Customer Reviews

The lost general

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If Tryst is your idea of a 5 star book, The Lost General will be at least a 3 star book. If you far preferred Cabot in Yankee Stranger to Julian in Dawn's Early Light, then The Lost General might be disappointing.

The Lost General is a triumphant of the beta male. The alpha male is not for everyone, particularly reticent women who are easily overwhelmed. The Lost General himself barely appears. This is not a ghost story. This is a story of blooming, a World War II war vet coming to himself for the love of his woman, and a sweet, sheltered girl who stands up for herself and their love. These are characters that could have been played by actor Leslie Howard and actresses Joan Fontaine or Jean Simmons.

If you enjoy Thane's sentimental view of love and characters of commitment and devotion, then The Lost General will be an enjoyable evening. Like Tryst, it is the length of a short romance. Try to read it before you buy it. If you collect Thane's books, this is better than several of the non-Williamsburg books (better than Melody, and I liked it better than Queen's Folly, too-which I found slow).

I am becoming more convinced that two people wrote Elswyth Thane's books. One wrote the Williamsburg novels, The Tudor Wench and Queen's Folly. Someone else wrote Tryst, The Lost General, Remember the Day,Cloth of Gold etc.The first set of books are characterized by believable characters, good dialogue, a strong sense of place, and interesting plots. Their "romance" builds from the ground up. The second set are basically trite and silly, full of breathless melodrama. I just finished The Lost General, hoping to find a book in her first "set." It was OK but at about the level of the romance stories I used to read in Good Housekeeping magazine as a teenager. Cloth of Gold is truly one of the most annoying books I've tried to read this year--I stopped after 100 pages or so.