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ComiXology Thousands of Digital Comics. East Dane Designer Men's Fashion. Shopbop Designer Fashion Brands. Withoutabox Submit to Film Festivals. He could have easily been really gorgeous and evil. Louisa, Brandon's scheming ex-fiance was showed as a lacking contrast to Heather, not just in poor character, but because she was large-framed, and in her thirties, and not sexually innocent like Heather. Young and firm-fleshed isn't necessarily always better than mature and buxom. A woman's value isn't necessarily in her virginity or lack of sexual experience.
Louisa was very promiscuous, and she wasn't a nice person, and I didn't like her, but I don't think she should have been rejected based on her getting older. Not that Woodiwiss was saying this, but there were contrasts drawn between the two that relied heavily on physical appearance. It made me uncomfortable. I can honestly say that I really liked this story. It took forever to read small print, and length , but it was very readable. I loved Brandon and Heather as a couple, despite their inauspicious start. If you would like to read classic, well-done, old-School romance, this is a good place to start.
Recommended if you don't mind slavery in your romances. View all 49 comments. Jun 12, Christine rated it it was ok Shelves: What I learned from this book: I really enjoyed Shanna's story, protagonists and flowery language. I read The Flame and the Flower next and am frankly mystified as to why it holds such a special place in so many readers hearts.
Is is because it was one of the first romance novels you read? My principal misgiving What I learned from this book: My principal misgiving about the book will be pretty obvious: The hero's repeated rape of the heroine in the beginning of the book. Not just the rape, but his cavalier attitude about it. Then when he gets called out on his actions and has to marry her he verbally abuses her and rails, "i have a fiance! Not once throughout the book does he evince any sort of remorse for his heinous treatment of her in the beginning.
Yeah, sure, they fall in love and his promises that she would eventually beg for it from him come true, and he lavishes affection on her, great. Besides realizing that he could, gulp, love a 'slip of a girl' his character doesn't really grow in my opinion. He spends the first half of the book being such a jerk that I hoped she would run off with the brother.
Finally, hero and heroine start having sex and everything is great between them. I've actually been sucked in at this point and am manipulated into being happy for them. Unlike our hero he's evil because he's disgustingly ugly also he kills people. HEA ruined by this interchange 3 pages from the end: Court, do you think I would have blamed you? My Lord, the man deserved it! Still the worst is yet to come "I'm glad that bastard who thought of putting you there met his end. Otherwise I might be tempted to go back and wring his blasted neck.
He got what he deserved for trying to rape you. What were your just desserts? Not only does he never feel any remorse, or apologize, but the whole thing is a joke by the end?! There are countless examples in the book, the most annoying of which I found to be when Louisa barges in on the happy couple while Heather's top is undone because she was just breast-feeding her son. Brandon's reaction to this is to remember how Louisa's boobs are getting saggy cuz she's so old and how she's nowhere near as hot as Heather so where does she get off with that attitude? Good thing you're into raping nubile teenagers Brandon, or else you might be shackled into marriage with someone only 3 years younger than you!
View all 10 comments. So if I guy thought you were hot and wanted you he could just rape you and you had to marry your rapist!!!! Also what the hell kind of polite society is it that lets a young girl suffer thought all that and then he has the nerve to joke about it!!!! I can't believe this. I understand things were different but good god man that is crazy! Poor baby to have to live with that and the poor girl married to her rapist has to find a way to make peace and continue to fo Wtf!!!
Poor baby to have to live with that and the poor girl married to her rapist has to find a way to make peace and continue to forge a relationship based on rape! Also, he said he would have found her anyways because she would have worked in a whore house that he goes to. What kind of a nut job is that? The only thing that redeemed this book for me somewhat was that he did not sleep with her until it felt right and he did not force her after their wedding.
As I turned the last page of the book with a wistful sigh, I was humbled all over again by what a tremendous debt of gratitude we all owe Kathleen E. I had borrowed all the Kathleen E. The hero's repeated rape of the heroine in the beginning of the book. I'm a snob when it comes to prose style, I know, but really. Fortunately, Heather is not as difficult to please as I am. Then when he gets called out on his actions and has to marry her he verbally abuses her and rails, "i have a fiance! Feb 07, Alba M.
He was really punishing himself here. She on the other hand, having no idea that sex was for pleasure, was good without the sex and she felt none of his frustration. Hey dude, That's what happens when you only rape a girl, she is not going to know that orgasms are mutual as you have never given her any!!! So while he was torturing himself she felt nothing. View all 30 comments. I really don't get why people considered Kathleen E Woodiwiss to be the queen of historical romance?!
I mean I have only read two of her novels and I can honestly say that she was nowhere near as good as other talented authors such as Judith Mcnaught and Laurie Mcbain. This book for instance is utter shite, full of stupid one dimensional characters with a pointless storyline that just drags on and on!! Don't waste your precious time reading this crap, you will only be sorry!
View all 17 comments. Feb 07, Alba M. Tengo tantas cosas que decir que no soy capaz de ordenarlo todo. Este estupido hijo de su madre Siempre con palabras cortantes, con desprecios e insultos hacia Heather. Que si, que al final cuando por fin hablan y se salen de malentendidos y todo el rollo, son ambos cuquisimos y blablabla. Solo que yo, con lo rencorosa que soy, ni olvido ni perdono porque no soy dios ni tengo Alzheimer. No puedo con el protagonista de este libro.
View all 7 comments. Nov 28, Beth rated it it was ok Shelves: At the beginning of the story, the year-old heroine is living with her verbally abusive aunt and hen-pecked uncle. They decide to foist her off on an extended member of the family who claims he can have her admitted to a prestigious finishing school for young ladies. He unsuccessfully attempts to rape her and after she escapes from his home she is captured by two Yankee seamen who mistake her for a streetwalker.
They take her aboard their ship where she is raped repeatedly by the year-old captain and illustrious hero of the story. For now just learn to accept it. So of course the logical next step in this type of scenario is a forced marriage. Heather, being a victim of the era, is spineless, subservient and too stupid to live so she meekly goes along with the plan.
She rides to London with her aunt and uncle and through the connections of a powerful family friend, the rapist, Captain Brandon Birmingham, is forced to man up and unwillingly dragged to the altar with Heather Simmons, the ever-deferential. He is angry at being trapped into marriage and believes Heather played a role in orchestrating their forced nuptials.
So in order to punish her for having wronged him, he tells her he will never sleep with her. I wanted to throttle him! Come on, you arrogant asshole, she was a fucking virgin. Thanks to you, her only experience with sex has been a physical and emotional violation of the worst sort. Then, for the next couple hundred pages following the wedding, Brandon takes his liberties in taunting her, mocking her and being cruel.
And even on the occasions when he acted kindly towards her—purchasing thoughtful gifts, sparing no expense in purchasing a new wardrobe for her, caring for her when she was sick, standing up for her when she was verbally assaulted by his jealous ex—he would invariably ruin the moment by turning around and saying something rude and hurtful. And for what purpose? Kind then cruel, hot then cold; that is the recipe of an abusive manipulator, not someone who is falling in love.
And keep in mind, you raped her. So why mock and taunt her? The book was published in , right on the heels of the Civil Rights Era, so I found it so terribly convenient that Brandon and several of the other white characters were such forward thinking people as to be opposed to slavery, in spite of the setting in South Carolina in That is just unforgivable, son!
I found the discrepancy between such an old-fashioned attitude to rape and the more modern attitude to slavery jarring. And I found the black characters to be painful stereotypes. They are described as being childlike and jolly and so fucking fake that whitey over here felt mortified. I truly do not get it. View all 3 comments. Mar 11, Oana added it Shelves: Thank you very much. Yes, Brandon can be a class A jerk and extremely arrogant. Heather is very sweet, innocent, and meek. Actually, I found Heather refreshing since so many of the heroines are feisty beyond reason and not at all an accurate protrayal of women of their time.
THis is a fantasy. Realistic has nothing to do with it. If that's what you want, t Yes, Brandon can be a class A jerk and extremely arrogant. If that's what you want, this is not the book for you. What I love is that Brandon is so hopelessly whipped and is so stubborn about admitting it. He makes a jackass of himself by "punishing her" by refusing to have sex with her once married.
He's such an idiot and his brother is merciless in pointing it out to him. It is he who is punished by that, her only experience was by his force the first time they met. So, that's what she believed sex was like. She didn't care if he didn't want sex, because it scared her. Of course her attraction to him which is always there blossoms. Brandon is so tied in knots because he's so used to being pursued and here's this girl who he wants so badly and she wants nothing to do with him at first.
She does not want to be his mistress, she does not want his fancy clothes, she does not want to sleep with him, and despite his beliefs about her part in the blackmail, she does not want to marry him.
He is so full of hot air and foolish pride. He is also extremely protective of Heather and wants to give her everything. As many have said, he ends up putting her on a pedestal which was sweet. Also, I kinda liked his paternal attitude. As far as the rape. It is disturbing because he's so arrogant once he realizes she's not a prostitute. He decides she'll be his mistress and will come to love it once he showers her with material things and gives her servants, etc. He is not considerate of her feelings on the matter and just decides she is his and that she'll learn to love it.
He is not, however, brutal by the standards of that genre. He never hits her. Then she runs away from him, which does serve him right. The abridged is such a watered down version. Sometimes Woodiwiss can, IMHO be wordy, so I thought this would eliminate that and possibly skim over some of the parts in the beginning before they got together. Unfortunately this was TOO condensed. The entire story can be listened to in 90 minutes. Anyone who's read the book knows this is extremely short. So much detail and tension was lost. It went from the classic it is to something like a fluffy little Hqn historical.
View all 8 comments. Jul 14, Christine rated it did not like it Shelves: I'm afraid I didn't like either of the characters in this book. He was a jerk who RAPED her at their first encounter -- repeatedly -- and she was a mouse with no backbone.
Mostly, I didn't like him. He never redeemed himself for what he did to her in any way and I have no idea why they fell in love. She'd been running from another rape attempt when she fell into his clutches, but apparently that rape attempt was not ok I'm not sure what differentiated the two. O I'm afraid I didn't like either of the characters in this book. Our dear ship captain, being wealthy and attractive, can get away with rape? I might even have forgiven the first time because he thought she was a prostitute and there was a legitimate misunderstanding happening, but after that he knew exactly what he was doing.
He was an awful, awful person with a horrible temper and no redeeming qualities. I was also really sick of hearing about how attractive Heather was, probably because I was given no other reason to like her. Upon reaching his home, people said at first sight that she was a fine wife for him. Just from seeing her. In fact, I generally felt that too much emphasis was placed on what people looked like and not enough on what they acted like. More than one woman was insulted for being large or fat, unlike our dear, perfectly proportions little Heather.
Granted, her aunt was horrible to her, but that doesn't make it ok to criticize her fat bottom. It didn't do anything to Heather -- her foul mouth and angry hands did. No voy a contar la historia Solo voy a decir que empieza mal, parece que mejora, pero no acaba de hacerlo Con lo bonita que es Una rosa en invierno, la verdad es que me llevado un buen chasco I'm sleepy and have had wine so please take my ranting in stride, scroll past it, or better yet read Melissa's cutting, and frankly amazing, review here.
I'm not going to rate this because I only read 5 of the 10 chapters. It takes a lot for me to not finish a book. Yes, life is too short to read books we don't enjoy, but you're looking at a person who spent two years trying to finish a page Don DeLillo novel she couldn't stand. But this book is far worse than that one was. I was feeling a bi I'm sleepy and have had wine so please take my ranting in stride, scroll past it, or better yet read Melissa's cutting, and frankly amazing, review here.
I was feeling a bit bad that I convinced Melissa to buddy-read this with me, but now I'm quite glad I did. It was interesting to see where Avon got its start in the historical romance genre. Things I don't understand: How literally every single Meredith Duran, Cecilia Grant, and Laura Kinsale book ever published has a lower Goodreads rating than this pile of shit. How Lisa Kleypas can call this her favorite Avon romance. The Woodiwiss influence is evident in her mediocre Vallerands series, but I seriously hope it's just nostalgia making her say things like that.
If you genuinely think this book is quality, Lisa, then you need to learn how to love yourself. How this is a list of books that have lower Goodreads ratings than The Flame and the Flower: I'd say this is a book that only Donald Trump could love, but I guess its 4.
Stay messy, people of Goodreads. I wouldn't normally bother rating a book I didn't finish, but I got through half of The Flame and the Flower before giving up, so I have some pretty strong opinions and plenty to say. If my pain can spare some of you anguish, then it will all be worthwhile. I was actually a little bit excited to read this book, even though I knew it had a reputation as being very of its time and, to today's readers, fairly offensive.
But I don't have an extremely thin skin. After all, I love Outlander , in spite o I wouldn't normally bother rating a book I didn't finish, but I got through half of The Flame and the Flower before giving up, so I have some pretty strong opinions and plenty to say. After all, I love Outlander , in spite of the strapping debacle! Plus, I was curious about the novel that basically invented the modern day historical romance back in the early s.
I had high hopes that this might actually be a fun, engaging old-school yarn, in spite of its issues. Unfortunately, it's just a mess. The mean aunt makes her slave away like Cinderella, and forces Heather to wear her own ragged, cast off clothing, all of which falls off of her lovely limbs and perky bosom because she's so slim and petite and the aunt is such a gigantic cow. Lesson 1 of this book: All the men in town love Heather in spite of her ragged clothes and put-upon life. I've never encountered such a genuine Mary Sue character outside of fanfiction.
A few examples of Heather's revolting perfection Heather felt her spirits rise. She chatted gaily with shopkeepers, tried on silly bonnets, giggled at herself in mirrors, danced about and completely charmed those persons who could be charmed. She watched as grand ladies paraded in front of her and laughed to see fat, little husbands trying to catch up. Her eyes shone and her smile was quick and easy.
She swirled gaily and turned her head with a carefree air, making her braids swing and causing men to follow her with their eyes. Under the ever warming sun the natural color returned to Heather's cheeks and all signs of illness faded away.
She bloomed more than any flower, and to look at her one could surmise motherhood definitely agreed with her. Whenever she was about on quarter-deck, close under Brandon's hand, every man's eyes were drawn to her at one time or another, and with the wind whipping her cloak about her and teasing a stray lock of hair she was something to behold. I'll be honest -- the second she started swirling gaily and turning her head to make her braids swing, I was imagining ways to kill her off.
She's so annoying, but more about that later. The "hero," Brandon, is even worse. We meet him when he mistakes Heather for a prostitute, after she's picked up by his henchman on the docks. She has just escaped a near-rape by her aunt's fat, ugly brother, whom she killed when he accidentally fell on the knife she was holding. In spite of her verbal and physical protests, Brandon has sex with her. When he realizes she was a virgin and not a streetwalker, his first reaction is to worry that she might have family or friends who would come after him for defiling her.
On learning that she hasn't anyone to protect her, he figures he might as well rape her a couple more times then, because it's not like you can put spilled milk back in a bottle, right? And she's so damned beautiful he just can't resist. Brandon decides to keep Heather as his mistress and he locks her up on board his ship, but she manages to run away back to her aunt. His super virility has left her pregnant, however, so he winds up being forced to marry her. He's not at all happy about this -- his cheek starts twitching with anger, and it twitches and vibrates with rage on almost every other page from here on out.
Brandon proceeds to alternately ignore his new bride and verbally abuse her. He's domineering and mean, although he does sometimes take Heather shopping, which makes her like him a little bit. Hence all the gay swirling I mentioned earlier. We only get Brandon's POV in brief snatches, so we don't really get much in the way of inner life or motivations. We mostly just learn that he is overwhelmed with lust for Heather.
La llama y la flor (Birmingham 1) (Spanish Edition) - Kindle edition by Kathleen Woodiwiss. Download it once and read it on your Kindle device, PC, phones or. La llama y la flor / The Flame and the Flower (Spanish Edition) [Kathleen E. Start reading La llama y la flor (Birmingham 1) (Spanish Edition) on your Kindle in.
She drives him crazy with her perfect, sexy beauty! And since he's decided he's too proud to bed her again after being forced to marry her, this makes Brandon angry. A few examples of our leading man's charming personality He sneered at her coldly. But your hell has only begun, m'lady. I'm not termed a pleasant sort to live with.
I have a foul temper which can snap up a small tart like you without a second's notice. So be warned, my beauty. Do not tempt it. Tread lightly and perhaps you will survive. But of all the women in London town, my weak-minded self chose you, the finest bit of fluff that ever tempted any man's eye. And you treat me not like a man but as some old buck, too worn to seek a doe. You play and pose before me and expect my spirits not to rise. You tempt and taunt then deny me husband's rights. My God, you wench! Do you think me some safe eunuch? Anyway, after they marry, Brandon is a big jerk, and Heather occasionally, wimpily, expresses her displeasure with being married to his rapey self.
And then she starts to feel guilty for being so mean to him. And to feel sort of grateful to him for marrying her. She went gladly and collected his clothes from the room, more than grateful because he had been lenient with her. It would be a long time before she'd dare call him names again or flare up in anger at him. She would have to remember he disliked insolence and would not stand for it.
She had been effectively disciplined and would do his will as an obedient wife. But must it be this way? Is it too difficult to show him kindness and gratitude though I know he loathes the ground on which I walk and would prefer to be no man at all than have me chained to him. He has been kind despite his hatred of me. He bought you some dresses and hasn't punched you, big deal! She's such a doormat, and he's such an inexplicable ass. Neither one of them is a well-developed character; they're both just a collection of adjectives and, literally in the case of Twitchy!
As for the writing itself, I finally understand why romance novels have the reputation for purple prose. It's because of books like this. There are some really oddly phrased sentences in this book, and it seems clear a thesaurus was used very liberally. The man was small and thinly fleshed, but his voice was a full baritone of gentle touch.
Just one of the many odd sentences I highlighted. I'm a snob when it comes to prose style, I know, but really. The dialogue is pretty terrible too, as you can hopefully tell from all the quotes above. Writing styles were different, gender politics were different, things that seem like romance novel cliches now were not cliches back then.
But bad writing is still bad writing. And there's something so reactionary about the relationship between Heather and Brandon, given that this book was written and published at the height of the women's movement in the early s. In a country where sensitive men like ERA-advocate Alan Alda were gaining fame, there was no doubt a swathe of the female population who thought a domineering, hairy-chested macho man like Brandon was super appealing. The year after Gloria Steinem launched Ms.
Magazine, some women probably enjoyed reading about a dainty, meek little thing like Heather, gaily swirling in pretty dresses instead of burning her bra and mouthing off to her husband. No doubt there's a dissertation in analyzing this book for some women's studies doctoral student. It's probably already been written, in fact. But I just couldn't go on reading it, myself -- especially when they arrived at Brandon's plantation and all the "negro" and "negress" talk started.
I bet Brandon is a very good master, and all his slaves are happy. Luckily for me, I'll never find out. View all 6 comments. I read this years ago when I was probably a young teenager. I loved this book then. As I read it now I am a bit aghast at the fact that Brandon basically raped Heather and took her virginity and he did it again. I don't think that will fly in modern times like these.
Of course I read somewhere that this is one of if not the first original 'bodice rippers'. I guess it would be since it was first published in Not sure why I had it at 4 star I read this years ago when I was probably a young teenager. Not sure why I had it at 4 stars when it is one of the classic Kathleen Woodiwiss book.
I'm changing my rating to 5 stars. I think it is because now I read a lot of erotica and the sex scenes here are very tame, but I think the book as a whole has a great story so if I judged the story by itself it would have 5 stars so I'm changing it to 5 stars. Feb 03, Jenny Q rated it did not like it.
In the first chapter the heroine kills a man defending herself from attempted rape, runs for her life and ends up with the "hero" who then rapes her himself, repeatedly. And I don't mean a case of "your lips say no but your eyes say yes", I mean lips, eyes, fists and feet all say no. I didn't make it to chapter two. I skimmed a few pages here and there through the rest of the book.
I actually found it very disturbing. Millions of copies of this book have been sold? There was a time when women actually found reading about rape-based relationships appealing? Mar 10, Kimberly Carrington-Fox rated it liked it Shelves: RitaWoodiwiss RetoRita2 Primera experiencia bodicerippeada superada!
Dec 23, TJ rated it it was ok Shelves: This book starts with the abuse then rape of an innocent girl, a subsequent pregnancy then forced marriage to the man who raped her.
Woodiwiss' writing skills undoubtably draw you into the story, however, therefore the two stars. Aug 04, Chloe rated it did not like it Shelves: I forced my way through this novel from start to end. If it hadn't been so horrifically genuine it would have been funny. Every single stupid thought you've ever heard an abused woman utter with that tragic loss of logic is in the plot of this book.
From 'he rapes me but he really loves me deep down' to 'a baby will fix our marriage'. True it's written slightly better then your average two-bit rape porno but that hardly makes up for a plot that encourages the idea that raping women is a good way I forced my way through this novel from start to end. True it's written slightly better then your average two-bit rape porno but that hardly makes up for a plot that encourages the idea that raping women is a good way to meet your wife and treating them like crap afterwards, blaming them for your life, circumstances etc is a good way to develop a healthy marriage.
I would also like to point out that this is neither 'the first romance' as people keep telling me, nor is it even the first erotic romance and I would hardly call this erotic erotic literature and romance has been around since as long as writing has with works such as Decameron, written years prior to this book. Lastly I would advocate stopping this book being called 'romance' it encourages women clearly suffering from stockholm syndrome to believe themselves in love with their abusers. Jan 20, Bubu rated it did not like it Shelves: I've done it, and I shouldn't have done it. Having been in a reading slump for the better part of the last 2 months, I went back and re-read The Flame and The Flower.
The Mother of all modern Historical Romances. Certainly the Mother of all Bodice Rippers. I first read this book in my teenage years and I remember, even back then, not liking it very much. I didn't like the plot. I didn't like Heather. I didn't like Brandon. I didn't like the fact that he raped her. Going back now, I actua I've done it, and I shouldn't have done it.
Going back now, I actually knew I would like it even less see rape. What I didn't expect, however, was how downright ridiculous this book is. Let's take Heather, for example. People either hate her because she's so beautiful, or want to rape her because she is so beautiful, or adore her because she is so beautiful. Mind you, the first two groups obviously fall under the categories of 'Jealous Women' and 'Evil Rapist Men'. The latter group are the likeable characters: But not many, of course. This child-woman is totally defined by her beauty. Any other characteristics she may show are completely undervalued.
To be more blunt, her other personality traits - if she has any - are insignificant compared to her beauty. She is - even after giving birth - simply physical perfection. Which leads us straight to Brandon. He loses any common sense - again, if he has any - and is so overcome by her beauty that he rapes her a few times.
Even when he realises that she was actually a virgin, he doesn't believe her to be anything else but a whore in the making, so it's still deserved. She should have simply just tried to enjoy it. Once that tiny little misunderstanding has been cleared she was not a whore in the making , he marries her because Heather is pregnant.
Still against his will, of course. Anyway, to cut a long story short: And almost every man wants her, read rape her. As for Brandon, the rapist who is not a rapist - at least according to the author. He lusts after Heather, has constant jealous outbursts and is a man envied by other men and lusted after by other women. Well, there's subplot that contains a murder-mystery, but never mind that. Even there, it's all about Heather's beauty in the end.
Now, how to explain why this book is, at least to me, wrong on so many levels? In my first semester at Uni, I took a class called 'Literature criticism' in which we examined the different approaches on how to interpret a text novel, poems, etc. I always found this theory idiotic. How on earth is it possible to read any text without putting it into some kind of context?
If there's anyone who can, and actually I'm sure there are people who can, I'm impressed. The reason why I'm mentioning all this is because I looked at this book's first publishing date. Before I was born. But during a time where the feminist movement finally started to break through into every day politics; not to forget shortly after the civil rights movement made significant improvements for the voting rights of PoC in the Southern states - over years after slavery had been abolished.
Basically, this book was written during a time where western societies underwent immense changes to the social, cultural and political status quo. And yet, The Flame and the Flower ignores all this. It's Gone With The Wind with actual sex scenes, minus the complexity of the main characters. But everything else is in there: