Welcome everybody to our discussion of Adele Ashworth's "My Darling Caroline." I am still waiting for my copy of the book and hope that I will have it by Friday. I have never read any of Ashworth's books. I read a great review of this one and it appears that the story has a lot of twists and turns. I am looking forward to getting started.

How is everyone doing about getting their copy of the book and starting to read it?

Marjorie

Hi, I can't find this book in the library nor in three used books stores so I guess I won't be joining you this time. Have fun. Marj

M: Sorry you can't find the book. When I checked at the local library, they said there was only one copy in our county system. That was checked out and due to return on the 30th and then they could order it. That didn't seem practical to me. I guess next time I will try to figure out a way to know that more people can get their hands on the book before I make the selection. I was hoping to introduce some authors we hadn't already discussed for variety.

Hope everyone has a great day.

Marjorie

Marjorie: I also meant to menton that I couldn't find any of the authors you recommended at the library either--guess it wasn't my "book" day. But I'll look again later.:~) Marj

Good morning everyone! I started the book last night. Read the first chapter.

Do you think Caroline will get to America to study botany?

The story starts in 1815. I was a little surprised at the restrictions placed on women in the chapter. I thought it sounded like an earlier century. Maybe it is because it isn't the United States. Maybe it is just the other books I have read. It wouldn't have surprised me at the time the Garfield books were set.

This book seems different to read than Garfield's books. Can anyone tell me what the difference is? Analyis of books and writing styles is not one of my strengths. I just know if I like a book I am reading. Sometimes that can be my mood of the moment.

Marjorie

Last night I started chapter 2. I don't know if I was tired or what the night before, but last night I had to read another chapter and another and another before I could put the book down and turn out the light. I hope people are able to get copies of the book. The plot is sure complicated. Lots of motivations that can be discussed.

Marjorie

I'm waiting for the book. Marjorie, it sounds good if you can't put it down! I'm looking forward to it. Happy Holiday, everyone!

MEM: Happy holiday to you and everyone. I'm glad your book is on the way. I guess with the holiday weekend you will get it Tuesday at the earliest. We are in no hurry with this discussion. Let us know when you start reading it.

Marjorie

but they didn't have it either. I did see it at a library at the beach, but they wouldn't let me check it out and mail it back. I can try for Inter-library loan, but it always takes my library so long to get anything that way. I think I'll go ahead and order from Amazon.com. I still have some birthday money left in my account and I want to order Nora Roberts Tears of the Moon anyway.

I'm glad you're enjoying the book Marjorie. It sounds like it's pretty good. Sue

SUE: I think you will enjoy "Tears of the Moon." I am glad you are getting "My Darling Caroline." I had to order mine on the internet too.

Marjorie

Last night I finished the book. There are lots and lots of twists and turns to the plot. Definitely a surprise ending. I enjoyed reading it.

Hope you enjoy "Tears on The Moon" as much as I did. Still haven't found My Darling Caroline, but that's okay, I'll enjoy reading all your comments. I finally!!!finished reading A Time to Kill by John Grisham. It took me longer to read this one than any others of his. I have the Testament to read now. Bye for now, Ruth

Hi Marjorie and R.R.s (romance readers)! I just opened an e-mail from Amazon.com. They have shipped my order and I will probably receive it in a couple of days. I'm especially anxious to start My Darling Caroline, Marjorie, as you read it so fast, it must be pretty good. You usually pace your reading to keep us interested here, so I'm thinking I won't be able to stop reading until I'm finished.

Ruth, I'm sure I'll enjoy Tears of the Moon. I've enjoyed all other Nora Roberts novels I've read, especially those set in Ireland. I'm a Grisham fan, too, and have read both those books. I think you'll enjoy The Testament. It might be slow going, though. Sue

Hi RUTH.

SUE: I may decide to reread "My Darling Caroline" when everyone else starts reading their copy of the book. It will help me keep track of what is going on. I think it should be interesting to read again knowing some of the surprises ahead of time. I will see if there are any clues in the beginning.

Marjorie

Hi Marjorie

I've already read it! We were camping out in our kitchen because we had rented a steam cleaner. The back of our house is the only part carpeted, so we moved a futon into our kitchen along with other stuff covering the floors. I was unable to get into the back of the house to use the computer or do any other work, so I spent the late afternoon and evening reading.

I found My Darling Caroline to be thoroughly enjoyable. The dialogue between characters was well written. I especially enjoyed the plot twists and turns you mentioned earlier, Marjorie. I also thought the romantic moments were tastefully done. I'm going back to the earlier posts. I think there were some questions there that will help us discuss the book. Sue

SUE: You were sure a fast reader. I am glad you enjoyed the book. It really is a page turner. I just finished "Castles" by Julie Garwood last night. (I didn't like it as well as "The Secret" or "Ransom" thought). Tonight I will start to reread "My Darling Caroline" so I can remember what you are talking about. I think M(arj) said she was going to buy the book too. Should we wait until we hear she has started it to discuss it?

Marjorie

I am enjoying my rereading of "My Darling Caroline" because I am reading things that I had forgotten had been said. There were things that Caroline and Brent said to each other in the first couple of chapters that somehow I had forgotten later when I wondered why the characters were assuming certain things about each other. Duh! They took each other at their words not realizing the motivation behind what was said. No wonder they were thinking what they were.

All that is probably clear as mud. I don't want to give away any part of the story until more people are here and discussing it.

Have a great weekend everyone.

Marjorie

You mentioned that the book said that there were restrictions against female students in 1815. I did a search on Oxford, one of Great Britain's pre-eminent universities. It is divided into a number of "colleges". The first Oxford College to open to females was Lady Margaret Hall in 1878. It also said that LMH became co-ed one hundred years later. I don't when or if the the other Oxford Colleges admitted women.

One thing that didn't ring true was the account of Caroline listening in the hallway. The Oxford colleges do not have classes or lectures. They are run with tutors, who coach the students and supervise private study. However, Cambridge, another great UK university, may run its system differently.

So one thing that we can assume Ashworth has correct is that it was very difficult for a woman to receive a scientific education in 1815. Sue

SUE: I wasn't paying attention to whether or not the history in the book was correct. How about Brent having served as an English spy in France when England was fighting Napoleon? Were those dates correct?

Has anyone else started reading this book yet?

Marjorie

Marjorie, I was scanning the posts to see if y'all were enjoying your book and if you'd mentioned any possibiities for the next one. I can see it's too early for that. Please don't wait for me --I couldn't find the book anywhere and, I believe I've mentioned before, I don't buy new books except for other people. If you didn't like Castles you might try Garwood's Honor's Splendour--it's her personal fav.and try Judith McNaught--I think you'll really like her. Have fun. Marj

M: Apparently MEM has ordered the book. I don't know if she has received it or started reading it yet. Since she and SUE and I are the only ones who seem to be reading this book, it probably isn't too early to select a new book. I think we can be discussing this book while I get the next one ready. Perhaps that would help keep people interested in this discussion.

I wonder if we would get greater participation if we went back to one of the more popular authors?

Those of you who are here: How do you feel about a discussion that only has a couple of posters? Is it interesting to you? If it is, we can continue with authors that haven't been discussed yet. If not, I would like to try one of the more popular authors again.

Marjorie

Some questions to think about while reading:

Why did Caroline decide to go along with her father's wishes and marry Brent? On the day of their wedding what kind of person did Caroline think Brent was and what kind of person did Brent think Caroline was? How did that change later on in the book?

Hi Marjorie and fellow romance readers! I did a little search on Napoleon and the Napoleonic Wars in order to answer Marjorie's question in post #20. The Napoleonic Wars were fought from 1800-1815. Napoleon was first exiled to Elba in 1814. Then he returned and fought at the Battle of Waterloo on June 18, 1815. He was then finally exiled permanently to the island of St. Helena.

So Brent could have worked as a spy in the early parts of the Napoleonic Wars and even gotten home in 1815. I believe the book said he came home following the Battle of Waterloo, but I'll have to look it up. Sue

SUE: Thanks for checking that out. I just looked at the book and the first page says "England 1815." Brent's nightmare took place after the battle of Waterloo so the dates in the book sound right.

Marjorie

I finally received the book, but didn't have a chance to start reading until yesterday-- and then, couldn't put it down-- stayed up til 2:30 to finish. As you can guess, I really "got into it"! In the back of my copy, Ashworth explains that she took liberties with the facts and that women would not have been in the hall listening, but that they may have listened at Columbia, because the USA was a bit more liberal. It's good to know that women today can study, do and be anything they please. I found the little girl fascinating and it was interesting they had to devise their own alphabet -- which had me wondering when sign language (uniform) was adopted. I think Alexander Bell had a hand in that, but can't remember the details. I'll look that up when I have time.

MEM: Hi. I am delighted you received your copy of the book. It seems that those of us who have read it all had the same experience of not being able to put it down. I was also fascinated with the way Caroline was teaching the little girl to speak with gestures and letters. I was remembering the Helen Keller movie when I read that and think that Helen Keller was early in the 1900's. Does anyone remember? I don't know how long before that the alphabet was first invented. A great thing to look up. I will be most interested to read what you find out.

Marjorie

She has died recently. I will try to look up the dates and get back to you. Her teacher, Annie Sullivan, was brought to Alabama by Helen's father in the early 1900s, I think. I don't believe that sign language had been used very long then.

Mem, I'm glad you enjoyed the story, too. I thought Ashworth did a good job with the historical facts although they had to be altered somewhat to fit the plot.

One thing that bothered me about the book is her naming the hero Brent. That doesn't seem to me to be a name that would have been in use in the late 1700s when he would have been born. Brent seems more modern, but I could be wrong. Caroline seems more accurately named. Sue

I really liked the way there was always a new revelation in the next chapter. Caroline sure ended up with the best of both worlds for her time. By the end of the book she had the recognition and work that she wanted in botany and she had the marriage and children she wanted as well.

Marjorie

American sign language (ALS)which is commonly in use in the USA was developed from a French system introduced here in 1816 by Thomas Gallaudet. Even today British sign language is entirely different. I thought Alexander Graham Bell had a connection to sign language, but I was mistaken! He was born in Edinburgh in 1847, and was the second generation of his family to teach elocution and speech correction. He emigrated to Canada; later, to Boston where he opened a school to train teachers of the deaf. He believed speech (oral) could be taught to the deaf. One of the prominent graduates was Mary Garrett who later taught at the Pennsylvania Institution for the Deaf and Dumb in Mt. Airy, PA. Helen Keller could speak, so, she must have been trained by this method rather than signing. Incidentally, Bell invented the telephone in 1876, which happened because of his intense interest in sound This information gleaned from the Britannica site online.

I have been thinking about our next selection and trying to find a way to select a book that other people can find either in the bookstore, library or second-hand store. One thing I did just now was find the website for our country library system, 9 libraries plus the bookmobile. I looked the author's up on the card catalog and found how many copies all 10 libraries have. I think if our county had a lot of copies it will be more likely that other people will be able to find the book in their local libraries or second hand stores. There was only one copy of "My Darling Caroline" for our whole county.

I looked up two authors from comments that were made before and would like to suggest the following two books. Judith McNaught's "Remember When" was published in paperback in May, 2000 and Barbara Delinsky's "Lake News" was published in paperback in 1997. I think both books would make good discussions. Perhaps we can plan to read Barbara Delinsky's book next and then follow that with Judith McNaught's book. What do you all think?

Judith McNaught's "Remember When" has 18 copies in the Santa Clara County Library system. A synopsis I found says:

Neither socialite Diana Foster nor billionaire Cole Harrison imagined that their marriage of convenience would spark an explosive passion--and a timeless love.

Barbara Delinksy's "Lake News" is a New York Times bestseller and has 34 copies in Santa Clara County library system. The synopsis on B&N says:

In Barbara Delinsky's new love story, Lake News, a woman escapes the filthy rumors that the media have created around her, and in so doing runs into a man who has his own problems with media frenzies -- he's a journalist with a past he needs to heal. Lily, the heroine, is one of Delinsky's most thoroughly realized characters, and her story is profound and moving. We've got an excerpt for you to read, and more about this wonderful love story.

Marjorie

so I'll start looking now, Marjorie. Thanks for the heads up message. Sue

Hi all.....am back in town for a few days. I will make a trek to the library on Monday and check out the McNaught and Delinsky books. Hope they have them.

Thanks Marjorie for trying to find something we can all get ahold of easily. I think your method should be quite valid. I will check on Monday. Either book is fine with me....I have read quite a few by McNaught and am trying to remember if I have read that title.

Northern Joan

NORTHERN JOAN: Good to see you. Be sure to let us know if you can get both books at your library. I am thinking that we will read the McNaught book first and then the Delinsky book so that I won't have to select a book for a while. That is assuming I don't get a lot of negative response. No negative response so far.

I am reading Ciji Ware's book "A Cottage by the Sea." I am enjoying the story. I don't know how available it is so didn't suggest it for discussion. Just a book some of you may want to read.

Marjorie

I have started work on the heading for "Remember When" by Judith McNaught. I am thinking to start the discussion around Oct. 5 which gives us all two weeks to get the book and gives me two weeks to get everything ready. I will give you a link to the new discussion as soon as it is ready.

I have received my copy of "Remember When." I have more of a description of the story than I had originally. Here is my new description of the next book:

Alone on a moonlit balcony at Houston's White Orchid Charity Ball, Diana Foster had no inkling of the extraordinary journey that would begin that night. Recently jilted by her fiance for a blonde Italian heiress, Diana felt obliged to attend the ball. Very publicly unengaged, Diana knew that certain socialites were already spinning nasty rumors. So why was billionaire Cole Harrison closing in on her with two crystal flutes and a bottle of champagne?

The former stableboy had received an ultimatum from his crusty uncle: Cole must bring home a wife -- soon -- or see part of the business he had built go to an undeserving relative. Cole had decided his bride should be rich in her own right, meltingly beautiful, and a woman of immeasurable character. In short, Diana Foster! Neither of them knew what to expect next ...

Marjorie