If I was to list the Grande Old Dames of Historical Romance, I'd definitely have LaVyrle Spencer on my list. It's a shame that she has retired from writing, but at least she leaves a legacy behind in her excellent books she has written.The Endearment is one of her books I managed to overlook for some reason. Initially, I thought it was one of the many that I read growing up, and forgot the details about. But I'm pretty sure I haven't read this before. I will admit that I made a note to reread (or perhaps read for the first time) it when I saw that it was listed on the All About Romance Virgin Hero List, which is a theme I can't resist. Of course, I tend to obtain copies of books, and they languish in my tbr pile until I get the urge to read (or have the time to read). I pulled this one out of the pile and added it to my PRIMAVERA challenge, and that is why I have read this book and I am reviewing it now. After that lengthy segueway, I will actually write my thoughts on this book.As far as frontier romance, you cannot go wrong here. In this book, Karl Lindstrom is an earnest, decent, hardworking Swede who has come to Minnesota to set up his own homestead. In the two years since he arrived, he has ached with loneliness (since he left his big family behind in Sweden and is unmarried), with only his goat Nanna and his team of Percheron horses, Bill and Belle, to keep him company (in the most innocent of ways, mind you). He decided to seek a mail order bride, and ends up corresponding with Anna Reardon, who tells him a never-ending stream of big fat ones that make her seem like the ideal bride candidate. He sends her money to come out to Minnesota from Boston to marry him and be his wife. When Anna arrives, Karl is struck by her beauty, even if she is thin and much younger than she said (he wanted an older bride-twenty-five, and she's seventeen). It turns out she didn't come alone. She brought her thirteen-year-old brother James with her. Karl isn't very happy about that. He's worried about having another mouth to feed and not having time alone with his new bride. He agrees to marry her, but tells her ‘no more lies.’ Anna means it when she says she won’t lie to him, but there’s still a big whopper between them that she can’t put into words. He’ll find out the hard way. And until then, she can only hope for the best between them.At first, Karl seems like the perfect hero. However, he’s rather rigid about his moral view of the world, and has trouble forgiving. My sympathies shifted as I read this story. At first, I was annoyed that Anna and her brother were pulling a whole bunch of fast ones on Karl. Then, I realized that the lies that Anna and James told were a matter of survival. Lying is wrong, but it’s a lot easier not to lie when you always have food on the table, have a loving family, and security in the world. Anna and James have never had any of those. And Anna’s chance at being Karl’s bride is the closest both of them will come.That’s Ms. Spenser’s talent. To tell a story where there are many sides, and much growing for the characters to do. As I read this story, I hoped that Karl could get past the huge lie that Anna told, and understand why she did it. I wanted the burgeoning love between them to be enough to make their marriage bond unbreakable.I loved the descriptions of the natural world, and the everyday life in the Minnesota wilderness. Karl was a tried and true woodsman, and a very skilled carpenter. There wasn’t a type of wood he didn’t know intimately. I learned about which wood makes the best type of furniture, what is suitable for building houses, or even making an axe handle. I loved his patience with greenhorns Anna and James. How he opened his house and his heart to them, and not without reservations or sacrifice. Even though Karl was a good man, he had his shares of flaws. That made him even the better as a hero, because he was accessible. And the joy was in seeing him come to realize that although Anna wasn’t quite the perfect wife he envisioned, she was the wife he treasured and loved, and she made his home truly a home. As for Anna, my heart went out to her and James for their troubled childhood, and for the sacrifice she made for her brother, that could have destroyed her future with Karl. She wanted to do the right thing, but always seemed to fall short. And it must have been tough being married to a ‘saint’ and failing to measure up to his perfect image of womanhood. Karl and Anna have some first-married growing pains to get through, but love does conquer all, at least in the romantic world, which I am always happy about. With a little help along the way from sage friends like the priest who married them, and Kristen, the daughter of a Swedish family that establishes their homestead nearby. James is a great secondary character, an earnest young man who becomes like a son to Karl, and a loyal loving brother to his sister.For me, The Endearment was a treasured reading experience. It warmed my heart, gave me a good story, and taught me a few lessons about forgiveness, understanding, and committing to what is important to you, even when it seems as though it isn’t exactly what you dreamed of. It can be even better in the end, because it’s real life, the best kind of dream come true.
I'm almost not wanting to post a review of this and a public admission that I read this book, for fear of the recommendations I will get from this site. "O Hai you like romancey books? Here's a few!" Ugggh, no.If I get some crazy recommendations/followers from this review, then I won't post another one.After reading heavy things laden with "issues" (I hate that word) like "Outlander" or classics like "Pride and Prejudice" that just bogged me down with a language I almost couldn't grasp, I needed some "fluff." Also, I hate wintertime, I hate the cold, and the "winter blues" start kicking in oh, a few days ago. I need a pinpoint of sunshine somewhere.Fluff = predictable, simple love story. A story that says "Boy meets girl, issue abounds, happily ever after after issue is solved." Yay!Except, this isn't quite that simple. I just can't find fluff!Karl Lindstrom is this Swedish farmer...oh, early 20s or so, who settles in Minnesota in the 1800s and owns a nice chunk of land that reminds him of his Swedish home. He owns two giant work horses, and a goat, but other than that, he does all the work of the place himself. He lives in a sod house.Anna, and her little brother James, are runaways from a nasty life in Boston, so she answers a "mail order bride" ad to get outta town, except she can't read or write so her brother, who is somewhat more literate, answers it for her. I hate miail order bride stories. I do. They're a bit trite and predictable, unless I happened to miss the story where the bride leaves the guy and settles the West on her own. Anyway, this story can almos tbe called a "historical fiction" book vs. a straight romance. Karl isn't a typical romance book hero. He's also blond and chops wood. He also speaks with an accent. He's also poor. Anna is by no means a typical romance book heroine. I actually didn't like her. I liked her brother better, but the story isn't about James. Anna whines some, and she lies throughout the entire story, and once she is caught in a lie, instead of coming clean about anything else she lied about, she just thinks "Oh well he don't know that one yet." So when the next lie comes and the next, poor Karl is left wondering why he's still in the book and why he can't have a better woman written for him.Or I was wondering that.The story does go in depth into settler life in Minnesota and basic survival in the woods, in the 1800s, with only an ax and your wits about you. There is a gun, but she isn't taught how to shoot it. How to tend weeds, chop a tree down, build a cabin, skin a bear, pick wild berries...I might want this book if I'm lost in the woods so far deep that I can't walk for two hours and find a Wal Mart. How animals are kept. How pancakes are made. How horses are hooked up to a wagon. Homesteading!This story is sweet and safe. It reminds me also of Karl's giant work horse: gentle and easy. Calm. You won't cry or get angry, but you might get annoyed at Anna. It's a nice break between heavier "issue" novels.
What do You think about The Endearment (2005)?
This book would have garnered a higher rating from me had I been able to like the heroine, Anna, even a little bit. I couldn't. And that upset me because, honestly, I got where she was coming from with her desperation, but I just couldn't bring myself to like anything about her. And Karl deserved so much more than she was able to give...even at the end! This isn't to say it's a bad book. It isn't. It's quite good. The characters are unbelievably well-written, the pacing is good, the plot is engaging, and the atmosphere is spectacular. LaVyrle Spencer is obviously an adept hand at research because there are so many little historically accurate tidbits. I learned a lot, but Spencer was able to teach me things I'd never known before without putting me to sleep. Her dialogue is excellent, and the prose has excellent flow. If you like sweet historical romances, I'm not sure you can really go wrong with any of Lavyrle Spencer's books; she seems quite masterful at creating compelling stories with real characters. The only reason this book gets less than four stars from me is just my own biased dislike of Anna. I recommend reading it simply because it's excellent in an historical context, but I don't recommend it if you've never read anything from Spencer before. If you're just starting with her work, try Morning Glory instead. It's one of my favorites.
—Katrina Passick Lumsden
Weak 3 stars. Downer. Too sad. I cried too much. I prefer more uplifting stories.The best part was seeing what life was like in rural Minnesota in 1854 - living alone in the wilderness with Indians for neighbors. Karl immigrated from Sweden. He talked of foods growing in the wild. He talked about different types of trees and how each type of wood was good for different things. We see him building a cabin and caring for his workhorses. He is a good man, strong, competent, patient, giving. But when he learned of something in Anna’s past he would not forgive or forget. It felt like most of the book was this fight with Karl being self righteous, cold, remote, withdrawn, and angry at Anna.Poor Anna, her mother was a prostitute who died. She and her brother James raised themselves as best they could. She traveled from Boston to Minnesota as a mail order bride- the trip paid for by Karl. She can’t read. Her brother wrote the letters for her. She has no skills. Everything she attempts, she messes up. Worst of all she lied to Karl in her correspondence. She quickly falls in love with Karl, but he won’t have anything to do with her. During his rejection she continues to try to please him, but messes up most of the time. She is in pain for most of the book.A secondary story was Anna’s thirteen-year-old brother James. His experience and relationship with Karl was the opposite of Anna’s. James listened well, learned quickly, and was competent at every new thing he did. He had a wonderful attitude. I enjoyed everything about James. But he also was sad and hurt for much of the book because of Anna’s situation.Technically there was a happy ending, but it did not feel good. I didn’t see any understanding or change causing Karl to forgive. It felt like the author had him forgive in order to end the book. I was still hurting afterwards.DATA:Narrative mode: 3rd person. Swearing language: mild. Sexual language: none. Number of sex scenes: two. Setting 1854 rural Minnesota. Copyright: 1982. Genre: american historical romance, historical western romance.
—Jane Stewart
I actually tried but couldn't finish this book...which is unbelievable since I love LaVyrle Spencer and have devoured almost every book she has every written. But for me, I struggled with two things1) There was way too much time spent on details that weren't really necessary to the story. Consequently I felt there were places that just stalled and I lost interest. 2) I couldn't get past Ann's complacency with lying and that Karl just seemed to be a bit too condescending.I will probably try again with this book....at a later date.
—Leona
