Customer Reviews

The Count

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I loved this book! I have been eagerly searching for any other books Helena Dela may have written. I found this wry, funny, and more adult than most Romances.

"I've always had birds. Much better than husbands. They talk more, make less mess, and are much cheaper to feed. Plus you can keep them even after they're dead." The heroine has been carefully studying the not-too-well-preserved yellow cockatoo named Kiki, that belongs to the aunt of her marriage-of-convenience husband. She then adds, "A victim of gross taxidermal incompetence."

Have you ever read a book that appeared to have been written by a committee? One without too many planning meetings? Actually, I see this as being more of a group writers session. "Let's see how many outlandish things we can think of to put into one book, then we'll draw a name out of the hat to see who gets to actually write it!"

You know how 'they' always say: Don't write in first person? or Don't bother with Gothics - they're dead. or Don't set your story in Germany, it's not romantic. or Don't use more than one point-of-view style? or Don't mix types of books; pick one--ghosts or whatever, and be done with it.

How about a 500 year-old curse that's lasted for 20 generations that causes the mother of the heir to die in childbirth almost immediately afterward? How about our 1990s thirty-something heroine who convinces the ghosts--all twenty of the former countesses, still in residence at the ßchloss--to help her break the curse? You wouldn't believe all the things they do, in addition to watching soap-operas on television. Once they've convinced someone to turn the set on for them, that is. Apparently, it's a bit difficult to manage when you're just an ectoplasm. They seem have no troubles with mobile phones, however.

Well--this mish-mosh of a book does and has all these things. I admit its a more-or-less well-written mish-mosh, but still! And this is the third time around for it! Why? Furthermore, since it's been updated (mentioning the Euro, for instance) since the first time out in 1991, why didn't they at least take out (or fix) the many, many typos in the process?

My advice is read, just don't be mislead by it. It is a mass-market paperback that clearly says 'FICTION' on the spine. It is a sort of love story, but in no way is it a romance. If you read it expecting that, you'll be seriously disappointed. It's almost more of a fantasy than anything. If you can read it with no advance expectations, however, and roll with the many sudden changes, it can be a somewhat enjoyable diversion. If there's nothing else available.

...Having read a large number of British novels, I can say this author has a sparkling wit--subtle, yes, but sharp. The writing is excellent, the storyline unique and full of surprises. While I agree that it's a little hard to understand why the heroine would fall in love with a hero whose original intent for their marriage was so sinister, I thought there was ample implication that he came to his senses. It's disappointing that there appear to be no other books by Helena Dela.

I read the book twice and I like it more and more. I like the way the ghostplot is interwoven with the contemporay life of Ella. Never did I think of it as forced or wallpaperlike used, the medieval time docks onto Ella's life naturally. In London Ella worked as a restaurator of old books. After she lost almost everything after her first husbands illness and death, she is offered a deal. How Ella fights her way out of some limbo of grief (over the death of her husband) and defends her newly found luck against curses, ghosts and 'real' threats is funny to read. Coming from Austria I enjoyed her wordplays and observations on culture very much . (" The people who could imagine a whole house made of gingerbread are people who know their cakes.") Thank you for this enchanting book !

I found the above reviews rather unfair to a very entertaining fantasy. The heroine was likeable, and the style - which really makes a book stand out from the mass - is personal and original. Of course the fact that it is a very European book, and I am from there, may have affected my attitude. I have frequently noticed how difficult it is for Americans to "get" European humor, in books and films. "The Count" has quite a bit of sly humor. It is obvious that the author knows some German, but there were a lot of mistakes in the German quotes. Maybe the editor or printer was sloppy - with books printed in the U.S. that seems to happen a lot, and I have observed similar problems with Spanish quotes in other books. Anyway, for a first effort "The Count" is more that respectable.

Ella is a young widow in modern day London who ekes out a living restoring books at a library. Totally traumatized by the death of her husband eighteen months ago from cancer, she learns from her boss, Dr. Schuber, that the library is about to close. But Dr. Schuber has another option for Ella: to meet and marry the son of an old friend. Rudi von Drachenfels, an Austrian count who needs a wife - and fast. The marriage will be purely a business arrangement; the wife must produce an heir and the spouses can go their separate ways. Wealthy and handsome, he seems like the perfect husband. But the von Drachenfels family is subject to a terrible curse: no von Drachenfels wife has lived more than two days after the birth of her first child, which is always a boy. Against everyone's advice, Ella takes Rudi up on his offer and becomes the Grafin von Drachenfels. She ends up spending most of her time in a drafty Austrian castle - with the ghosts of all the von Drachenfels wives. But Ella loves her new husband, and has no intention of dying. Can she find a way to win Rudi's true love - and stay alive?

The Count is a marvelous fairy tale romance and have a refreshing storyline. Ella is a delightful heroine - life has treated her quite shabbily so far, but she never quite gave up. A great teaching. And it is great fun to watch Rudi change from the cold, doomed Count into a passionate and caring husband. Family curse and the ghosts are a welcome addition and give spice to this incredibly entertaining story.

Ella is a young widow in modern day London who ekes out a living restoring books at a library. Totally traumatized by the death of her husband eighteen months ago from cancer, she learns from her boss, Dr. Schuber, that the library is about to close. But Dr. Schuber has another option for Ella: to meet and marry the son of an old friend. Rudi von Drachenfels, an Austrian count who needs a wife - and fast. The marriage will be purely a business arrangement; the wife must produce an heir and the spouses can go their separate ways. Wealthy and handsome, he seems like the perfect husband. But the von Drachenfels family is subject to a terrible curse: no von Drachenfels wife has lived more than two days after the birth of her first child, which is always a boy. Against everyone's advice, Ella takes Rudi up on his offer and becomes the Grafin von Drachenfels. She ends up spending most of her time in a drafty Austrian castle - with the ghosts of all the von Drachenfels wives. But Ella loves her new husband, and has no intention of dying. Can she find a way to win Rudi's true love - and stay alive?

The Count is a marvelous fairy tale romance and have a refreshing storyline. Ella is a delightful heroine - life has treated her quite shabbily so far, but she never quite gave up. A great teaching. And it is great fun to watch Rudi change from the cold, doomed Count into a passionate and caring husband. Family curse and the ghosts are a welcome addition and give spice to this incredibly entertaining story.

This light-hearted fairy tale is a delight, largely due to its intriguing premise and the author's fresh and humorous writing style. British author Helen Dela's outrageously witty passages beg to be read out loud and shared.

Gothic elements include the labyrinthine untidy castle, several friendly and evil ghosts, a portrait gallery, the unfriendly housekeeper, an enigmatic hero, unrequited love, and threats on the heroine's life.

Intrepid Ella's situation and her amusing sense of humor endear her to the reader. Although Rudi's motives may initially put the reader off, he soon develops a sincere attachment to Ella, which the reader will applaud.

Snorts of laughter will punctuate the reader's highly entertaining journey from cliffhanger to cliffhanger in this marriage-of-uncommon-convenience tale. Author Helena Dela will definitely develop an eager following in the U.S. if she continues in this vein.

A family curse, ghosts, a castle, a marriage of convenience should all add up to a good story. This is not one. The writing style was uneven. The person editing the book apparently lost interest or was a novice because there were too many distracting errors. And I'm not sure two people can fall in love when there is very little contact between them. The contact that did exist was very uninteresting. Many questions were left unanswered, but to tell the truth I didn't care.

I liked the story -- I was disappointed in the novel. the story idea is original, but the writing covers it in cliches, awkward sentences, (not to mention the numerous typos of this particular edition) and vague descriptions so that I couldn't help but wonder how this story might have come to life in the hands of a more skilled author. I wanted to lose myself in the characters and believe in them -- at least for about 250 pages, but Dela's writing style doesn't allow the reader to do that. In fact, I found it rather disconcerting when, periodically, she would "speak" to the reader with sentences like "I suppose you're wondering what happens next." If she had carried that "author talks to reader" style throughout the novel, I don't think I would have minded, but as it was, those "hey reader" comments interrupted the story just when she had you almost believing you were a part of it. This was a debut novel, and I will say that I enjoyed it enough to give her another try. I hope in her future attempts, Ms. Dela becomes more skilled in character development and achieving a more effortless flow in her stories. This could have been a very cute little story.