Music from The Heart

Barbara Cartland

abr 2020 · The Eternal Collection Libro 247 · Barbara Cartland EBooks ltd

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Sent reluctantly to stay with her aunt so that her lustrous dark red hair and green gold-flecked eyes would not distract the attentions of her stepsister’s suitor, beautiful young Ilouka’s stagecoach is involved in a terrible accident in which two passengers are killed. 

One is Ilouka’s old lady’s maid and chaperone, Hannah. The other is Lucille Ganymede, a glamorous dancer and understudy to Madame Vestris, the famous performer who has enchanted the theatre world of Covent Garden.

They are en route to perform at a private gentlemen’s party for the Earl of Lavenham at his glorious stately home, Lavenham Hall.

Lucille’s Manager, Mr. D’Arcy, is distraught. This engagement is his last hope if he is to avoid destitution and, since she is a gifted singer and dancer herself, Ilouka nervously agrees to perform in Lucille’s place.

But on arrival she takes an instant dislike to the Earl’s haughty demeanour and worse still she finds to her dismay that the behaviour of the guests at the ‘gentlemen’s party’ is far from gentlemanly.

Dancing to the gypsy music that conjures in her heart visions of her Hungarian ancestors and sublime snow-capped mountains, she enthrals the audience who clap and clap her inspired dancing.

And especially the handsome but aloof Earl. 

It is only when he rescues Ilouka from the drunken attentions of a certain Lord Marlowe, does she realise that she is utterly and irrevocably in love with the Earl.

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Barbara Cartland was the world's most prolific novelist, having written an astounding 723 books in her lifetime, including 644 romantic novels that achieved worldwide sales of over one billion copies and were translated into 36 different languages. In addition to romantic novels, she also authored historical biographies, six autobiographies, theatrical plays, and advice books on life, love, vitamins, and cookery. Cartland penned her first book, "Jigsaw," at the age of 21, which became an immediate bestseller, selling 100,000 copies in hardback in England and throughout Europe in translation. Remarkably, between the ages of 77 and 97, she increased her literary output, writing an incredible 400 romances to meet the global demand for her work. She wrote her final book at the age of 97, prophetically titled "The Way to Heaven." Her popularity was immense in the United States, where in 1976 her current books held the number 1 and 2 spots on the B. Dalton bestsellers list simultaneously, a unique achievement. Barbara Cartland became a legend in her lifetime, particularly cherished for her romantic novels. Her works are treasured for their moral messages, pure and innocent heroines, handsome and dashing heroes, blissful happy endings, and above all, her belief in the power of love as the most important aspect of life. Her millions of readers around the world continue to collect her books to read again and again, especially during times of misery or depression, finding solace in the love and happiness that define her stories.