I need a heee-ro!

I keep forgetting to blog about this! Thankfully, a new CD reminded me.
The Betts I just finished, The Bachelor's Wedding was part of Harlequin's "Holding out for a Hero" series. I'm a Gen Xer, so of course for the last nine or ten days, I've been thinking of the melodramatic Bonnie Tyler song. I suspect the people in the marketing meetings were also amused by this - one couldn'tcome up with a "Holding out for a Hero" marketing campaign without being aware of the song, could one?
I'm not sure that Jason, reader of Juvenal and Horace (in the original, of course), really meets the description of a hero. He did save Araminta from her horrible family, but with a few less scruples she could've done that herself. And the rescue at the end was a bit contrived - Jason's sister called at 5 am, saying her son is missing and possibly injured in this horrible storm, but it takes him seven-odd hours (including an unnecessary stop at the London house) to get there. There wasn't anyone else who could've gone in search of the kid?

sinners at the hands of an angry Jason

I enjoyed The Bachelor's Wedding, and Araminta and Jason were more likeable than many other Betts heroes and heroines. That said, there's a rather disturbing bit in the otherwise pleasant chapter 9. If you'll remember, Alice comes over to tell Araminta that their father had gotten a promotion, that he'd sold the house, and that he and Alice were moving to Bournemouth.
That's all well and good, so far as it goes. It's in character for Mr. Smith to take one more chance to upbraid Araminta for marrying and leaving them in the lurch ("I find it difficult to forget your selfishness even if I can forgive", p. 168). But it's a bit of a surprise that Jason used his connections to get Mr. Smith the promotion and move to Bournemouth (kicking him upstairs, presumably), arranged for the house to be bought quickly.
And it's astonishing to read this, from the otherwise polite Jason: "He said harshly, 'Unless you wish to do so, you do not have to see your father or Alice again. They have treated you badly, used you as a housekeeper and breadwinner, and shown not one jot of gratitude. They do not deserve to have their circumstances improved but it was the only way I could think of that would set you free'" (p. 169).
Ok, whoa. Everything he said about their treatment of Araminta was true, I'll grant that. But - sending them away and suggesting that Araminta need never see them again? One wonders whether he was genuinely that indignant, or whether he took this as excuse to rid himself of Araminta's undesirable relatives.

Bachelor's Wedding, chapter 9

Chapter 9! It came so quickly. Alice comes over to visit. Is it just me, or are the secondary characters in this book more shallow than usual? In this case, Araminta walks in on Alice "fingering the small silver ornaments set out on a small ebony side-table" (p. 164). Alice has come to tell Araminta that their father has gotten a promotion, so they've sold the house and are moving to Bournemouth. Alice, Mr. Smith, Jason and Araminta have dinner together.
A week or ten days pass. Jason spends more time in Araminta's company of an evening (she sews, he reads - once, he reads Juvenal "in the original of course"), and begins to think she's pretty. They go to the cottage, but the weather takes an abrupt turn for the worse, and they have to go rescue Jason's nephew, who has broken his leg out in the storm. Araminta is sensible in the face of danger.
The book ends (as The Awakened Heart did) with Araminta's decision that she is breaking the spirit of her promise to have a platonic relationship, so she goes to tell Jason that she loves him, but that now she'll have to go. But before she can tell him, he calls her "dear heart", and the book ends happily.
I'll be offline for roughly a week, so I imagine my next post will be in the New Year. I'll be reading Britannia All At Sea while I'm offline, so I expect I'll post about quite a bit of it at once. It's a fun one - it reminds me of the one (can't remember the title) where the Dutch doctor has a vague engagement with the most pedantic, tiresome woman ever: the Betts heroine's patient.

Vicky: more flimsy than cardboard

What's more flimsy and two-dimensional than a cardboard character? Vicky is. Vicky appeared several chapters ago, encouraging Jason to go out for the evening. Here, she appears as Jason and Araminta are settling back in after the trip for the cottage.
It's too tedious to consider her a foil for Araminta - in fact, the only one who feels that Jason might like Vicky is Araminta. This is one occasion when Araminta's much-vaunted common sense goes out the window. She should see that if Jason didn't attach himself to Vicky after all these years, he's hardly likely to take up with her now that he's married.
But for whatever reason, we all have to endure these scenes with Vicky, clearly designed to make Araminta look good. Jason offers Araminta some sherry, and asks Vicky what she would like. She answers, "Gin and tonic, of course - unless there's champagne" (p. 158). Vicky gossips light-heartedly and mocks Araminta for adopting the cat, so of course Jason is very disapproving of Vicky. Betts makes Vicky even more shallow on the next page: "Life's too short not to get as much fun out of it as possible."
I'd probably get a kick out of coffee with Vicky.

Araminta's gardening clothes

Araminta was poor before this - at least, her wardrobe was nothing to write home about. So I can see where she would revel in her nice new clothes. But Betts has her dress up to go to the country, which seems strange. Here's the quote (p. 151): "...since they hoped to spend the weekend walking and pottering in the garden, Araminta wore the suede jacket and one of her new skirts with a silk shirt and cashmere sweater. She wore sensible shoes too..."
Well, I'd hope she wore sensible shoes! Because honestly, this is a really odd outfit to wear for gardening, in that sort of bathing-horses-in-champagne way. Why not wear an old skirt?

Bachelor's Wedding, chapter 8

Wow, this book is going quickly!
I have to introduce a new label: adopted pet. This refers to the bedraggled pets that Betts characters adopt. These pets are always handy for establishing a character as thoughtful and caring. Betts heroines have been known to adopt pets even when they are very poor. Araminta finds this one on the doorstep of the cottage, which they visit in this chapter. In this case, the pet serves as something for Vicky to mock when she comes over, and for Jason to defend.
Araminta continues to be in love with Jason, and at the very end of the chapter, he realizes he's in love with her.
I have quite a bit more to say about this chapter - well, two long comments, which I feel would be better in separate posts.

Bachelor's Wedding, chapter 7

Araminta and Jason get married at the beginning of the chapter. Alice doesn't even attend; Mr. Smith does, to give Araminta away, but skedaddles off tout de suite with the comment that he has to go take Alice out to lunch.
Araminta has a wedding day (and first days after) that would be atypical for anyone but a Betts heroine: Jason works quite a bit, and she is left to learn about the house on her own. She gets some tapestry to do, and Jason takes her to Harrods for a shopping spree. Essentially, she needs a whole new wardrobe; not even her wedding suit is quite good enough.
At the very end of the chapter, Araminta realizes she is in love with Jason, and probably has been for a while. She's sensible about it, though, and decides to have a good try at winning his love (with the help of a good clothes, careful makeup and well-dressed hair, natch).

Bachelor's Wedding, chapter 6

Of course, Araminta makes up her mind to marry Jason. He comes over to help her break the news to Mr. Smith and Alice, who are rather rude about it. Indeed, once they get Araminta alone, Alice is indignant that Araminta is leaving them in the lurch, and Mr. Smith doubts Araminta's future happiness, predicting that "he'll probably be ashamed of you among all his lofty friends" (p. 110).
After agreeing to marry Jason, Araminta realizes that she doesn't know much about him. Really! Here's what she says: "I'll marry you whenever you want me to, but I don't know anything about you - only that you are a surgeon and live here." (p. 106. My SO commented that she has a pretty bad home life, so of course she wants to escape - anything is better than the alternative. Good point). Anyway, Jason laughes and replies (as so many Betts heroes do): "Supposing we get married first and take our time to get to know each other later?"
See, here's where the wheels fall off the "Araminta is sensible" theory, because - really! I know arranged marriages work well in quite a few cultures, and marrying for love isn't all it's cracked up to be, but in this case they would both be equally well-served with a bit more assertiveness. Then Araminta could leave home and be trained for a career, and Jason could say no to all those women who call up to ask him out. To her credit, she does reflect that "she must be out of her mind" (p. 107).
Jason sends Mr. Smith money to pass on to Araminta so she can buy a wedding outfit. Predictably, Mr. Smith takes half of it for Alice. Araminta still manages to buy a burgundy and dark green suit, with a hat to match.
Jason mentions his second house, a cottage in Essex with a large garden.

Bachelor's Wedding, chapter 5

OK, I put off writing about this chapter for about an hour, because I have no idea how to describe it. It was crazy.
First of all, I should say that I like Araminta here. She's reasonably assertive but not a jerk, she doesn't lose her head, and she keeps her mouth shut under provocation. While I suspect that she is secretly in love with Jason, she's not being foolish about it. Sadly, it's safe to predict that Araminta will become much more emotional and foolish before the book is over.
Araminta's new job is a bad one: she's taking care of a fairly helpless woman for three hours every morning. Not totally helpless, given that she manages to eat a box of chocolates, but pretty incapable of doing anything for herself. Araminta's employer is over-the-top Victorian, refusing to let Araminta leave on time, and grumbling when Araminta wants to take her day off.
Mr Smith has gone around the bend as well. He and Alice continue to be extravagant, and he won't even hear of Alice getting a job. Happily, Araminta realizes how foolish her father is. After he looks mournful about "the sorrow your selfishness causes me", Araminta sails past it: "Father, you sound like someone in a Victorian novel. Have some more pudding?" (p. 88)
But the craziest, most Victorian, most Betts-at-her-wackiest character is Jason. Araminta comes out of work on Saturday to find Jason waiting in the Rolls for her. He'd rung up the agency to find out where she was, and why this didn't ring alarm bells for the agency's or in Araminta's head, I don't know.
Jason takes Araminta out to lunch, orders for her (even though they're not eating anywhere formal at all), and then responds to Araminta's description of her job with: "Of course you cannot go back to that dreadful woman. I'll see the agency and arrange for you to leave as from today." (p. 96). An aghast Araminta protests this, on the grounds that she needs the money, but he keeps on going.
He asks her not to interrupt, and then tells her that he has decided to marry. He wants someone to come home to at the end of the day; he's not in love, he makes clear, but he'll settle for second-best. Sensible Araminta asks why he is telling her this, and he responds: "I considered it right to explain my feelings before I ask you to marry me, Araminta" (p. 97). She protests that he doesn't know anything about her (which is essentially true - and though Araminta doesn't know it, it has only been a week since he considered marrying anyone at all, let alone her).
He goes on to insist (Jason's word, not mine) that regardless of whether she decides to marry him, Araminta must give up her dreadful that day. That hour! And so he does, and now Araminta is unemployed. She says goodbye to him thus: "Thank you for my lovely lunch, and thank you for proposing to me. Shall I write and let you know?" (p. 99). And then she asks the vicar for advice - much more sound than the Betts heroine (can't remember who) who asks the Betts hero for advice about what to do about the Betts hero.
In case it's not clear, I like Araminta - she's so sensible in the face of melodrama! Sadly, I expect she'll say yes to the proposal in the next chapter, and become a typical Betts lovefool in the chapters to follow. So: a moment of silence for the sensible Araminta!

Bachelor's Wedding, chapter 4

In this chapter, Jason's sister comes back from Chile, so Araminta finishes her job with the family. Jason's sister notices Jason's tendency to refer to Araminta as "Miss Smith", and the way he reacts to her, and draws a few conclusions. Jason's nowhere near drawing those conclusions on his own, though in this chapter he starts to think about how pleasant it would be to come home to a restful woman. He's aware that Araminta is restful, but he hasn't made the connection yet.
Jason gives Araminta a ride back to her home, and she walks into a dirty home: dishes and pans unwashed, dust everywhere, laundry undone. Alice has been to the doctor since Araminta was home, and reports that she's well, but refuses to get a job (even though Araminta, the Gallant of this story, has already arranged for a new job that starts the next morning). So in an unusual show of assertiveness, Araminta does her own laundry, but refuses to do Alice's (Alice had said she would not get a job because she would do the housework, though clearly she's unwilling to do even that). To add insult to injury, Alice and Mr. Smith have racked up a bunch of bills because Alice spent the housekeeping money on a faux-leather jacket. Araminta ends the chapter reflecting that she will never escape her family; even after Alice marries, Araminta will have to stay home to make sure her irresponsible father stays solvent.
This got an other car tag, because Jason drives a Rolls! He also - and this is crazy, so brace yourself - has an actual personality trait, one that his shrill friend Vicky recognizes: he likes to read. In this chapter, he has another free hour, and reads Homer (Betts doesn't say whether it's a translation, though).

Bachelor's Wedding, chapter 3

Why is this book called The Bachelor's Wedding? it's never about the bachelor, not really. Well, I suppose they can't all be called Marrying a Doctor (and there is one called that, by the way. I find it refreshingly direct).
Araminta continues to work for Jason's niece and nephew. This chapter covers their first week back to school. They're still rude to Araminta, but she's coping well.
The oddest thing in the chapter (or in quite a few Bettses) is Araminta's wish to become successful and rich. She wants people to think of her as clever, and muses that "'I'd have enough money to buy lovely clothes...' She thought for a bit. 'And a different face!'" (p. 61). Ok, whoa. Did a Betts heroine just wish for plastic surgery? She doesn't wish she looks different, she says she could buy a different face. Crazy!
Jason comes to see them at the weekend. He surprises Araminta in her bathrobe, with her hair down, getting morning tea. Later, he's a bit creepy: "'You have very nice legs, Miss Smith.' His eyes were on her face....He was staring at her like a hawk." (p. 62).

Bachelor's Wedding, chapter 2

Araminta had planned to look after Jason's niece and nephew for a week, but at the end of the week he discovers that their mother needs to stay in Chile for a while longer, and that their usual caregiver is still looking after a sick parent. So Araminta is asked to stay on for another week or two. Because half-term is over, Jason will be taking the children and Araminta back to his sister's house. She will act as housekeeper while they go to their day schools.
But before they go, Araminta goes home to pick up some more clothes. I don't know how that's possible; in chapter 1, when she's packing, she reflects that she's packing "almost all she had" (p. 11). Hmmm. She also packs a volume of Thackeray's work and Vanity Fair - the novel, not the magazine, of course. Her hand pauses over Jane Eyre, but she doesn't have room in her bag for it. Or does Betts have her reject it because it would have been too meta?
Jason tells Araminta that Alice (who had set herself out to charm Jason, natch) is in good health - surely unprofessional of him, if totally in character for a Betts hero. Araminta is proving herself to be an admirable, if slightly dull heroine. She manages to get these bratty children to behave, if not act with any friendliness. She's sensible, and and organized, and a good cook.

Bachelor's Wedding, chapter 1

Oooh boy, a new Betts! This one features an English doctor, for a change. Better still, it features my favorite plot - the ungrateful family plot. In this case, poor Araminta works through an agency, earning bits of money to help support her extravagant father and her anemic sister Alice. Alice lounges around all day, because she's anemic. Araminta needs a new pair of shoes, while Alice gets a new dressing gown as a treat. Over-the-top, I know! But that's the fun of this plot.
Anyway, Araminta winds up getting a last-minute job through her agency: taking care of a ten-year-old and a thirteen-year-old, the nephew and niece of Jason Lister, a doctor. She fetches them from their home, because their mother has to go to Chile to see their sick father, and takes them to Jason's house. She'll take care of them during their half-term holiday, though so far they are spoiled brats.
Araminta isn't much to look at, but Jason is, of course. Betts heroes always are. I'd forgotten that Bachelor's Wedding is the book (one of several, I think), where the hero has a rare moment of leisure. Typically, he chooses to spend it "with the poems of Horace - in the original Latin, of course." (p. 9)
We don't get a very detailed description of Jason's house; it's quite large, though, with at least four good-sized bedrooms. He also has a cook, whose husband works for the doctor as well.

a genuine non sequitur!

By the way, Sophie's claim that she doesn't like heights never comes up again in the book! For once, Betts led me off the trail; I assumed Sophie would have to climb to the top of a tower before the end of the book. I suppose letting this opportunity drop is indicative of how strangely dull The Awakened Heart was.

Awakened Heart, chapter 9

There were many dull chapters in this book (5, 6 and 8, if memory serves me correctly). I'm not sure why the pacing is so off in this book. Rather a lot (relatively speaking, of course) happens in chapter 9; I'm not sure why some of this wasn't spread over the other chapters.
Sophie meets the mysterious Irena, and neither Sophie nor the reader is surprised to find out that she's the woman who was in the car with Rijk. They meet at a party, and the next day Irena comes over for lunch and to skate with Sophie and Rijk. Rijk drives Irena home, and then calls to say he will be out late.
It's a bit hasty of Sophie to assume he spent all those missing hours with Irena, but also out of line for Rijk to be furious with Sophie when she suggests that interpretation of the night's events. He has done remarkably little to earn Sophie's trust, so his fury at not having it is, well, very Rijk. Irena comes along, explains everything, and suggests that Sophie go find Rijk to apologize. There's some tiresome business about how Sophie has to leave him now, because she has said she loves him (thereby violating the terms of their platonic marriage). Turns out he has been waiting for her to break her word on this point, which - well, you can imagine what I think of that.
New book tomorrow!

Betts heroine as accessory

In chapter 8 of Awakened Heart, although Sophie gets a cheque-book, she doesn't go on a shopping spree. Rijk admits that she dresses charmingly, but that she'll not want to wear the same clothes too often because "I can't have my friends saying that I don't give you enough pin money" (p. 158).
Not "you should dress well, because of your position as the wife of a well-known doctor", or "I'll enjoy seeing you well-turned-out", or "I'd like to make you happy, and this is one way I can do that". All of those are true, but which does he choose? The one about what his friends will think. Rijk can be a bit of a jerk, I think.

the difficulty of choosing dinner

In one of my last posts, I wrote:
"She [the typical Betts heroine, after marriage] probably also arranges the flowers, consults with the cook about the meals, and helps with some children's charity in the village."
During my time away from the blog, I'd forgotten about that. But that makes this bit in chapter 8 all the funnier:
Sophie "went along to the kitchen to start the difficult but interesting business of deciding what to eat for the rest of the day" (p. 160). Here's the thing: although she speaks very little Dutch at this point, one of the servants is bilingual and can translate, thereby negating the language barrier as a reason for difficulty. If Dutch isn't the problem, why on earth is it difficult to choose what to eat, given that she can afford any food she likes, and doesn't have to cook it?

Awakened Heart, chapter 8

I couldn't find the book for a while. Sorry. On the bright side, I've clean forgotten the first seven chapters of The Awakened Heart, which should make this blog post more fun to write.
Sophie's upset because her husband (whose long Dutch name I've forgotten) was spotted with an attractive woman in his car. Because Betts heroines are always stupid about these things, she immediately assumes the worst, and hops on a bus to go home.
Her husband (Rijk! That's his name!) picks her up at the bus stop, without mentioning the Mysterious Woman, and drops her off at home. He tells her he has a meeting, and that she shouldn't wait up. Chillingly, both he and Sophie understand that his "don't wait up" isn't a polite phrase, it's a directive (p. 153: "She went to bed early because he had made it clear that he didn't expect to see her when he got home").
The next day Rijk gives her a cheque-book that shows how large her quarterly allowance is. She's shocked, but he makes it clear that she can't be seen too often in the same dress. What happened to having a good, serviceable wardrobe?
Sophie feeds the dog chocolate! Surely that's not good for him? More to the point, "he expected it", so clearly he's in the habit of eating it. Aren't these people medical professionals?
This is a killing-time chapter. Sophie spends it puttering around the house and village, feeding the dog chocolate, and saving a small child from a freezing lake. Actually, she does no such thing - she sees that he's in there, goes in there herself, and sends the dog to Rijk for help. Good thing the chocolate hadn't made the dog too sick to move. After her recovery, she hears Rijk on the phone, talking to Irena about dinner that evening (Irena will, of course, turn out to be the woman in the car) .
The most interesting thing in the chapter is a revelation from Rauke, the manservant, that he and Rijk's father were in the underground resistance together during WWII.