The Quality Of Love

This book, written by Rosie Harris is set in Cardiff, Wales where I was born; so of course I wanted to read it. It warmed my heart and brought back a lot of memories when the characters visited Porthcawl, a seaside resort about twenty miles out of the city. I could smell the hamburgrs we used to have cooking on the seashore!
The story itself is told in an easy style and concerns a young woman, Sarah Lewis who is pushed by her father to go into law. She is accepted by Cardiff Univrsity, where she meets a young man. His only objective is to get her to "go all the way". She becomes pregnant, but instead of asking her to marry him, as he had once before, he offers to move in and kep house with her. They find a place in the seedy wherehouse district and he later abandons her. Luckily Sarah is befriended by two other residents of the tenament house who stand by her through everything. She makes peace with her father who had disowned her.
        During this time she mets another man at the job she works at. He's a high living sort who enjoys smoking pot and going to jazz clubs and is very attractive to (though wrong for) her after the previous controlling relationship she's escaped from. They marry, but something goes wrong. After that she finds another job through a man that did business with her previous boss and meets the love of her life. He proposes, and she accepts, but two things delay their happiness. After the ceremony her father suffers a stroke. Later, the man who recommended Sarah for the job has a heart attack. But, as the Bible says all things work out for for good in the end.
This story mirrors my own life. My first marriage was a disaster, and the second is very rocky. Maybe there will be a third chance for love for me too. :)

Current Reading List

Copper Kingdom--Iris Gower Rating-5/5
The "Cornwall" mystery series by Janie Bolitho5/5
      "Buried In Cornwall"
      "Killed In Cornwall"
      Caught Out In Cornwall"

Norah's No Hit List

Harold Robbins--I started "The Looters". The character and plot were intriguing and I also wanted to write a piece set in a museum. I chose the book because the lead character (a woman) was a curator in an art museum; mine would have had a different setting as well as a different type of museum and different POV. I also had to look twice to see whether the author was male or female, as I had not expected a woman lead by a male author.
    None of these things put Mr. Robbins on this list. But I hard time wading through the sexual innuendos, language and one explicit scene; at that point I returned the book to the library.
     It was unfortunate because I really wanted to like the character. But as the story unfolded I realised she was not just a woman in a high powered profession in a hard boiled city. While I did not expect her to be sweet and frilly I did not expect her to be so hard, either. If the sexual references were less, or at least less boldfaced I might have continued reading. I have seen other works by Mr. Robbins but that was many years ago, and I can't remember reading anything else by him. But I suspect the characters would be just as hard-nosed and obnoxious. I may find one of his other books just to give him the benefit of the doubt when I have time.