And yes, the writing holds up remarkably well, doesn't it? The plot is strong and oh, yes, the characters are so finely drawn!
The interesting thing about these pre-Woodiwiss historicals is how strong the romance elements are in spite of the main characters being male. The men do their swashbuckling, but without the romance part, they'd be far less human, if that makes sense. Leanna wakens Johnnie's old dreams and gives him the motivation to become more than he has been relegated to.
Even though the women are relegated to supporting roles, so to speak, they are often very compelling characters in their own rights. Arabella Bishop, in Sabatini's "Captain Blood." Camilla di Baglione in Shellabarger's "Prince of Foxes." Iolanthe Rogliano in Frank Yerby's "The Saracen Blade."
Having read so many of them, I didn't see Woodiwiss and Rogers and the other historical romance authors of the 1970s as really writing anything NEW; they just put a different perspective on it. And I was soooooooo glad they did!
"The interesting thing about these pre-Woodiwiss historicals is how strong the romance elements are in spite of the main characters being male."
He was sensitive, had emotions other than wanting to just be controlling or "alpha", we sometimes call it. It was amazing to me, going in with a preconceived notion, I was so pleasantly surprised. I'm going to bet Johnnie shows up as a Romancies nominee for my Favorite Heroes category :)
"Even though the women are relegated to supporting roles, so to speak, they are often very compelling characters in their own rights."
Yes! If this had been a book club read, I'd want to talk more in depth about the five women who directly and indirectly influenced his life.
For me, Woodwiss and Rogers had stronger romance elements, which I mean showcasing the relationship between hero and heroine. But, I think Johnnie is almost a better hero than what they had, I can't give up my love for The Wolf and Dove but Woodiwiss and Rogers have heroes I feel uncomfortable thinking about reading and enjoying because of how they treated the heroine. I struggle mightily with some of these characters/books. Also with some newly published ones, which is why this 1949 depiction of this hero felt so soothing in some ways.
Johnnie's comments about love -- romantic love -- are almost a shocker for a reader who started with Woodiwiss/Rogers. And I love how me references having reading Henry Fielding!
Johnnie's no rapist, and to me that's the whole difference. He not only cared about Leanna, and even Moll to a certain extent, but he cared about the other characters. He had affection for Ames and a kind of buddy-relationship with Ben Bottle even though that changed as Johnnie's rank rose after the mutiny. He also had enormous respect for Rodney Yew.
I think we as readers and maybe as writers, too, lost something when the focus went so sharply to the heroine whose main role in the story was as the hero's love interest. We lost the interaction between heroine and her friends, her enemies, her helpers, her family.
In the infamous 1980s Phil Donahue show with Ann Douglas and Janet Dailey, one of the criticisms leveled at romance novels was that the heroines had no families. They were always orphans, so that their relationship with the hero became their ONLY interpersonal relationship. The irony was that the book Donahue read from during the show was Dailey's "Night Way," in which there were a bunch of other relationships.
The writers before Woodiwiss, mostly men, did a really superb job of creating diverse and complex relationships. It's much more than just having a string of brothers who each get to have their book in a series.
Yeah, some '90s books seemed to have the heroine wrapped up in the hero to the determent of everything else. I try to point out when secondary characters make an impact, I really do think they enrich the main characters if used right.
"It's much more than just having a string of brothers who each get to have their book in a series."
This has been a struggle for me in rom suspense, a lot seem to be stuck in this pattern/rut
AHAHAHAHA!!!! I totally didn't pick up on the Eurovision thing. I just recognized "Douze" from my two semesters of French that I took when I was 12. XD But it's okay! I'm with you now. It was absolutely a snort in French with an Aussie accent. Yep. Totally. XD XD XD
Sacrebleu and sorry! :) Because of ESC, "douze points" is sort of a pan-European knee jerk reaction whenever ratings are invoked. (It's probably one of the longest-running jokes in history ... it already existed when I was a teenager.) So when you actually made it "12/10", I just couldn't resist!
Raiden did you proud with the mug. He makes a fabulous pirate/salty ole dog. :) Really great review, too. I had to smile when I read "Johnnie the rogue is dead, and John Ballantyne has emerged." Ballantyne is my maiden name, and I don't often come across it spelled this way.
I think the touch of gray on his snout was perfect for this picture, lol.
I think it is always wild when personal names show up in stories, Ballantyne, however spelled isn't common in my neck of the woods, so that really would have threw me.
This has got to be *the* most lovable pirate EVER!
Brilliant! Lol.
And yes, the writing holds up remarkably well, doesn't it? The plot is strong and oh, yes, the characters are so finely drawn!
The interesting thing about these pre-Woodiwiss historicals is how strong the romance elements are in spite of the main characters being male. The men do their swashbuckling, but without the romance part, they'd be far less human, if that makes sense. Leanna wakens Johnnie's old dreams and gives him the motivation to become more than he has been relegated to.
Even though the women are relegated to supporting roles, so to speak, they are often very compelling characters in their own rights. Arabella Bishop, in Sabatini's "Captain Blood." Camilla di Baglione in Shellabarger's "Prince of Foxes." Iolanthe Rogliano in Frank Yerby's "The Saracen Blade."
Having read so many of them, I didn't see Woodiwiss and Rogers and the other historical romance authors of the 1970s as really writing anything NEW; they just put a different perspective on it. And I was soooooooo glad they did!
He was sensitive, had emotions other than wanting to just be controlling or "alpha", we sometimes call it. It was amazing to me, going in with a preconceived notion, I was so pleasantly surprised. I'm going to bet Johnnie shows up as a Romancies nominee for my Favorite Heroes category :)
"Even though the women are relegated to supporting roles, so to speak, they are often very compelling characters in their own rights."
Yes! If this had been a book club read, I'd want to talk more in depth about the five women who directly and indirectly influenced his life.
For me, Woodwiss and Rogers had stronger romance elements, which I mean showcasing the relationship between hero and heroine. But, I think Johnnie is almost a better hero than what they had, I can't give up my love for The Wolf and Dove but Woodiwiss and Rogers have heroes I feel uncomfortable thinking about reading and enjoying because of how they treated the heroine. I struggle mightily with some of these characters/books. Also with some newly published ones, which is why this 1949 depiction of this hero felt so soothing in some ways.
Johnnie's no rapist, and to me that's the whole difference. He not only cared about Leanna, and even Moll to a certain extent, but he cared about the other characters. He had affection for Ames and a kind of buddy-relationship with Ben Bottle even though that changed as Johnnie's rank rose after the mutiny. He also had enormous respect for Rodney Yew.
I think we as readers and maybe as writers, too, lost something when the focus went so sharply to the heroine whose main role in the story was as the hero's love interest. We lost the interaction between heroine and her friends, her enemies, her helpers, her family.
In the infamous 1980s Phil Donahue show with Ann Douglas and Janet Dailey, one of the criticisms leveled at romance novels was that the heroines had no families. They were always orphans, so that their relationship with the hero became their ONLY interpersonal relationship. The irony was that the book Donahue read from during the show was Dailey's "Night Way," in which there were a bunch of other relationships.
The writers before Woodiwiss, mostly men, did a really superb job of creating diverse and complex relationships. It's much more than just having a string of brothers who each get to have their book in a series.
"It's much more than just having a string of brothers who each get to have their book in a series."
This has been a struggle for me in rom suspense, a lot seem to be stuck in this pattern/rut
But, yeah, Raiden!!! LoL.
Great review by his human too!
... with an Australian accent?
I think it is always wild when personal names show up in stories, Ballantyne, however spelled isn't common in my neck of the woods, so that really would have threw me.