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Fragrant Flower
In the loveless household of General Sir Frederick and Lady Emily Osmund and their empty-headed twin daughters, begrudgingly adopted niece Azalea is little more than a wallflower. And all because her kind, heroic and beloved father died in a manner they wrongly consider scandalous - and because her mother was Russian! 'You must pay the price of your father's sins and what happened in India you will take to your grave with sealed lips', her uncle says, as if to seal her fate. When the General is posted to Hong Kong, Azalea is thrilled but there, as always, she is cast aside and abused. Only the handsome, dashing but imperious Lord Sheldon shows any interest in her - until to her aunt and uncle's disgust she's befriended by a kind Chinese family. But her joy at learning of their culture and customs is short-lived. Kidnapped by pirates, she faces death and worse. Is there any hope now that she'll find true love and a life of her own ?
137 pages, ebook
Published October 14, 2012
About the author
Barbara Cartland
1,344 books873 followersBorn in 1901, Barbara Cartland started her writing career in journalism and completed her first book, Jigsaw, when she was just 24. An immediate success, it was the start of her journey to becoming the world’s most famous and most read romantic novelist of all time. Inspiring a whole generation of readers around the globe with her exciting tales of adventure, love and intrigue, she became synonymous with the Romance genre. And she still is to this day, having written over 644 romantic fiction books.
As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, plays, music, poetry and several advice books on life, love, health and cookery – totalling an incredible 723 books in all, with over 1 billion in sales.
Awarded the DBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 in honour of her literary, political and social contributions, she was President of the Hertfordshire branch of the Royal College of Midwives as well as a Dame of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem and Deputy President of the St John Ambulance Brigade.
Always a passionate advocate of woman’s health and beauty, she was dubbed ‘the true Queen of Romance’ by Vogue magazine in her lifetime. Her legend continues today through her wonderfully vivid romantic tales, stories that help you escape from the day to day into the dramatic adventures of strong, beautiful women who battle, often against the odds, eventually to find that love conquers all.
Find out more about the incredible life and works of Dame Barbara Cartland at www.barbaracartland.com
As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, plays, music, poetry and several advice books on life, love, health and cookery – totalling an incredible 723 books in all, with over 1 billion in sales.
Awarded the DBE by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991 in honour of her literary, political and social contributions, she was President of the Hertfordshire branch of the Royal College of Midwives as well as a Dame of Grace of the Order of St John of Jerusalem and Deputy President of the St John Ambulance Brigade.
Always a passionate advocate of woman’s health and beauty, she was dubbed ‘the true Queen of Romance’ by Vogue magazine in her lifetime. Her legend continues today through her wonderfully vivid romantic tales, stories that help you escape from the day to day into the dramatic adventures of strong, beautiful women who battle, often against the odds, eventually to find that love conquers all.
Find out more about the incredible life and works of Dame Barbara Cartland at www.barbaracartland.com
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 2, 2021
I liked this one.
One of the very very few where the Hero does not have a mistress nor even any hint of an other woman. I picked this up since it is set in Hong Kong, one of my favorite places.
The poor orphaned heroine lives like a servant in her Uncle's house. He and his wife are both very mean to her, but when he gets stationed to Hong Kong, they take her along so they can continue using her services as an unpaid maid.
The heroine first meets the Hero accidentally, in her uncle's house, she was not allowed to attend the going away party. They have a moment, but she runs away.
They meet again in the ship. The Hero is intrigued by her but the heroine is very wary. She has been told by her evil uncle that he would never allow her to marry anybody ever, because of some secret disgrace her late father, his brother, committed.
The heroine befriends a young Chinese passenger and her husband, who is very wealthy, but since they are Chinese they were not allowed to buy first class passage on the ship and had to settle for a several suites in second class. 😡 WOW! This detail was very very enlightening and enraging! But I can imagine the incredible racism of the period. Dame Cartland actually acknowledged it in this book. In fact the evil uncle embodies all the disgustingly blatant racism of the former British colonists, while the Hero and the heroine are more enlightened.
The heroine's family still continue to treat her as an unwanted poor relation when they arrive in Hong Kong, and even the Hero finds it difficult to get to see her since she is never included in any of the social gatherings. She manages to visit her Chinese friends a couple of times, unfortunately, when they take her on a junk ride in the harbor, they get captured by pirates. After several tense paragraphs..😉 The Hero manages to rescue them. He declares his love and determination to marry the heroine despite her telling him that her uncle will never agree.
The heroine gets home safely and she thinks all is well when her uncle suddenly enters her room, forbids her from marrying the Hero and tells her to write a letter refusing his proposal. He beats her so badly, she has no choice but to accede. The next morning her evil aunt takes her away to the island of Macao and incarcerates he in a convent, never to be heard from again.
Of course the Hero, with the help of the heroine's Chinese friends manages to arrange a daring rescue and he spirits her off to Singapore where they will be married. According to him, he doubts the uncle can do much after the deed has been done and won't want to rock the boat for fear of scandal.
No comeuppance for the truly nasty aunt and uncle. This was a big fail in my opinion, because normally BC is not avers to killing off her villains. I was really hoping these two would be kidnapped by the pirates and killed off.
The end.
One of the very very few where the Hero does not have a mistress nor even any hint of an other woman. I picked this up since it is set in Hong Kong, one of my favorite places.
The poor orphaned heroine lives like a servant in her Uncle's house. He and his wife are both very mean to her, but when he gets stationed to Hong Kong, they take her along so they can continue using her services as an unpaid maid.
The heroine first meets the Hero accidentally, in her uncle's house, she was not allowed to attend the going away party. They have a moment, but she runs away.
They meet again in the ship. The Hero is intrigued by her but the heroine is very wary. She has been told by her evil uncle that he would never allow her to marry anybody ever, because of some secret disgrace her late father, his brother, committed.
The heroine befriends a young Chinese passenger and her husband, who is very wealthy, but since they are Chinese they were not allowed to buy first class passage on the ship and had to settle for a several suites in second class. 😡 WOW! This detail was very very enlightening and enraging! But I can imagine the incredible racism of the period. Dame Cartland actually acknowledged it in this book. In fact the evil uncle embodies all the disgustingly blatant racism of the former British colonists, while the Hero and the heroine are more enlightened.
The heroine's family still continue to treat her as an unwanted poor relation when they arrive in Hong Kong, and even the Hero finds it difficult to get to see her since she is never included in any of the social gatherings. She manages to visit her Chinese friends a couple of times, unfortunately, when they take her on a junk ride in the harbor, they get captured by pirates. After several tense paragraphs..😉 The Hero manages to rescue them. He declares his love and determination to marry the heroine despite her telling him that her uncle will never agree.
The heroine gets home safely and she thinks all is well when her uncle suddenly enters her room, forbids her from marrying the Hero and tells her to write a letter refusing his proposal. He beats her so badly, she has no choice but to accede. The next morning her evil aunt takes her away to the island of Macao and incarcerates he in a convent, never to be heard from again.
Of course the Hero, with the help of the heroine's Chinese friends manages to arrange a daring rescue and he spirits her off to Singapore where they will be married. According to him, he doubts the uncle can do much after the deed has been done and won't want to rock the boat for fear of scandal.
No comeuppance for the truly nasty aunt and uncle. This was a big fail in my opinion, because normally BC is not avers to killing off her villains. I was really hoping these two would be kidnapped by the pirates and killed off.
The end.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 12, 2018
The heroine of “Fragrant Flower” grew up in India and is now living in Hong Kong, and although it’s no shining progressive text, I have to say it dealt a LOT better with diversity than I expected. Also, the heroine is surprisingly outspoken and active for Cartland, so... it was kind of fun.
April 24, 2014
Good read but could have been better. I expected a little more to the story than there was!
Want to Read
February 10, 2016162pgs, historic romance
December 12, 2012
3.5 stars
April 11, 2023
In the loveless household of General Sir Frederick and Lady Emily Osmund and their empty-headed twin daughters, begrudgingly adopted niece Azalea is little more than a wallflower. And all because her kind, heroic and beloved father died in a manner they wrongly consider scandalous – and because her mother was Russian!
‘You must pay the price of your father’s sins and what happened in India you will take to your grave with sealed lips’, her uncle says, as if to seal her fate.
When the General is posted to Hong Kong, Azalea is thrilled but there, as always, she is cast aside and abused. Only the handsome, dashing but imperious Lord Sheldon shows any interest in her – until to her aunt and uncle’s disgust she’s befriended by a kind Chinese family. But her joy at learning of their culture and customs is short-lived. Kidnapped by pirates, she faces death and worse. Is there any hope now that she’ll find true love and a life of her own?
The mildness and beauty of Hong Kong were so welcome after the horrible English winters. As lovely and delicate as the flower she was named for, Azalea needed warmth and sunlight to survive.
Not that Azalea would ever be truely happy in her hew home. Her aunt and uncle kept her in a humiliating state of domestic slavery. Her inferior position, they insisted, was more than justified by the unmentionable disgrace in her past.
Her vicious guardians had succeeded in breaking Azalea's spirit. But they couldn't prevent a determined young man from falling in love with her. Nor could they stop him from uncovering the shameful secret that clouded Azalea's happiness.
‘You must pay the price of your father’s sins and what happened in India you will take to your grave with sealed lips’, her uncle says, as if to seal her fate.
When the General is posted to Hong Kong, Azalea is thrilled but there, as always, she is cast aside and abused. Only the handsome, dashing but imperious Lord Sheldon shows any interest in her – until to her aunt and uncle’s disgust she’s befriended by a kind Chinese family. But her joy at learning of their culture and customs is short-lived. Kidnapped by pirates, she faces death and worse. Is there any hope now that she’ll find true love and a life of her own?
The mildness and beauty of Hong Kong were so welcome after the horrible English winters. As lovely and delicate as the flower she was named for, Azalea needed warmth and sunlight to survive.
Not that Azalea would ever be truely happy in her hew home. Her aunt and uncle kept her in a humiliating state of domestic slavery. Her inferior position, they insisted, was more than justified by the unmentionable disgrace in her past.
Her vicious guardians had succeeded in breaking Azalea's spirit. But they couldn't prevent a determined young man from falling in love with her. Nor could they stop him from uncovering the shameful secret that clouded Azalea's happiness.
March 29, 2019
Another adventurous love story from Barbara Cartland. This time, the story is full with racial issue, as the main character (Azalea Osmund) was hated by her uncle & aunt because of her mixed-blood (her father was an Englishman and mother was a Russian). They also hated how Azalea became friends with a Chinese family - a typical white supremacy attitude in the 1800s. But I love how Barbara Cartland tried to open the reader's eyes that they are a whole big world out there, and every place in this world has a different culture and people that everyone should respect.
June 29, 2021
Great Barbara Cartland
Great for historical fictional romance. I can’t say how historically accurate this book is but ever since I found the paper back book I’ve enjoyed it.
Great for historical fictional romance. I can’t say how historically accurate this book is but ever since I found the paper back book I’ve enjoyed it.
July 19, 2021
Really fun and different Barbara Cartland. Lovely setting in Hong Kong with great Chinese characters. And a smart, strong and brave heroine without blonde hair!
December 30, 2021
3.5! I acquired this hidden gem from a nearby second-hand store. A thrilling read and beautifully written. Certainly worth reading!
January 17, 2023
Another great Barbara Cartland. Surprisingly very progressive knowing her political history and social status. Moving and emotional and more gripping than some others of hers I’ve read.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews