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Rating: 
Summary: top notch writing
Review: I was amazed at the quality of writing, the thoughtfulness and the insight in Friends and Lovers. It is as good as Jane Austen's best--Pride and Prejudice. Full of ideas and perfect sentences. Wonderful. It actually made me fall in love with the author, Helen MacInnes. I can't wait to read more of her stuff, and I wish she was around today so I could win her heart.
Rating:
Summary: top notch writing
Review: I was amazed at the quality of writing, the thoughtfulness and the insight in Friends and Lovers. It is as good as Jane Austen's best--Pride and Prejudice. Full of ideas and perfect sentences. Wonderful. It actually made me fall in love with the author, Helen MacInnes. I can't wait to read more of her stuff, and I wish she was around today so I could win her heart.
Rating:
Summary: typical MacInnes but then not typical
Review: Like with "Rest And Be Thankful", this is a Helen MacInness spy novel without the spies. Her romantic and political philosophies are just as plain as ever, but there is no thriller plot to drive them. This puts the spotlight on the romantic plot -- which is just fine. The book is a little more integrated and subtle than "Rest And Be Thankful", making it my favorite of her non-thrillers. (As a point of comparison, my favorite of all her books is "The Double Image".)In case you want to know the plot, it's about two young college students falling in love in the years just before World War 2. We follow them from infatuation to a more mature relationship, seeing them learn from the problems they encounter along the way. WW2 looms in the background, but the book ends about a year before the war actually starts.
Rating:
Summary: typical MacInnes but then not typical
Review: Like with "Rest And Be Thankful", this is a Helen MacInness spy novel without the spies. Her romantic and political philosophies are just as plain as ever, but there is no thriller plot to drive them. This puts the spotlight on the romantic plot -- which is just fine. The book is a little more integrated and subtle than "Rest And Be Thankful", making it my favorite of her non-thrillers. (As a point of comparison, my favorite of all her books is "The Double Image".) In case you want to know the plot, it's about two young college students falling in love in the years just before World War 2. We follow them from infatuation to a more mature relationship, seeing them learn from the problems they encounter along the way. WW2 looms in the background, but the book ends about a year before the war actually starts.
Rating:
Summary: Relationships
Review: This book is very different from Helen Macinnes' usual spy thrillers. It is a love story - but it is so much more. It explores the problems of developing and maintaining relationships, whether with family, friends, or lovers. A bit dated now but it's uplifting without being soppy. And the writing is excellent. Ms. Macinnes has a way with words.
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