| Title | : | Music of the Heart (Warrender Saga, #6) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 026371327X |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780263713275 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 192 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1972 |
But how could she convince him of that, when he was still recovering from having been let down in just that way by the last girl who had claimed to love him?
Music of the Heart (Warrender Saga, #6) Reviews
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So glad that these are being digitized and re-published!
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This is the sixth book in this series that I have read. Had I been a middle-aged (40 - 50?) woman in 1972, this might have been a very enjoyable read. It has all the required elements: a handsome and intelligent man with a wonderful singing voice; a pretty woman with some musical talent, a female antagonist with a cunning and malicious streak.
It also had something I suspect a lot of women in the era were looking for - an air of 'magic' and an introduction to the mysterious world of opera and theatre that was denied to any woman who wasn't wealthy (It's still denied to a lot of us now!)
So, all in all I can see why these books were popular. Cheap, popular, appealing to middle-class women who were probably stuck at home. (and its worth remembering that a Mills and Boon book had a shelf life of 18 days)
So. Given all that, are these books any good?
Yes - if you want a quick clean read set in the 1970's and don't care very much about the way women were treated then, or about typos in your books!
No, if you like your lead men to be caring and considerate, and your women to be more than meek and obedient and forgiving.
After the first couple of novels I began to see a pattern - brilliant musical male - adored by all his thousands of (female) fans - treats quiet hard-working young woman either contemptuously, or patronisingly, or with complete and utter rudeness. Supposedly this is in her best interests!
Said young woman meekly trusts the man and follows him slavishly, doing what he demands. (well, maybe thats an exaggeration, but by the time I had to got to book 6 I was getting pretty sick of the perfect, handsome tenor/conductor/musician riding roughshod over some poor woman who is simply trying her best to survive in the dog-eat-dog world of opera)
The REAL problem though, with these books is that they all start of well - a nice slow introduction, some decent insight into the cut-throat world of musicians etc, the appearance of the evilstepmotherother female and then, once the main event happens, it simply ends with the two characters madly in love and heading for a long life together. I know these books were written to a strict formula and word limit, but the writing lacked consistency. Too much 'setting the scene' and not enough development of the real reason for these books - the growth of a romance.
There is no development of the relationship, no real depth to anything. They meet, she hates him, he ignores her, she (for some inexplicable reason) realises she is madly in love with him even though he has been utterly HORRID to her. And that's it. I would never forgive a man who had treated me the way some of these guys treat the woman.
There is a LOT of emotional abuse and there are more than a few references to a man using physical violence on a woman - as in 'I would beat you.' There is absolutely NO justification for a man saying that to a woman. EVER.
So. These novels are a rather sad reflection of a past era. A time when a lot of women were watching the younger generation have the things they could only dream of - fame and travel and an exciting life etc. Women who had careers and a future and money, instead of having to stay at home doing the housework. And yes, I know that middle-aged women did go out to work, but in 1972 a LOT of middle-class women didn't. They were stuck at home, day-dreaming of being whisked away to some wonderful destination by someone famous. Mills and Boon allowed them to 'live' that dream, however fleeting.
As for the books themselves? They were probably written in less time than their shelf-life and if they were proof-read before being republished, then someone wasn't doing their job. -
This is the sixth book in the Warrender Saga and a re-read for me. The story opens when student singer heroine goes to the country manor home of one of her fellow music students. On the train she reads an article about a new opera being produced and realizes that her fellow music student friend and the composer of the opera (the hero) are brothers. In fact, he is from a very musical family with a genius conductor father as well. Music student is interested in less serious forms of music and is considered a lightweight.
Heroine doesn't really know what kind of family drama she's wandered into, until she realizes the father wants to take over the production of the hero's opera and the hero isn't too happy about it. The father asks the heroine to sing and she acquits herself quite well. However, the hero is suspicious because he thinks she's using her connections with his brother to further her career.
Heroine is divided. She wants to further her career and realizes the father can help her, but she also wants the hero's approval. She meets the neighbor girl who did use the hero to further her career and sees why he's so cynical. They meet again in London and go to a concert with Anthea Warrender singing. Hero is given a chance to pitch his opera at Warrender, so she backs out of going to supper with them. (Foreshadowing all the sacrifices she will do for hero and his opera)
The heroine in this story was wonderful - self-sacrificing, but not in a self-pitying way. The hero is so single-minded that he can't see what the heroine has done for him until he's hit over the head with it. Only the mother seemed to realize everything the heroine had done for the two brothers. I would have liked more from him at the end. -
3.5 out of 5 stars
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So enjoyable, the time flies.
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This is good - and even better, it’s interesting. This touches on three topics and intersects them in ways that are genuinely thought-provoking.
For one, it’s a great discourse on types of music, on how really good music feels, on career choices.
It’s an even more concise examination of ambition. It probes one of the central conflicts of all art - the desire to succeed as an individual versus the overarching scope of the work itself, which almost subsumes all participants. It sets up an incredibly human tangle of conflicting interests: Gail as genuine weekend guest, Gail as unexpected contralto amid some Bannister drama, Gail as artist prepared enough to redefine a role, Gail as conspirator to enable the composer’s vision, Gail as last-minute savior… All of this results in a perfectly confused mess of interactions calculated step-by-step to make her look as bad as possible; and yet all of it is completely understandable, even noble, were you inclined to take her point of view.
And - I hate to say “brilliantly”, because I can’t help but feel it’s an afterthought - yet the positioning is so good: all of this is positioned against the Other Woman in the background, who, It’s SO impressive.
There’s something about this story that’s simple, even expected, and the rushed simplicity of the ending reinforces that. And maybe I am reading too much into this... But I really do think there’s a great jumble of motives and personalities and opportunities in this story.
That’s enough about the themes. This book does a quite a job with them (deliberately or otherwise). But the reason they succeed is because of Gail. Gail who thinks through things; who makes her own choices, even when they’re difficult; who stands by those choices. I think Gail is great. -
3.5 stars. That was a wonderful reading experience. I forget how well written these old Harlequins are.
Dear Author has been running a few reviews of these vintage and newly republished Mary Burchell "Warrender Saga" books that intrigued me enough to give this a try. (I've linked to the review if you're interested.) I'm glad I did and I promptly bought the other cheapie in the series. Maybe, eventually, I'll get around to all of them. This was less dated (considering it was set in the 60's? 50's?) than I expected. I don't know how I missed reading Mary Burchell back in the day, but if this one is a good example, they are well worth finding more.
In this, I really enjoyed the focus on the internal workings of the musical world. It is something I know little about. It felt glamorous to be 'inside' it, if temporarily; and I appreciated the fact that the main character came from a middle-class background and didn't take the glamor for granted. I liked the fact that she worked hard at her craft. I enjoy reading about women with careers. (Particularly if the author shows the work and effort involved and doesn't just 'hand wave' her special snowflake's marvelous special abilities into the plot. That's lazy and shallow writing, imo.) -
The best of a mediocre lot- I liked that Gail has opinions, agency, and attitude. Although per usual for Burchell the story was structured around a grand sacrifice from the heroine, at least Gail wasn't abject about it. This is also one of the few Burchells where the leads have a modicum of sexual chemistry.
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The romance feels a bit informed, but I was very invested in poor Gail's struggle of conscience/pride, being caught between father and son in an artistic disagreement. I feel happy for HER that she chose to turn down the part in Exile; she would have spent the whole time feeling guilty and awkward about it, which is no way to feel about a major debut.
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Martyr heroine + overly sensitive hero + way too much opera = my least favorite Burchell.
Also, does no one care that Gail was dating Oliver seriously enough to spend a weekend meeting his family just *months* before Marc proposed? Nope, apparently not. Including Oliver. -
Ok
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Sweet
Sweet book with lots of heart. Only problem is this is the 3rd I’ve read and they’re basically all the same stories with different characters. But well written -
Probably my favorite since the first. There's some deceit in this one, but the heroine was much more couscous of it and struggling with it than in book 3.
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Thank you to NetGalley, Endeavour Press and to the author Mary Burchell for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
I didn't enjoy this book, it's very old fashioned and not the sort of book i like to read.
The female lead is now an empowering character and typifies 'doormat' if ever i saw one!
You can tell this book was written in the 70's and it's where it should stay! -
One of the reasons I really loved this book was because the author, Ida Cook (pen name Mary Burchell) has an amazing story herself. It's funny that she chose to write romance novels but glad she did.
The book was originally written in 1972 and reissued in 2017. The story remains the same. A struggling singer, Gail Rostall is invited to her friend, Oliver Bannister's home. There she finds out that Oliver isn't just a good friend, his family is the famous Bannisters.
His brother Marcus is a world renown composer. Marcus isn't impressed by his brother's friend and believes all Gail wants is a chance to become famous. Gail doesn't even consider using her friend for that, but she finds herself attracted to Marcus.
As family secrets are revealed, Gail is torn between keeping those secrets and finding her way to success. Will Gail find her own way to make it big or will she betray her friend?
In addition to reading this book, I believe you all should check out the author's life, Ida Cook. She and her sister, Mary help rescue Jews from the Nazis. She had an amazing life! -
This was not for me but the story was well written but the subject matter didn't interest me. It does redeem itself at the end a bit but the operatic scene just wasn't me.
A NetGalley review book for an honest opinion.
