Passage to Love

by Barbara Cartland

Determined to marry for love alone, Lady Imilda Bourne flees her home when her stepmother arranges her marriage to the Marquis of Melverley, but the willful Imilda seeks refuge in the marquis' own manor

Genres: Romance

165 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published November 1, 1995

About the author

Born 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

Reviews

[Suebob16]

The Marquis of Melverley really got himself into a messy situation. He is suddenly forced to marry Lady Imilda Bourne thanks to her scheming stepmother. He unwisely turns to a married Contessa with whom he has had an affair but is caught by her husband the Comte and is challenged to a duel. The Comte is seriously injured in the duel and the Marquis now has to flee and possibly go into exile. He decides to return to his country estate that he has neglected for many years because of bitter memories.

Imilda is also not happy with the arranged marriage and decides to run away. She learns that the Marquis has ignored his estate and has not returned for a long time. What better place to hide than at Melverley Park? No one would expect her to be there. Imilda cleverly gets herself hired as an herb gardener and becomes fascinated by Melverley Park and its history.

The book is a nice mix of Cartland's familiar story elements. It's good to see the Marquis realize his mistake in ignoring his old home, and being open to Imilda's plan for him to reclaim Melverley Park because it had been taken over by highwaymen during his absence. But will he end up having to go into exile? That is the last question to be answered.

[Claudette Wielechowski]

Good story. Quick read. Typical Barbara Cartland style. Her biography was very interesting too.