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3.0étoiles sur 5
Certainly!, Fév 24 2007
For many years, Emilie Loring wrote sweet (albeit a bit drippy) romances, usually mingled with a bit of a crime thriller woven in to keep things interesting. "A Certain Crossroad," first published in the 1920s, is a slightly less-than-prime example of her writing.
No sooner has heiress Judith Halliday arrived in a small New England town than she is shoved out of a tree. And by coincidence, the doctor who treats her is Neil Peyton, whom she broke up with months ago. The former lovers are still sore, and make great displays of attention to (respectively) a pretty young widow named Diane, and sexy local "loafer" Boris.
Judith's trip gets even nastier when her cousin informs her that her uncle has squandered her fortune, and she's now penniless. Even worse, she's soon enmeshed in Boris' smuggling schemes, along with Diane's two children. Now Neil must find a way to thwart Boris, and save Judith from both the smugglers -- and the police.
"A Certain Crossroad" is a sort of charming, old-style romance where the sexiest thing that happens is a rough kiss, and the heroes devote themselves to upright morals from beginning to end. It sounds rather sappy, but if you can put cynicism on hold, it's a sweet little book with some exciting parts.
As this was one of her early books, there are some flaws: the romantic problems gets old quick, and Loring seems to be straining to make her prose suitably poetic ("crystal tide-pools strung like huge beads on a rope of sand"). For many pages, this is more or less what the book consists of, until the smuggling subplot kicks into gear.
At that point, the seemingly ordinary romance takes a sharp upturn.. Loring's writing is quick and sharp when it's kept simple, and she has a knack for action scenes as well as romantic problems. What's more, there's an unusual twist in the final pages, when we find out exactly what kind of relationship Neil and Judith had.
Though it suffers from some purple prose, "A Certain Crossroad" is a charming, quaint little romance for a rainy afternoon. Just don't expect anything hotter than a few kisses.
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4.0étoiles sur 5
An addendum to the other review, Mai 8 2003
In my other review I promised to provide the dedication included in the original edition. It is a portion of another book, by Tennyson I think. I don't regret my life or my lifestyle...though I was far from being an Emilie Loring heroine. But, I wish I had known THIS kind of man! A Certain Crossroad was dedicated to V.J.L, who I believe was her son. If so, what a wonderful paragraph to express your hope for your son's future character. "And sometimes the sky was like unto a great turquoise for blueness, and sometimes it was like a gray pall, and sometimes the highway wound through level radiant fields, and sometimes the rough road plunged down a steep declivity of rocks to grope blindly through dark and evil forests, and sometimes the yellow moon made mysterious twilight in the shadows. But always the Knight kept the Lady's hand close in his and always he stepped forward firmly, shining eyes straight ahead, for even in the gloom all was sharp-cut and clear to his vision." Beautiful!
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4.0étoiles sur 5
Ms. Loring's sweet but sappy books are always fun!, Mai 8 2003
If you know Emilie Loring's work, you'll know that there will be no kissing, no sex and no innuendo. There WILL be some sappy dialogue, conversation that seems amusingly contrived in this day and age and a lot of misunderstandings that could easily have been avoided or corrected. BUT....there will also be an entertaining bunch of characters, some mystery and a sweet, sweet romance. In this book, set in New England, wealthy young Judith Halliday comes to visit a small town and runs into Dr. Neil Payton whom she rejected in the big city because he wanted to help his uncle, a kindly country doctor. They both run into a spy ring, operating out of the area. (The book was published in 1925)And both have "certain crossroads" to deal with. I've read Ms. Loring since I was 10 years old and now my daughter enjoys them too. We know they're a little silly, but doggone it, that's not such a bad thing. Go ahead and add this one to your collection. I hope the edition you buy has the dedication that Ms. Loring placed in the original. It's a portion from a Tennyson novel I believe. But, absolutely, divinely romantic. There's no space left here. So, I'll put in a subsequent review, just for your sighing enjoyment.
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