Rakehell's Widow [Paperback]

Sandra Heath (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Signet (June 5, 1984)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451129709
• ISBN-13: 978-0451129703
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,345,147 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Have you ever read a book and wished you could write one too? Have you ever followed someone else's characters and thought you would have them behave differently? Well, that's how I was. I read and read and read, especially historical fiction, but I secretly yearned to write a title of my own. Strangely, it took my three-year-old daughter's urgent admission to hospital with meningitis to finally get me going. She was so ill and I was so distracted, that after a while my father gave me a little portable typewriter 'to help take my mind off things'. By the time my daughter Sarah came out of hospital, well on the road to recovery, my first book was also well on the road.

I wrote and wrote and wrote, standing in the kitchen on one leg like a stork, with the typewriter on a work surface while my daughter played around my feet. My first ten books were medieval historicals set in England, and since then I have mostly written in the English Regency period - for which living in Britain is a definite advantage! I love romantic stories, and if I can weave history, traditions, myths, legends and sometimes Gothic elements into them, I'm happiest of all. These were the sorts of story I couldn't get enough of before I became a writer, and I'm glad to say my readers like them too.

Sandra Heath isn't my only pen name, for you'll also find me as Sandra Wilson, Jeannie Machin and Sarah Stanley. Some of these titles you'll recognize from before, but some you won't. Most of my medievals were written as Sandra Wilson, and as Sarah Stanley I've produced two new sensuous Regencies, STAR-CROSSED SUMMER and MIDWINTER MARRIAGE, which follow the same characters and should be read in the order of the titles. I hope to follow them with two more in the same series, but at the moment I have so much else to write that it may be a little while.

Sooo, over sixty-five books after my first ever title, I'm still wearing out keyboards, and loving every minute of it.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love can be confusing . . ., February 18, 2002

By 

kellytwo "kellytwo" (cleveland hts, ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rakehell's Widow (Signet) (Paperback)

Reading an author's backlist can be an interesting experience. Sometimes you find the pattern of growth from year to year. Other times it seems as though the author just hatched full-strength, right from the egg. I've come to think that must be the case with Sandra Heath. Certain things are always the same: excellent crisp writing, unique plot, characters with whom a reader can identify instantly, and settings that enhance the entire story. Some times one finds things that indicate the era in which the book was written, but not often. One thing you'll never find in a book by this author is same old, same old.

She has a knack of creating an entity that is whole and complete and not one part of it may be changed in any way without entirely deflating it. Her books can only take place in the location and era in which they are set, with no possibility of change, lest one completely destroy the aggregate.

Such is the case with Rakehell's widow. It could not possibly be placed anywhere other than London, in the early 1800s. Dueling had not yet become illegal, or if it had, the law was not enforced, and Alabeth Manvers became a widow at a very young age when her rakehell husband Lord Robert, fell on the field of honor. There wasn't very much honor involved, actually, but Robert's friend and second, Sir Piers Castleton, conspired to keep her from learning the truth about her husband's activities.

Having displeased her father by her marriage, the widowed Lady Alabeth is startled by a visit from the Earl of Wallborough. A member of the diplomatic corps, he is about to leave England for the continent, and needs Alabeth to sponsor his younger daughter--her sister, Jillian--for her London come-out, and it must be this year. Against her better judgement, Alabeth lets herself be talked into a task she knows will create nothing but trouble.

Of course, one of the very first men she encounters is Sir Piers Castleton. Try as she will, she cannot escape his constant presence at every event she attends. To add to her dismay, Jillian appears smitten with the gentleman, and scorns the man who idolizes her--Charles Allister, a childhood friend. But then, the Polish Count Adam Zaleski appears on the scene, and he is more dangerous than anyone could have predicted. He is a virtual twin to Robert Manvers, as well as a foremost concert pianist, who is lionized by everyone who attends his concerts. Jillian wishes for nothing more than to study with this wizard of the keyboard, but the Count is more intrigued with Alabeth. For a time, she falls under his spell, until finally, the veil is lifted, and all the characters are shown as they truly are.

Each of the sisters ends up with the proper gentleman, but it's rather a near thing. It's very obvious that the author did her homework regarding the musical elements; she never puts a finger wrong on the keyboard. Either of them, for that matter.

4.0 out of 5 stars This didn't quite do it for me..., January 31, 2010

By 

Flower Girl (MN, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rakehell's Widow (Paperback)

I liked ALMOST all of Ms. Heath's books. I very much agree with the other reviewer about Ms. Heath's writing been crisp, smart, and original. But in this book, I found her portrayal of two sisters were a bit fickle and impetuous for my liking; besides, Alabeth was mostly gloomy and angry, where Jillian was usually an unrealistic romantic air-head. They were often stubborn for the wrong reasons and causes, they had the tendency to jump into quick conclusions which caused constant misunderstandings, and eventually made me want to just shake them...Well, I just did not think those two heroines' characters were well written. All other characters were well done though, especially Sir Piers. Also, as much as I enjoyed Ms. Heath's vivid description of balls and routs, but having almost a whole book of it really tired me out, perhaps that is where the author could put in a bit more substance-- like personal growth.

I know it is not popular to criticize, especially of a well-liked author. But I found I usually benefit just as much reading from different voices and opinions, hopefully this will help other readers with better understanding of the book.