Robin [Paperback]

Frances Hodgson Burnett (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 18, 2007

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER in ROBIN sat at the desk in her private room and looked at a key she held in her hand. She had just come npon it among some papers. She had put it into a narrow lacquered box when she arranged her belongings, after she left the house in which her mother continued to live. It was the key which gave entrance to the Gardens. Each householder possessed one. She alone knew why she rather timidly asked her mother's permission to keep this one. "One of the first things I seem to remember is watching the gardeners planting flowers," Robin had said. "They had rows of tiny pots with geraniums and lobelia in them. I have been happy there. I should like to be able to go in sometimes and sit under the trees. If you do not mind—" Feather did not mind. She herself was not in the least likely to be seized with a desire to sit under trees in an atmosphere heavy with nursemaids and children. So Robin had been allowed to keep the key and until to-day she had not opened the lacquer box. Was it quite by accident that she had found it? She was not quite sure it was and she was asking herself questions, as she sat looking at it as it lay in her palm. The face of the whole world had changed since the night when she had sat among banked flowers and palms and ferns, and heard the splashing of the fountain and the sound of the music and dancing, and Donal Muir'a voice, all at the same time. That which hadhappenedhad made everybody and everything different; and, because she lived in this particular house and saw much of special people, she realised that the growing shudder in the life about her was only the first convulsive tremor of an earthquake. The Duchess began to have much more for her to do. She called on her to read special articles in the papers, and to make notes and find ...

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Frances Hodgson Burnett is best known for her children's stories The Secret Garden, A Little Princess, and Little Lord Fauntleroy. Born into the slums of Manchester, she wrote realistic working-class tales with romantic plots. Later in life, she lived in Washington, D.C. and became a US citizen. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Echo Library (June 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1406844888
• ISBN-13: 978-1406844887
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,303,296 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Romance, Loss and Spiritualism., April 4, 2009

By 

Zou Zou (cape cod,ma) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Robin (Kindle Edition)

This is an interesting novel about a young girl, Robin, her romance with Donal and his loss during World War One. The book was published in 1922.
Robin is the neglected daughter of a beautiful but shallow widow. Her mother's protector, Lord Coombe, provides for a more caring living arrangement and Robin rarely sees her notorious mother, "the Lady downstairs".
Robin becomes the companion/secretary to a kind Duchess. She meets handsome soldier Donal, a former childhood companion, and they renew their friendship. Donal recognises Robin as his soulmate, they fall in love and are secretly married. Cruelly, young Donal is reported as dying in battle. Lord Coombe, the Duchess, and Robin's childhood nurse, Dowie, all work to save Robin from her overwhelming grief and despair.
This war romance has selfish mothers, gossiping neighbors, secret marriages, tragic deaths and a secluded pregnancy. What it doesn't have is a three dimensional hero and heroine.
Robin is childlike, utterly malleable, quietly loving and accepting. Donal is tall and brave and true. The Author tells the reader about Robin and Donal, there is very little dialogue or conversation that gives insight into the young lovers. They are the saintly casualties of a cruel war.
We learn more about Lord Coombe, loyal Dowie and the terrible death and destruction that result from World War One. The Author effectively creates the character's feelings of pride and resolve that gradually slide into despair and hopelessness at the loss of so many young soldiers.
The Author also mounts an explanation and defense of Spiritualism. Spiritualism eventually becomes as large a feature in the romance as Robin and Donal's courtship, and is integral to Robin's recovery from despair.
Not as entertaining as The Making of a Marchioness, but not bad.
Recommended.

5.0 out of 5 stars Caution: First read: The Head Of The House Of Coombe, June 7, 2011

By 

NELSON C HARBOR (Chesterfield, MO United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Robin (Penny Books) (Kindle Edition)

'Robin' is a the conclusion of the story told, but only begun, in The Head Of The House Of Coombe. Read in the proper sequence, from beginning to end, this is a totally unique, engrossing tale. Be prepared for being taken on an emotional roller coaster ride reaching new plateaus of joy and anguish. Having now read several of her books, Francis Hodgson Burnett has fast become a favorite author of mine. You will not be disappointed in the story, but remember, start with The Head Of The House Of Coombe.

1.0 out of 5 stars Large Print and only One Volume of Two, April 26, 2010

By 

Merlin (New York) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Robin (Hardcover)

"Robin", by Frances Hodgson Burnett is a lovely slightly gothic romance with many of the bells and whistles that the author is known for: dreams, miracles, other-wordly stuff that we are so familiar with in "Secret Garden". However, I DO NOT recommend this paperback edition. It's over-priced and it's only the first of two volumes. Save your money. Buy "Robin" second hand or take it out of your library. Unless you need to read jumbo print, this is a silly investment for a paperback.