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Lord Johnnie
In eighteenth-century England, a "lady of quality" could marry a condemned criminal to escape her debts. Lady Leanna married Lord Johnnie in Newgate dungeon. She thought he would go to the gallows at dawn. But no hangman's noose could cheat Johnnie the Rogue of his lawful prize.
392 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1949
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
May 29, 2019
Thank you to Linda Hilton for the rec :)
This book was so much fun, Raiden wanted to get into the spirit. I told him to give me his best pirate mean mug
He did not disappoint, lol.
"The road of life leaves as strong an imprint on the man as the man leaves on the road, Johnnie. We are all the fruits of our experiences. You can't change that."
"A bitter truth," he agreed.
She studied him a long while in silence. "That girl has altered your outlook, hasn't she?"
"Let's say she clarified it, your Grace."
If you're a fan of Errol Flynn movies or any of variation of Robin Hood tv shows, you'll want to get a copy of this.
Johnnie Rogue was born a bastard, his father supposedly died at sea and didn't make it back to marry Johnnie's mother, while she died in childbirth. With an English mother and Scottish father, living in France was difficult and Johnnie had to turn to thievery to survive. When he makes it back to England he becomes a bold and brash highwayman who eventually gets caught.
"The procedure is simple enough: ye marry a condemned rascal, who as yer 'usband becomes legally responsible fer yer debts. We promptly 'angs 'im, leavin' ye a pretty little widow, free as a bird o' both 'usban' an' debts."
Lady Leanna is dangerously in debt and looks to marry a condemned man, using the loophole of her "husband" being responsible for the debts and when he gets hung, the debts are wiped out because he paid for his "crime". As rogues are want to do in these stories, Johnnie escapes the hangman's noose.
"All right—I'll be honest, I'll tell you something I never spoke aloud before, because, until the moment you walked into Newgate, it was nothing but a vain, silly, hopeless wish." He talked rapidly, as if trying to keep ahead of the restraint of reason. "I have always wanted to be a gentleman! I've hated sordidness and poverty, hated coarseness and vulgarity. Then, miraculously, you came into that hell-hole and married me. In that I saw the hand of Providence. I would have been a fool to have thrown the opportunity away."
While Johnnie might be a rascal, he's actually only wanted to live a lawful life, poverty and circumstance led him down a different road. When he finds Leanna after escaping death, he sees her as his salvation, Leanna does not feel the same way as she has someone else in mind for marriage. There's a sex scene that fades to black very quickly and a deal struck between the two that after one night of pretending to be husband and wife, Johnnie will disappear from her life forever. They leave on good terms but a later possible betrayal leaves Johnnie bitter towards Leanna and leads him to berate himself for thinking he could go legit.
These sodden creatures were without initiative; blindly they subscribed to the old rule of the sea: Grumble you may, obey you must.
We leave land to take to the high seas because Johnnie gets captured by the press gangs, which eventually leads to him starting a mutiny and becoming a captain. He decides to travel to America, because he saw Leanna board a ship with her beau headed there and decides he can't live without her. This desire for Leanna feels a bit empty because the reader doesn't really "know" Leanna and what we do of her, doesn't make her a sympathetic character as Johnnie is the lead and is the one the reader's are endeared to.
There is some high seas action and conscious searching in regards to Johnnie helping out England in what is the tumultuous climate of America and England about to go to war and France slithering around. Strong secondary characters help round these parts, Ben Bottle - also press ganged and helps Johnnie pull off the mutiny and becomes his right hand man, Old Ames - Johnnie searched him out to get information on his father, Ames gets press ganged with Johnnie and becomes his source of information on how to survive at sea as Ames is an old sea dog, and 1st Lt. Yew - forced to stay on after the mutiny and spends most the time being frenemies with Johnnie. There are a couple others, like the Duchess of Tallentyre, Reggie, who I would delight in reading their own books.
For first being published in 1949, this has aged remarkably well. The dialect of the sailors was a little hard to read and understand, forcing me to reread some parts and Johnnie's friend Ben had a tendency to use the saying "Rape me" as a sort of replacement for "I'll be", which threw me a couple times. Other than that, the writing, characters, and story stand strong in this time.
For me, this was more of a swashbuckling adventure than romance. We hardly get to know Leanna and she and Johnnie spend very limited time together. This was more of the journey Johnnie goes on and the five women who send him on it: Mother - dies in childbirth, Leanna - marries Johnnie, betrays him, and inspires hope for him to go legit, Moll - starts off as his friend helping to rescue him only to betray him, Mrs. Bloodsymthe - helps reinforce his loyalty to Leanna and rescues him after she sees him as rescuing her, and Reggie - helps him get the opportunity to escape New York.
Johnnie stays loyal to Leanna after he meets her but he also has a moment where he kidnaps her in front of society, thus taking away any decision she would have made and ruining her reputation; he does eventually leave her to make her own decision on staying with him but I wish we could have gotten a stronger sense of her feelings.
All in all, this was so much fun. If you miss Errol Flynn characters, Johnnie the Rogue's courage, ingenuity, charm, luck, and wit, while longing for Leanna and a life of legitimacy, is a story you'll want to pick up.
Johnnie the Rogue is dead, and John Ballantyne has emerged.
This book was so much fun, Raiden wanted to get into the spirit. I told him to give me his best pirate mean mug
He did not disappoint, lol.
"The road of life leaves as strong an imprint on the man as the man leaves on the road, Johnnie. We are all the fruits of our experiences. You can't change that."
"A bitter truth," he agreed.
She studied him a long while in silence. "That girl has altered your outlook, hasn't she?"
"Let's say she clarified it, your Grace."
If you're a fan of Errol Flynn movies or any of variation of Robin Hood tv shows, you'll want to get a copy of this.
Johnnie Rogue was born a bastard, his father supposedly died at sea and didn't make it back to marry Johnnie's mother, while she died in childbirth. With an English mother and Scottish father, living in France was difficult and Johnnie had to turn to thievery to survive. When he makes it back to England he becomes a bold and brash highwayman who eventually gets caught.
"The procedure is simple enough: ye marry a condemned rascal, who as yer 'usband becomes legally responsible fer yer debts. We promptly 'angs 'im, leavin' ye a pretty little widow, free as a bird o' both 'usban' an' debts."
Lady Leanna is dangerously in debt and looks to marry a condemned man, using the loophole of her "husband" being responsible for the debts and when he gets hung, the debts are wiped out because he paid for his "crime". As rogues are want to do in these stories, Johnnie escapes the hangman's noose.
"All right—I'll be honest, I'll tell you something I never spoke aloud before, because, until the moment you walked into Newgate, it was nothing but a vain, silly, hopeless wish." He talked rapidly, as if trying to keep ahead of the restraint of reason. "I have always wanted to be a gentleman! I've hated sordidness and poverty, hated coarseness and vulgarity. Then, miraculously, you came into that hell-hole and married me. In that I saw the hand of Providence. I would have been a fool to have thrown the opportunity away."
While Johnnie might be a rascal, he's actually only wanted to live a lawful life, poverty and circumstance led him down a different road. When he finds Leanna after escaping death, he sees her as his salvation, Leanna does not feel the same way as she has someone else in mind for marriage. There's a sex scene that fades to black very quickly and a deal struck between the two that after one night of pretending to be husband and wife, Johnnie will disappear from her life forever. They leave on good terms but a later possible betrayal leaves Johnnie bitter towards Leanna and leads him to berate himself for thinking he could go legit.
These sodden creatures were without initiative; blindly they subscribed to the old rule of the sea: Grumble you may, obey you must.
We leave land to take to the high seas because Johnnie gets captured by the press gangs, which eventually leads to him starting a mutiny and becoming a captain. He decides to travel to America, because he saw Leanna board a ship with her beau headed there and decides he can't live without her. This desire for Leanna feels a bit empty because the reader doesn't really "know" Leanna and what we do of her, doesn't make her a sympathetic character as Johnnie is the lead and is the one the reader's are endeared to.
There is some high seas action and conscious searching in regards to Johnnie helping out England in what is the tumultuous climate of America and England about to go to war and France slithering around. Strong secondary characters help round these parts, Ben Bottle - also press ganged and helps Johnnie pull off the mutiny and becomes his right hand man, Old Ames - Johnnie searched him out to get information on his father, Ames gets press ganged with Johnnie and becomes his source of information on how to survive at sea as Ames is an old sea dog, and 1st Lt. Yew - forced to stay on after the mutiny and spends most the time being frenemies with Johnnie. There are a couple others, like the Duchess of Tallentyre, Reggie, who I would delight in reading their own books.
For first being published in 1949, this has aged remarkably well. The dialect of the sailors was a little hard to read and understand, forcing me to reread some parts and Johnnie's friend Ben had a tendency to use the saying "Rape me" as a sort of replacement for "I'll be", which threw me a couple times. Other than that, the writing, characters, and story stand strong in this time.
For me, this was more of a swashbuckling adventure than romance. We hardly get to know Leanna and she and Johnnie spend very limited time together. This was more of the journey Johnnie goes on and the five women who send him on it: Mother - dies in childbirth, Leanna - marries Johnnie, betrays him, and inspires hope for him to go legit, Moll - starts off as his friend helping to rescue him only to betray him, Mrs. Bloodsymthe - helps reinforce his loyalty to Leanna and rescues him after she sees him as rescuing her, and Reggie - helps him get the opportunity to escape New York.
Johnnie stays loyal to Leanna after he meets her but he also has a moment where he kidnaps her in front of society, thus taking away any decision she would have made and ruining her reputation; he does eventually leave her to make her own decision on staying with him but I wish we could have gotten a stronger sense of her feelings.
All in all, this was so much fun. If you miss Errol Flynn characters, Johnnie the Rogue's courage, ingenuity, charm, luck, and wit, while longing for Leanna and a life of legitimacy, is a story you'll want to pick up.
Johnnie the Rogue is dead, and John Ballantyne has emerged.
August 26, 2018
Such fun reading these older books! :)
May 21, 2019
I read this as a teenager, and it was a rollicking great adventure/romance.
June 20, 2018
One of the best novels ever!! A must read.
December 31, 2018
classic adventure, tainted with misogyny
February 27, 2017
An older adventure story, set in the mid 1700s before the US revolution. This is the tale of a rogue and thief, a scoundrel named Johnnie who is a dashing and exciting highwayman with aspirations for glory and status.
The book starts with Johnny about to die in Newgate prison of London, and never slows down from that point. Its packed with interesting historical bits which are sometimes handled a bit pedantically, but always holds interest as we follow Johnnie's adventures. He's strong, skilled, handsome, charming, and clever, but things never turn out as he plans, and his ego is almost continuously his downfall as he uses and abuses those around him.
Johnnie grows and learns, over time, and in the end is quite the leader, but its a tough road to teach him to care about something other than himself.
The book starts with Johnny about to die in Newgate prison of London, and never slows down from that point. Its packed with interesting historical bits which are sometimes handled a bit pedantically, but always holds interest as we follow Johnnie's adventures. He's strong, skilled, handsome, charming, and clever, but things never turn out as he plans, and his ego is almost continuously his downfall as he uses and abuses those around him.
Johnnie grows and learns, over time, and in the end is quite the leader, but its a tough road to teach him to care about something other than himself.
March 16, 2016
Bit of nostalgia. I must have read this in my teens in 60s and recalled loving it. I kept that 1951 printing of the paperback and by now it is sans cover, yellowed and in several pieces but it was still a decent read although now no longer seemed as wildly romantic as back then. In fact, the romance took a definite back seat to the buckling and swashing. There was some surprisingly introspective musing on love and relationships by Johnnie for a book written by a man in this era but the actual interactions with his love interest were limited. Johnnie did not fit the pattern of a bodice ripper alpha male- he was too polite and willing to be swayed.
I had forgotten that the setting was the early days of the French & Indian War but apart from some talk about declarations of war, supplying British troops, a hostile encounter with French ships and mentions of the French in Canada there was little actual war content.
Excellent descriptions of life aboard ship both as impressed seamen and as pirates/privateers. The info about fashion and society seemed accurate and well depicted. Overall this reminded me a bit of books by Bernard Cornwell- lots of action but also plenty of character/emotion and emphasis on personal honor.
Could not find much about the author apart from the page at the front which states that White was a Canadian who enlisted in the Cameron Highlanders at age 16. He later became a pro boxer, a log-roller, forest ranger, sheriff's deputy, detective and then writer. There was a Leslie T White on IMDB who was story or screenplay writer for a number of films in the 30s/40s. Some of his bio details match the book's author. There's a sketch in the front of my PB that makes him look Hemingwayesqe with nautical cap and pipe.
Discovered my 1963 diary. First read it in November of that year and gave it 4+ stars
I had forgotten that the setting was the early days of the French & Indian War but apart from some talk about declarations of war, supplying British troops, a hostile encounter with French ships and mentions of the French in Canada there was little actual war content.
Excellent descriptions of life aboard ship both as impressed seamen and as pirates/privateers. The info about fashion and society seemed accurate and well depicted. Overall this reminded me a bit of books by Bernard Cornwell- lots of action but also plenty of character/emotion and emphasis on personal honor.
Could not find much about the author apart from the page at the front which states that White was a Canadian who enlisted in the Cameron Highlanders at age 16. He later became a pro boxer, a log-roller, forest ranger, sheriff's deputy, detective and then writer. There was a Leslie T White on IMDB who was story or screenplay writer for a number of films in the 30s/40s. Some of his bio details match the book's author. There's a sketch in the front of my PB that makes him look Hemingwayesqe with nautical cap and pipe.
Discovered my 1963 diary. First read it in November of that year and gave it 4+ stars
February 22, 2012
This book was quite entertaining. A real swashbuckling adventure! There were a couple things about the author's style that irritated me at first (like all the exclamations! from the female characters, I couldn't really imagine a real woman speaking that way) but I got over those once I got into the story. The similes and metaphors were a bit overdone at times. The accented dialogue took some getting used to--replacing all the h's with apostrophes was a bit 'ard to 'andle, if you catch my drift (I get it, it's cockney).
April 14, 2015
This book is so much fun and has become a true favorite of mine! The love story is delightfully melodramatic (as all nautical romances should be) and the plot is very intriguing. This is Leslie Turner White's best novel in my opinion. I highly recommend.
April 9, 2025
One of my all-time favorites.
May 24, 2009
An enjoyable swashbuckler
June 12, 2011
great--spell binding--lots of adventure--good setting and story
October 7, 2018
Pulp gets a bad name and shouldn't. Their mission was to engage, and Lord Johnnie, in all its weirdness, is up to the task - the swashbuckling plot (and it does swash) is based upon the antiquated notion that women were the property of their husbands in earlier times (here in France); some women, it is suggested, who had accrued debts (through gambling and such) would follow condemned men to the gallows, and marry them immediately prior to their executions - thus the debts dying with them. In Lord Johnnie, our title character is one such man - who escapes hanging, and follows his new 'wife' to her home - "Why so afraid, Madam?" he says upon meeting her again, "Don't you recognize your husband?"
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews