The Romantic [Paperback]

May Sinclair (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 2007

She could stave off the worst by not looking at him, by looking at other things, impersonal, innocent things; the bright, yellow, sharp gabled station; the black girders of the bridge; the white signal post beside it holding out a stiff, black-banded arm; the two rails curving there, with the flat white glitter and sweep of scythes; pointed blades coming together, buried in the bend of the cutting.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The Romantic tells the story of Charlotte Redhead, a woman who, as the novel opens, has just been dropped by the married man with whom she was sexually involved.On a country walk she runs into John Conway, who, like her, is interested in learning to farm.Together they find jobs working on a farm in the Cotswolds, and gradually realize they have fallen in love with one another.Charlotte confesses that she has been with another man, and John tells her he is relieved, since, as an experienced woman, she will not need sexual initiation from him.They agree to be a couple, but not to become lovers.When the war breaks out, they form a small ambulance corps and leave for Belgium.John is initially thrilled by the sensation of danger, but it gradually becomes clear to Charlotte that he would rather abandon her and wounded men than risk his own life.

Several times he lies to her and leaves her in villages under fire because he is too much of a coward to come back for her. Eventually he is shot in the back and killed by the servant of a wounded Belgian captain he was too cowardly to help.A psychiatrist leader of a rival ambulance corps at the hotel they were staying at, explains John's psyche to Charlotte.He was a degenerate, he says: 'he couldn't live a man's life'.

source: Google Books: May Sinclair - A Modern Victorian by Suzanne Raitt

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 146 pages
• Publisher: BiblioBazaar (January 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1426469020
• ISBN-13: 978-1426469022
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.7 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,001,813 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)