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The Chauffeur and the Chaperon. Published May 9th first published To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about The Chauffeur and the Chaperon , please sign up. Be the first to ask a question about The Chauffeur and the Chaperon.
Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. The Williamsons seem to have invented a genre all their own: European travelogue mixed with light romantic comedy, usually involving imposters. I liked My Friend the Chauffeur a little bit better, but this one's still a pleasant read when you're in the mood for something light and comfortable—and the descriptions of Holland are genuinely fascinating.
Made me want to go Googling the names of places and see if they still look at all the same.
Two girls, Nell and Phyllis, find out that they have been left a small amount of money and a boat by an old family friend. The boat is in Holland. On the spur of the moment they decide to throw caution to the wind, ditch their routine, and take a long cruise around Holland on the new boat. Once they arrive, they meet up with Ronald, an agreeable young man who is under the impression that he has rented their boat. The mistake is rectified, but he still wants to have his cruise and had already sta Two girls, Nell and Phyllis, find out that they have been left a small amount of money and a boat by an old family friend.
The mistake is rectified, but he still wants to have his cruise and had already started fitting the boat up with better furnishings, so they agree that if he can persuade his aunt to come and be chaperon, they will travel together. At this point Nell's distant cousin, a Dutchman named Robert, shows up.
He lacks a sense of humor and is pretty stubborn and traditional, so he looks on their plans with suspicion. He also starts to develop a soft spot for Phyllis.
Robert's friend is Rudolphe Brederode, a "tall, dark and handsome" and mysterious type. That is, he's mysterious for the first quarter of the book, but then the narration changes to his viewpoint. He manages to get himself hired as skipper for the boat because he's fallen in love with Nell, who won't give him the time of day.
Meanwhile, Ronald, the other passenger on the boat, is seeming to be left in the cold. He practically moved heaven and earth to manage travel arrangements and secure a chaperon, because he was convinced that he was going to fall in love with one or the other of the girls but he could never decide which. Instead he finds himself popped into the "helpful older brother" role with both of them.
Plus he has on his hands the "aunt.
He virtuously checks her references, but doesn't bother to find out exactly who she really is. I started suspecting it a little over halfway through. Anyway, fun book, but as with "Set in Silver," the travelogue bits sometimes got wordy, and I skimmed although in general those bits were enjoyable enough and created a good atmosphere.
The only other issue was that the book is written from the standpoint of 4 different people, so with the first three, you get the beginning of their story, but the end of their story gets to be told by someone else. Not a completely satisfying structure. Mar 16, Allamanda rated it really liked it. A classic Williamson s plot, with travel in Europe only in a motor boat, not a motor car this time and people masquerading as other people.
Unfortunately, what was a sprightly, charming, Wodehousian farce in the making quickly turned into a well-written but jaw-droppingly detailed travelogue of Holland. Item s unavailable for purchase. We'll publish them on our site once we've reviewed them. Stories in the Dark. The Chauffeur and the Chaperon, by C.
The story is based in Holland and the authors scatter nuggets of Dutch culture, history, and geography liberally throughout the book. The book is told from four different perspectives, by four very engaging characters, and is quite a quick read. I did somewhat resent the fact that names and events from Dutch history were mentioned only in passing or were A classic Williamson s plot, with travel in Europe only in a motor boat, not a motor car this time and people masquerading as other people.
I did somewhat resent the fact that names and events from Dutch history were mentioned only in passing or were all Europeans at that time familiar with details of Dutch history? The over-emotionalism of the sentimental scenes always makes me cringe, but thankfully, the authors work these in briefly, more out of a feeling of duty than from real conviction, it would seem, and focus on what is for them the most important part: One of my favourite of the Williamsons' books so far.
Oct 20, E. It's rare that a book lets me down as abruptly as this one did about a quarter of the way through. It starts out very promisingly, beginning with two upper-class English girls who unexpectedly inherit a boat and decide to blow their cash on hand on an irresponsible and slightly improper houseboat jaunt through Holland.
Given that this is set around the time it was published in , the girls really shouldn't just go by themselves, but they throw all caution to the winds and run off from England It's rare that a book lets me down as abruptly as this one did about a quarter of the way through. Given that this is set around the time it was published in , the girls really shouldn't just go by themselves, but they throw all caution to the winds and run off from England to an equally civilized place inhabited by equally stuffy upper-class but Dutch people, decency be damned!
They quickly meet some appropriately rich and charming love interests, one of whom disguises himself as a boat tour guide, and the other of whom hires an elderly chaperon so that he can go with them, view spoiler [ the chaperon's actually a beautiful young woman in disguise, of course -- I figured this out so quickly that I don't think it's much of a spoiler really , hide spoiler ] and there's another guy along for the ride.
Unfortunately, what was a sprightly, charming, Wodehousian farce in the making quickly turned into a well-written but jaw-droppingly detailed travelogue of Holland. If Apple Books doesn't open, click the Books app in your Dock.
Do you already have iTunes? Click I Have iTunes to open it now. View More by This Author. Description It is a story book.
The Chauffeur and the Chaperon by A. M. Williamson and C. N. Williamson. Book Cover. Download; Bibrec. The Chauffeur and the Chaperon has 11 ratings and 5 reviews. Elisabeth said: The Williamsons seem to have invented a genre all their own: European travel.
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