Come Be My Love

by Diana Brown

Book Overview

Come Be My Love [Mar 01, 1983] Brown, Diana This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0451121309
• ISBN13: 9780451121301
• Release Date: March 1983
• Publisher: Signet Book
• Length: 280 Pages
• Weight: 0.35 lbs.

Customer Reviews

A literary heroine...

I cannot say that I liked this Diana Brown as much I liked a previous book DEBT OF HONOR, or even THE EMERALD NECKLACE (with its hard-to-like heroine). The problem was not with Ms Brown's writing or her descriptions, but rather the turn taken in the book between the first and second half. How to write a spoiler-free review? Difficult, given what happens.The story is about a young woman, Alexandra, who is in love with the neighbor's son Darius Wentworth, future Lord Bladen. She has a number of problems. Firstly, her family (especially her autocratic father) are staunch Tories; the Wentworths are and always have been Whigs. Secondly, she has virtually no dowry - her father economizes hugely on his daughters, and even on his younger sons. Without a good dowry, she cannot marry well. Thirdly, she is much too young for Darius, who treats her as a younger sister. Alexandra's childhood infatuation for Darius grows into a teenage adoration, which persists through his marriage to an earl's daughter (who dies in childbirth). She owes her education and her ability to write well to the Wentworths - Darius's father Lord Bladen has allowed her the run of his library and recommended books for her to read. She is serious by nature, so much so that she considers Maria Edgeworth frivolous. Unfortunately for Alexandra, things change. First, her mentor Lord Bladen dies, followed shortly by his widow Lady Bladen. Alexandra cannot, with propriety, visit the house of a widower (Darius, the new Lord Bladen). But she spends time with his delightful son who is complelely ignored by Darius. Why? Alexandra believes it is because little Crumpet (the name she gives John Frederick Wentworth, the baby) cost his mother her life. But then there is a cousin who pays attention to Crumpet (while ignoring and belittling all other children), there is the strange dislike between Darius and his cousin.Darius is not perfectly admirable. He has an affair with a widow, and brings her to stay in his house. Alexandra, frustrated with jealousy, realizes that Darius still does not love her. She however manages to turn away many eligible marriages, and then finally runs away to London to lead her own life, escaping a marriage arranged for her.I have left some crucial events in the middle out, because they are major spoilers. Suffice it to say, that Alexandra's writing skills are now honed, and they pay off handsomeley. Yet, they also eventually cost Alexandra her reputation. I am omitting information on the entire second half, apart from the reference to Alexandra's writing career, because there are so many secrets revealed by the end.The reason that I could not quite like this book, is because the heroine makes a remarkably stupid mistake in the middle. When offered the chance of a marriage (even though not of love) to the man she loves, she turns it down by lying about something. At this point, it is not that she is innocent. She is immature in many respects, not