Romantic Fiction, Reality Shaping and The Work

Hi everyone,

I just finished reading The secret Mistress by Mary Balogh, on Amazon it said book 3 but the story actually precedes the other two in the trilogy, so I probably made a mistake there. It didn't ruin the story at all. I have a few thoughts that I wanted to share, I will try to be brief.


The story follows Edward and Angeline, she is a Dudley, sister of Jocelyn and Ferdinand the two main characters in the other two books. She runs into Edward and is dazzled by how proper he is, go through their own drama in a very endearing story, and marry, have children 7 years hence and the story ends.

I have been trying to be brief in my notes on these stories, but I have to mention how endearing and likable I found Angeline to be, she is a chatty lady, lord she can talk, but there's something very beautiful and lovely about it. In the other two stories, she was always really funny, she even had a catchphrase when referring to her husband "the provoking man!" but her chattiness is a great way to see through right into her thinking. I really liked her.

Angeline is transparently open, she can't help herself, and that can be a way to be in trouble, but also a great way to remain self assured. Most of us hold our words because we're insecure, and I am not saying that we all become chattering machines by default and unconsciously, but Angeline would pour her heart out and the truth constantly.

When words can be used constructively, as a map of our inner world to others, they are creative, and that's what she strikes me at, a creative mind. Transparent and innocent, however she also talks to hide her insecurities, to explain herself to the world, as she grew to adopt the narrative she had been told by her unloving mother and her bitter governess about herself.

So, our words, our expression of our minds and hearts, can be creative vehicles to give ourselves to the world or to hide away from it behind layers of protective walls.

Edward was all proper, a true gentleman, but a cynical man who did not believe in love, saw reality as a practical business, and Angeline frustrates him, she is his total opposite. He could be described as a bitter and rigid man who was jealous of the life others, with less rules than those he imposed on himself, had.

He had to learn to allow himself out of himself, to break through his vision of life as mere duty and find passion. Angeline had to ground herself from her wild passion and fall in line, not a rigid line but a flowing one with more structure than the emptiness of living things day by day.

Edward's arc is interesting, as he is contrasted with lord Windrow, a rake, who Edward hates... but I think it's because Windrow reminds him of his late brother who was less proper than Edward yet so loved by peers and family. I think we all have experienced this at some pint. the jealousy of feeling like the world is unfair because we follow rules and get less, seemingly, than someone who is willing to break them. But Windrow is simply a man, capable of love and loyalty, just different than Edward.

That is law and faith, that is rigid structure vs necessary sin. Edward lived in law thinking it enough, but it wasn't until he found a way to balance both duty and passion, that he wasn't whole, and who better for this than Angeline, someone so wild and in touch with her inner world and emotions. She knew she wanted to marry him at first sight, he thought that it didn't make sense.

The other thing that I thought about was the good and the bad and context. They're in constant flux, and constantly dancing around one another, being self aware means also recognizing when these things change. Following rules can indeed have a lot of benefit for certain tasks, and certain purposes, but always following rules will only leave you absent from your life.

Breaking the rules will most definitely land you in trouble, but knowing when to break them or bend them, take risks to be wrong is how we meet life. Someone who is good by default because "I have to be good" lacks the choice that makes one a good person, someone who simply refuses to let anyone bend him to their will, is a petulant child who is impossible to rely on, no one knows him.

So following either path unconsciously is just as destructive, or stagnating rather, finding the way to dance in between them and the times in our lives when each is the adequate choice to make is liberating, but also, a life long task.

And so, Edward and Angeline pulled one another, or rather invited, from their extremes into a balanced dance that sways between the two. It was a lovely story about polar oposites, at least I thought so. As it's not just being complimentary and compatible, but choosing to give something yours, that is so yours that is part of your identity, in service of discovering the rest of you, in order to amalgamate it all in a more whole version of yourself.

At the end, the epilogue of this story was a lovey birthing scene, very moving indeed. It was generic, but it was so moving, not sure how many of us had births as the one described in that epilogue.
Not sure what I will be reading next, maybe I will switch author's perhaps Julia Quinn? Either way, I will be posting my notes here once I finish the next one.

Thank you all for reading.
 
Yesterday I wanted to share my progress but when I start to read others people comments I felt overwhelmed. There's so much good and positive energy when people doing something together. Thank you everyone for sharing your thoughts and feelings.

Almost two years have passed since we begin this project. It took me a year to force my self to start to read. I have always been the person who sought the most practical advice in the book and I didn't expect that something like that is possible from reading romantic novels. Surprise, surprise:cool2:!

I read almost everything from Mackenzie series. I skip some books related to gatherings but I will be back later. Now I'm on second book in Anne Campbell series, Elspeth is so lovely character.

First, some funny things;-). English is not my native language and also I didn't learn it in school. So, it's not easy for me to read these books. And also, I certainly can’t get as much out of books as someone who is much better at English than I am. Because of that couple of things can happen. If you ask me what is the color of Isabelle hair I probably wouldn't know. Bertie from 7 Rules For A Proper Governess by Jennifer Ashley probably seems totally different from what's in my head. So, when Juba & I talking about these books it interesting to hear what is my description of characters:umm:. Good thing is that goal of reading isn't character description:lol:.

And now some serious stuff:
1. Reading romantic novels before sleep totally solved my problem with sleeping (I'm taking melatonin for years, but sometime before even melatonin couldn't put me to sleep if I was under of some big stress). Also, if I'm under the stress through the day it calms me immediately.;
2. Since the plot is interesting it disables you to wander with your thoughts.
3. It's a safe place for me, especially because the main thing in these books is that nobody dies and that is always happy ending;
4. Like someone who had a big issues with dissociation in the past, dreaming about perfect woman, reading completely replaced any need to dissociate again.
5. Even though this novels are fictional they in some way creating possibility of positive outcome. I think that all this "Hollywood" movies have a subliminally affect on one's mind to be in constant state of fear of manipulation, cheating and distrust. In the end fear of end of the world and catastrophic events. It's their world and they could only create what is in their mind. Recently I watched series See(-https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxb-ag6vlHY) just for comparison to see how differently have effect on me. Basically it's about killing and gives you only bad feelings.
6. I didn't read many books but I'm amazed how each story pull me inside and I'm always eager to see how things will develop.

So good to be part of this project.:flowers:
 
Although it was a book that has not been read, it was turned into a film series called La cocinera de Castamar, by Muñez, Fernando J. The story takes place in Spain (Madrid area), and it was a toss up between being placed on the Movies & Trivia: Picks & Pans or here. It is Romance, so added it here.

The series had 12 episodes first airing February 2021. It does not say if a second series has been in production.

The English name of the series is The Cook of Castamar. There are a few racy parts in some episodes, however overall, it is tame if not silly in parts. That being said, the costumes, sets and scenes are excellent (IMO), and some of the acting was good, too.

As the name denotes, the story centers on the new cook who had arrived at the Dukes palace. The Duke had also recently lost his love, his wife, which takes place in the opening scene. With the cook, it immediately becomes understood that the she, like many lady's have in the above Romance books, suffered in another life that begins to slowly get peeled away.

There are a number of complete sociopathic characters that are developed through the series, characters that are full of manipulations and violence right to the upper chambers of state court. The series has betrayal and redemption and much courtly pathology. There is love that develops in unusual places and loss on many levels.

The series was at first slow to develop, quirky, however it does develop with the help of some well known European actors, and again, the scenes were marvelous with detail.

Here is a list of the actors:

Cast[edit]​

Click to expand...

Here is a better story outline:

La cocinera de Castamar tells the story of an agoraphobic cook, at the house of a Spanish nobleman whose heart she conquers, against all odds. Clara, the main character, lives in her own small universe, the kitchen of Castamar, where the only windows to the outside world are the dishes she cooks with so much passion. But she also is an independent woman, who knows how to read and write and who lives on her own, in a world full of enemies and lies. The Duke of Castamar, on the other hand, is a young widower who lost his beloved wife in an accident, a modern man for his times… The characters of the novel are very beautifully drawn, the setting shows a tremendous amount of research. The recipes grant additional value to the book, inspiring us with lovely descriptions of the kitchen scenery, the smells and the ingredients of the dishes, very much in the style of Laura Esquivel’s Como agua para chocolate. Yet, at the same time, La cocinera de Castamar, with all its mysteries, intrigues and surprising twists, takes a new turn on sagas like Downton Abbe.
Click to expand...

The book is here in Spanish (and it was said that the series does not well follow it):

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The series trailer below:

 
Voyageur said:
Although it was a book that has not been read, it was turned into a film series called La cocinera de Castamar, by Muñez, Fernando J. The story takes place in Spain (Madrid area), and it was a toss up between being placed on the Movies & Trivia: Picks & Pans or here. It is Romance, so added it here.

The series had 12 episodes first airing February 2021. It does not say if a second series has been in production.

The English name of the series is The Cook of Castamar. There are a few racy parts in some episodes, however overall, it is tame if not silly in parts. That being said, the costumes, sets and scenes are excellent (IMO), and some of the acting was good, too.

As the name denotes, the story centers on the new cook who had arrived at the Dukes palace. The Duke had also recently lost his love, his wife, which takes place in the opening scene. With the cook, it immediately becomes understood that the she, like many lady's have in the above Romance books, suffered in another life that begins to slowly get peeled away.

There are a number of complete sociopathic characters that are developed through the series, characters that are full of manipulations and violence right to the upper chambers of state court. The series has betrayal and redemption and much courtly pathology. There is love that develops in unusual places and loss on many levels.

The series was at first slow to develop, quirky, however it does develop with the help of some well known European actors, and again, the scenes were marvelous with detail.

Here is a list of the actors:



Here is a better story outline:



The book is here in Spanish (and it was said that the series does not well follow it):

View attachment 57463

The series trailer below:

Click to expand...
Whoah! That looks intense!
 
Voyageur said:
Although it was a book that has not been read, it was turned into a film series called La cocinera de Castamar, by Muñez, Fernando J. The story takes place in Spain (Madrid area), and it was a toss up between being placed on the Movies & Trivia: Picks & Pans or here. It is Romance, so added it here.

The series had 12 episodes first airing February 2021. It does not say if a second series has been in production.

The English name of the series is The Cook of Castamar. There are a few racy parts in some episodes, however overall, it is tame if not silly in parts. That being said, the costumes, sets and scenes are excellent (IMO), and some of the acting was good, too.

As the name denotes, the story centers on the new cook who had arrived at the Dukes palace. The Duke had also recently lost his love, his wife, which takes place in the opening scene. With the cook, it immediately becomes understood that the she, like many lady's have in the above Romance books, suffered in another life that begins to slowly get peeled away.

There are a number of complete sociopathic characters that are developed through the series, characters that are full of manipulations and violence right to the upper chambers of state court. The series has betrayal and redemption and much courtly pathology. There is love that develops in unusual places and loss on many levels.

The series was at first slow to develop, quirky, however it does develop with the help of some well known European actors, and again, the scenes were marvelous with detail.

Here is a list of the actors:



Here is a better story outline:



The book is here in Spanish (and it was said that the series does not well follow it):

View attachment 57463

The series trailer below:

Click to expand...
I loved it and devoured it :love::love::love:
 
Yupo said:
I wouldn't call it a fairy tale ending. There is a great price to be paid for the good outcome, but our hero does not balk at the price.
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It's interesting how differently you can see it. :halo: For me it was clearly a happy ending and the "sacrifice" he had to make was possibly exactly the happy ending. Since it's been a while since I watched the series, I just rewatched the last episode and the ending because I doubted my judgement. But exactly what happened was what I wanted, it was what you actually knew from the first episode. And what she showed him and made him aware of. That's why I don't see it as a sacrifice, but as a happy ending.
 
Hi guys,

I recently finished Beyond the Sunrise by Mary Balogh, and I have been meaning to put together a review but it was such a different story that I couldn't quite finish processing it for a few days. But I will give it a shot and try to remain brief.


Stories in Balogh's repertoire, at least the ones I've read, usually begin with the reluctance to love, however this story begins with the acceptance of love, the declaration of it and then it dies due to a lie. So that was different.

Most stories of Balogh's have a tendency to show tenderness and sweetness, kindness and propriety, they're very endearing. This one was not, the two main Characters, Robert and Joana, are actually rude and insulting to one another for most of their story. There's a very noticeable lack of filtering through propriety that is very noticeable.

And I think that's what Balogh was going for, the expression of what's inside you, it can be ugly, in fact it will most certainly be ugly and distasteful, but it will land you somewhere, in authenticity which is a place where you may build something true about yourself.

Robert and Joana are both spies for Wellington in Portugal, they met when she was 15 and he was 17, he is the bastard son of an earl, and she's the daughter of a French diplomat. Her father disapproves of their relationship so he lies to her in order to get them apart, she refuses to lose and show herself as weak, breaks Robert's heart and leaves, her father then tell her he's died. Robert faces disillusionment and joins the army as a private solider and climbs through he ranks to become a captain.

They run into each other 10 years later, in the middle of the war, he recognizes her but she does not, so he withholds the truth form her because he resents wanting her.

Wellington commissions them both on the same mission, but Robert is not to be aware of it. And this sets up an entire set of experiences, lies, duplicity, rudeness and distrust.

She finds him attractive because he refuses to become her toy, and he finds her attractive because she's an amazing flirt, and beautiful and because she's the only woman who he's ever loved... but she's hurt him too.

There's a lot of things that really wouldn't endear you to her, she's extremely duplicitous, always playing a game and toys around with me, for a purpose, but does it nonetheless. As a person high in the instep, widowed to a Marques, and beautiful it was just so easy. She was also determined to kill a man who had raped and killed her half sister 3 years prior, and what she does to get that accomplished is reckless.

But, that is where her true self starts to show, despite her entire persona of a marquesa, refined, beautiful and desired by all, while she and Robert are out in the countryside she is a tough woman, unafraid (though she was afraid of passion), not fragile at all, determined and strong.

And that is where perhaps what I found of value in this story, which is actually very good, I would highly recommend it, lies.

There were several ideas that were clearly visible in this story, ideas that we've discussed here, acting on behalf of one's destiny for instance, with steadfast determination. It sometimes looks like acting against someone else, but it isn't always so. That is where assertiveness becomes compassionate, where saying no to someone might be the best thing one can do for them, even if it feels counterintuitive.

Personality versus essence, with Joana this was extremely well depicted, she has a very clear distinction between her public persona, and who she actually was. And that is not to say that we should strive to be purely essence, we need a personality to interact with other human beings, but aligning that with our essence is the best way to live a decent life in society. And she does this at the end, she renounces all her riches becase she realized that she would be sacrificing part of herself, a part that only Robert awoke in her, a part that she could not sacrifice.

It was a part of herself the was always there, her wild self, but at the same time, while she embraces her essence, it's not like she completely lets herself go, as she also enters a marriage. So she chose what rules to break and what rules to allow herself to be restrained by. That is a lifetime task I would say, to consciously choose what aspects of ourself we let go, keep and or consciously restrain for our own benefit.

Now, in terms of romantic aspects of a relationship, and interpersonal too, what was explored in this story, I think, was the need to not only like, want and love your partner, or rather, it explored the respect ingredient of interpersonal and romantic interactions.

By them dealing with one another, specially Robert, who resented Joana, and seeing her resolve, her ability and willingness to stand up for herself, her determination. He grows to respect her, and that is terribly important. I think I have seen characters honor one another, admire one another's courage, and be in awe at the qualities they discover.

But in this one, there was a focus on respecting your partner, respecting your enemy even, and that was achieved by testing their wills against one another, sometimes playfully, sometimes not. It's what JBP said about a partner being someone to contend with, not someone to war with, someone that can withstand the sight of you without melting or going blind, but sees your light, and honors it by responding sincerely to you. Because yes, we all have a light to shine, but a lot of shades too.. and if someone simply sees this light and is immediately dazzled by default... then there can be no testing of one's limits.

Someone who is unafraid of you, but not thinks himself better or over you. Respect also implies a specific amount of knowledge, also a specific type of knowledge. Knowing someone's limits, someones causes, someones boundaries, someone's ability to be harmful, and kind, and honest. it means knowing what to trust in this person.

And that is something that one needs to learn to train, Robert went from declaring his love to Joana days after meeting her at 17, to needing weeks to respect her and work through his resentment. We need to train ourselves to be able to see people fully, and ourselves too, as bright beings with tons of shadows and not over dramatize one end or the other, that is not focusing on our greatness nor our darkness entirely, they're both as self defeating.

And it's a beautiful, if long transformation for both of them, she shed the layers of falsehood she carried everywhere and learned to use to get what she wanted and needed out of people, and he learned what love really meant, not mere pleasure and adoration but a conscious choice to give her every sunshine from there on, after getting to truly know who she actually was.

And that last gesture is absolutely lovely, he gave her the sunrise, full of possibilities, right after the darkness of the war and death and rape and chaos. He gives her the light of his life, after the dark, which will come back, but he gives her his will to bring back the sun every day.

Which as far as promises go, it's brilliant, romantic and terribly adequate. Even if you're not promising this to a loved one, you can promise it to yourself, to your peers, you can promise yourself the everyday of choosing who you're going to be every day, like the sunrise chooses to show up every day, we can choose to show up to our lives and that of other's everyday. Even if not every day is sunny, we'll be there the part of ourselves that shines will be there.

I hope the above was clear. And thanks for reading.
 
Mililea said:
It's interesting how differently you can see it. :halo: For me it was clearly a happy ending and the "sacrifice" he had to make was possibly exactly the happy ending. Since it's been a while since I watched the series, I just rewatched the last episode and the ending because I doubted my judgement. But exactly what happened was what I wanted, it was what you actually knew from the first episode. And what she showed him and made him aware of. That's why I don't see it as a sacrifice, but as a happy ending.
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Yes, he was clearly happy to make the 'sacrifice' for happiness. My point was that not many men in his circumstances might be willing to do so. He got rid of a lot of problems at the same time, didn't he?
 
I’m reading The Notorious Rake and I am finding these two characters very interesting and quite engaging.

When you read a series of Mary Balogh’s books, it struck me sometimes the villains (I’m referring not to the psychopathic ones, rather just the damaged humans) in one book become the love interest in another. It is really interesting to read that when the character meets their match the interactions propel the couple to evolve and develop their humanity. In a previous story I find I dislike them immensely and then later in the book series, when Balogh writes their story, I find I am sympathetic towards them. Discovering all their strengths and likeable traits.
 
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