but honestly how could he ever fall in love with someone who has to pause between every other word that comes out of her mouth!
It is a very simple, innocent love story. I am very happy that I read it when I was younger. It is a much better book in my memories than it really is. But I did enjoy reading it again as an adult. Not a bad way to spend a lazy afternoon.
January 19, 2016
I first read this book back when I was 12 years old and this is the book that made me love reading historical romance novels.
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December 17, 2020Books like this have damaged innumerable girls and young women with the utter bullshit they spew about beauty and weight. The heroine of the novel is a fat, ugly teen whose mother plans to marry her off to a man with a title. Her beautiful, thin (well, how can you be beautiful without being thin?) older sister has already been married off to someone she despises, reminding us Westerners how girls have been chattel for centuries, even in supposedly enlightened cultures.
Our poor ugly, fat (Cartland uses the term "fat" numerous times) protagonist is hired as a reader for a rich blind man, someone she of course falls in love with. She's horrified by the thought that he might see her and not love her in return because she's so fat, but by the time lover boy regains his sight, she's slimmed down to the appropriate weight for a beautiful heroine that can be loved.
I read this book in high school, along with two other Cartland books I found in my mother's collection. How can a young woman build self-confidence and body positivity when she's reads crap like this:
"Everything is so beautiful," she told herself, "that I must remember that I am the only ugly feature in a picture of translucent loveliness which could only be captured by a master."
She was not complaining, she thought, about her own appearance, she was only using her common sense to prevent herself from being carried away into an ecstasy to which she was not really entitled.
So, not only is it impossible that she could be beautiful or attractive because she's fat, but she also doesn't deserve happiness because of her weight. Despicable. Not only is Cartland's writing trite, lazy, repetitive, and simplistic, it's dangerous to the mental well-being of women.
Our poor ugly, fat (Cartland uses the term "fat" numerous times) protagonist is hired as a reader for a rich blind man, someone she of course falls in love with. She's horrified by the thought that he might see her and not love her in return because she's so fat, but by the time lover boy regains his sight, she's slimmed down to the appropriate weight for a beautiful heroine that can be loved.
I read this book in high school, along with two other Cartland books I found in my mother's collection. How can a young woman build self-confidence and body positivity when she's reads crap like this:
"Everything is so beautiful," she told herself, "that I must remember that I am the only ugly feature in a picture of translucent loveliness which could only be captured by a master."
She was not complaining, she thought, about her own appearance, she was only using her common sense to prevent herself from being carried away into an ecstasy to which she was not really entitled.
So, not only is it impossible that she could be beautiful or attractive because she's fat, but she also doesn't deserve happiness because of her weight. Despicable. Not only is Cartland's writing trite, lazy, repetitive, and simplistic, it's dangerous to the mental well-being of women.
April 2, 2018
Of course if a woman is a bit (or a lot) fat, she cannot be beautiful and men would not like her. But who freaking cares?! Yes, I know this is supposed to be an historical romance, but still it gets on my nerves.
January 9, 2015
A part from a bit too much feels in the end it was actually surprisingly good
February 3, 2022
Una voce nel silenzio di Barbara Cartland
Insomma i presupposti erano assolutamente buoni ma alla fine il libro rimane di poche pretese e superficiale.
La sinossi racconta di Susan una ragazza di buonissima società, ereditiera che sarà costretta dai suoi genitori a sposare un partito conveniente,ma soltanto interessato ai suoi soldi dato che lei è comunque non conforme si canoni di bellezza, perché è su col peso e non è bella come sua madre e sua sorella.
Con una serie di macchinazioni che considero piuttosto fantasiose e poco credibili riesce comunque a fuggire e partire come assistente di Fyfe, Che è momentaneamente cieco e ridotto in un letto da un bruttissimo incidente automobilistico.
Ecco qui nello svilupparsi dei sentimenti di entrambi avrei voluto più profondità. Invece tutto rimane in superficie e non ti fa vivere il sentimento, Che sembra invece ad un certo punto spuntare lì come un fungo. Non è del tutto male ma per la verità non mi sono appassionata mai, non mi ha preso mai. È rimasto lì sospeso in un “ni” perenne. Non gli accordo la sufficienza. ⭐️⭐️1/2
Ps ho detestato profondamente il termine “grassa” ci sono moltissimi sinonimi di una parola che considero offensiva
July 27, 2025
How do you rate a book like this? You can't really take it or its premise too seriously. A lot of plot points are just ridiculous (how do you not notice a massive weight loss over the course of a few months? Why are you swimming naked at night and just assuming no one else stays up late!?) but it's Barbara Cartland! So what were you even expecting.
I liked the love interest and the relationship between him and our heroine more than in some of Cartland's other novels, as there was more of a basis for it than just sex appeal. The two of them were really sweet together, even though the Third Eye and French references got to be a bit much.
I do wish we'd gotten to see some of the loose ends tied up, like the heroine's father, and what happens after the fact.
But despite that and all the craziness, I did actually really enjoy this book, being a romantic myself - just take the rating with a grain of salt, I guess.
I liked the love interest and the relationship between him and our heroine more than in some of Cartland's other novels, as there was more of a basis for it than just sex appeal. The two of them were really sweet together, even though the Third Eye and French references got to be a bit much.
I do wish we'd gotten to see some of the loose ends tied up, like the heroine's father, and what happens after the fact.
But despite that and all the craziness, I did actually really enjoy this book, being a romantic myself - just take the rating with a grain of salt, I guess.
April 8, 2023
🙋🏻♀️2,5☆ Aunque la historia empieza bien, la protagonista es muy creíble y me gustó mucho sus motivaciones pero el como conoce a Fyfe y su trama de verdad! Pará la época es no es creíble.
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SPOILER
Sacar a una mujer de Inglaterra sin documentos, por mucho dinero y conexiones era imposible y luego lo peor es el final, 🥺 pasan meses y ella no se da cuenta que baja mil tallas ... hubiera preferido que omitiera esta transformación 🤷
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SPOILER
Sacar a una mujer de Inglaterra sin documentos, por mucho dinero y conexiones era imposible y luego lo peor es el final, 🥺 pasan meses y ella no se da cuenta que baja mil tallas ... hubiera preferido que omitiera esta transformación 🤷
June 17, 2021
True feeling of love in those days was all good, it was as an interesting read. But I just didn't like the way it ended, would have liked it better if the woman seemed beautiful to the man out of his love/liking of her nature rather than describing like she suddenly become beautiful in the end.
April 29, 2023
Although her vast inheritance from her Godmother seemed to be blessing, it has become a curse now that Susanna Laven’s pushy mother is determined to marry her against her will to the impoverished Duke of Southampton.
What is worse, as her mother repeatedly and cruelly tells her, she is the family’s ‘ugly duckling’ and her only attraction is her large fortune! She is too fat from eating comfort sweets and makes no effort to even try to be pretty.
Desperate to escape a loveless marriage, she responds to an advertisement for a reader in French and Italian for a temporarily blind gentleman. Meeting the gentleman, a Mr. Fyfe Dunblane, who is swathed head to toe in bandages after a terrible motor car accident, she finds him rude and short-tempered, but still accepts the position and soon finds herself on a luxury train speeding across France on its journey to the enchanting City of Florence.
There Susanna’s eyes are opened to the glories of Florence – and love!
She had prayed every night to God to give her love and in the blossoming relationship with her blind employer, who himself seems entranced by her, she may have found it.
But it’s an agony, not a joy, for surely it will end the moment Fyfe Dunblane’s eyes are healed and he sees that she is not the beauty of his mind’s eye!
Love in the Dark is the story of a man and a woman being blind in different ways – and of how love turns an ugly duckling into a swan without her even realising it!
Quite suddenly Susanna realized she was not alone. Someone was standing in the pool beside her. By the light of the moon she saw it was Fyfe!
For a moment she thought she was imagining him, for there was no bandage over his eyes and he was looking at her.
"My sweet! My darling!" her cried.
She gave a gasp of horror and hid her face.
"Do...not look at me! Please...don not look at me!"
"Why not? You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen."
He put his fingers under cher chin and turned her face up to his.
"You are just as your sweet voice told me you would look!"
"I...think you must still...be blind," she faltered.
Then, as if he could not help himself, he drew her close. His kiss swept away for the moment every thought but love, and Susannacould feel teh sensations he arousedin her moving like a flame.
Still holding her captive with his mouth, he reached up and pulled away the hairpins so that her hair fell over her shoulders.
"You are mine." Fyfe cried, and his voice was deep with passion. "Mine now and forever, and I will never let you go."
What is worse, as her mother repeatedly and cruelly tells her, she is the family’s ‘ugly duckling’ and her only attraction is her large fortune! She is too fat from eating comfort sweets and makes no effort to even try to be pretty.
Desperate to escape a loveless marriage, she responds to an advertisement for a reader in French and Italian for a temporarily blind gentleman. Meeting the gentleman, a Mr. Fyfe Dunblane, who is swathed head to toe in bandages after a terrible motor car accident, she finds him rude and short-tempered, but still accepts the position and soon finds herself on a luxury train speeding across France on its journey to the enchanting City of Florence.
There Susanna’s eyes are opened to the glories of Florence – and love!
She had prayed every night to God to give her love and in the blossoming relationship with her blind employer, who himself seems entranced by her, she may have found it.
But it’s an agony, not a joy, for surely it will end the moment Fyfe Dunblane’s eyes are healed and he sees that she is not the beauty of his mind’s eye!
Love in the Dark is the story of a man and a woman being blind in different ways – and of how love turns an ugly duckling into a swan without her even realising it!
Quite suddenly Susanna realized she was not alone. Someone was standing in the pool beside her. By the light of the moon she saw it was Fyfe!
For a moment she thought she was imagining him, for there was no bandage over his eyes and he was looking at her.
"My sweet! My darling!" her cried.
She gave a gasp of horror and hid her face.
"Do...not look at me! Please...don not look at me!"
"Why not? You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen."
He put his fingers under cher chin and turned her face up to his.
"You are just as your sweet voice told me you would look!"
"I...think you must still...be blind," she faltered.
Then, as if he could not help himself, he drew her close. His kiss swept away for the moment every thought but love, and Susannacould feel teh sensations he arousedin her moving like a flame.
Still holding her captive with his mouth, he reached up and pulled away the hairpins so that her hair fell over her shoulders.
"You are mine." Fyfe cried, and his voice was deep with passion. "Mine now and forever, and I will never let you go."
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews