The Disturbing Charm

by Berta Ruck

The Disturbing Charm By Berta Ruck Author Of "In Another Girl's Shoes," "The Three Of Hearts," "The Years For Rachel," Etc. Illustrated By Edward C. Caswell—1919

186 pages, Paperback

First published June 16, 1919

About the author

Amy Roberta Ruck was born on 2 August 1878 in Murree, Punjab, India, one of eight children by Eleanor D'Arcy and Colonel Arthur Ashley Ruck, a British army officer. Her family moved to Wales, where she went to school in Bangor. On 1909, she married novelist (George) Oliver Onions (1873-1961), and they had two sons: Arthur (b. 1912) and William (b. 1913). Berta died only nine days after her 100th birthday.

From 1905, she began to contribute short stories and serials to magazines, and on 1914, her first novel "His Official Fiancée" was published. She wrote over eighty romance novels. She also wrote an autobiography and two memoir-style works.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

I started reading this book with utterly no idea what it was about. I couldn't find any synopsis or blurb anywhere on the internet. I liked the title so thought I would give it a go...

Since GR doesn't have a blurb listed at current, here is the plot in a nutshell: The time the book is set during World War One. Olwen Howel-Jones is a young Welsh woman and secretary to her uncle, a professor. While in France, she comes across a sachet of 'mystery powder/germ' and a letter that begins...

"Half the trouble in the world arises from the fact that human beings are continually falling in love...with the wrong people"

Made into a charm, could it be that this powder has the power to compel the love one covets?

So Olwen distributes the powder and hands these charms to 3 others and keeps one to herself. The story therein is the tale of these four people and the larger group of characters who all know each other.

Honestly, it is a really charming (pun intended) book. It has a few flaws like the beginning is a little slow and confusing (as I didn't know a thing about the story and characters) and the book meanders and spends way too long on side characters while the hero is not mentioned in large chunks of the book. Still, the writing is frank, conversational and witty. Occasionally laugh out loud too! Each chapter starts with a famous quote which is lovely.

The setting of the 1920s is also a refreshing change from the regencies I've been reading. It was a time of modernity, shorter skirts, working women and looser social restrictions (a woman able to go for walks with a man unchaperoned, shocking I know!) and yet it was still a time for love at first sight and proposal at second sight. Loves are won and lost in a fleeting instant. So when the book focuses on a young Jack Awdas who wears his heart on his sleeve, it's tricky to buy his sincerity when he so easily falls in and out of love. It went on far too long and didn't endear me to his character.

Olwen's a lovely character but being part of this ensemble 'cast' meant she isn't focused on as much as I'd like. Her love, Captain Ross gets even less page time! I was desperate to find out more about him but he remained quite the enigma. He is the typical stiff-upper-lip-stoic-as-all-hell British man and spends 90% of the book not only in denial about his attraction but combative and mean to Olwen when jealous. Not in a truly despicable way but in narrative contrast to Jack who's very open about his feelings. It does lead to a delicious proposal scene at the end that had me laughing out loud! Trust me, Olwen gets her payback! Very cute.

The Disturbing Charm is not a strong romance and will disappoint some readers who want tonnes of interaction between H/h and yes, the story and characters are shallow as a saucer. Some parts I also skimmed (especially to get to the Olwen/Ross ending which really was the only thing I wanted to read) but overall I think it's a lovely read which I read at a leisurely pace over a few weeks. I'll be checking out more works from this author. It's available as a free e-book courtesy of Project Gutenberg. :)

Re-readability: Have already re-read the ending 3 times and I just finished the book lol.
Rating: 3.5 split hairs.

[Bre Teschendorf · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my second Berta Ruck novel. I greatly enjoyed the first (Miss Million's Maid) and to my surprise, I liked this one even better. This novel was deeper than the other.
The story is chiefly about "Little Olwen", whose Uncle a noted Botanist, for whom Olwen is the secretary, receives a letter from someone claiming to have discovered the secret to "The Disturbing Charm" which causes one person mysteriously to fall in love with another person. Olwen comes upon this letter, is fascinated (and convinced) and packs the "charm" into little sachels on ribbons and distributes them to three unknowing people, hoping to win them love. Of course, she wears a fourth charm herself hoping to win the attention of one particular man.....
From this silly premise the author manages to weave a poignant and interesting story about 8 (or so) interesting characters, their war time lives and loves.
The book is written in two sections. What really impressed me was the personal growth of Olwen between parts one and two and two until the end of the book. She is not a flat character by any means. She is woman through and through with all the complexities of a young, growing woman..
London during the first world war is captured, to some extent. There is a lot of sentimental feeling about the Allies, the United States and England, standing arm in arm. It is rather lovely to read, maybe syrupy. But not too sugary for me. The author also touches (a bit) on the hardships of war, mostly from a feminine perspective, which is a story not so often told.
Not to mention several very pithy remarks about life and love.
My only complaint, the main love-interest, felt a little bit too much in the vain of Mr. Darcy. Nevertheless, who doesn't love Mr. Darcy?
All in all, I give this book a bravo. It seems to be an unsung classic.

[Adrienne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book.The beginning of this book reminded me a lot of Five Children and It (which was in fact written about 19 years earlier). It has the same Edwardian period fantasy – I guess it would now be called urban fantasy? – feel. A chatty omniscient narrator who sometimes lapses into I or Me, and has a habit of offering comments and asides to the readers, which are often poking good-natured fun at the characters. The author also has a habit of referring to people in epitaphs – at least 50% of the time the Heroine, Olwen is referred to as ‘Little Olwen’. Another character is referred to as The Sunburst Girl more often than by her name, etc etc. The author has a knack for voices, almost every character speaks in a particular way so that it’s possible to tell whose speaking without any dialogue tags – not in an annoying way, but in a way that fits the character wonderfully. One character speaks with a Scotch accent, which is carried onto the narration during a chapter focusing on him and his thoughts. The narrative also often goes on tangents to let one character recount something that happened to them – how they met their fiancée, or what they did during the air raid etc. In fact, there are several chapters solely about a separate set of characters, to the extent that I’m not even sure who is really the Main Character. But again, this feels like a good thing – I definitely care about all the characters. It’s really funny, and cute and heartwarming. The Main (?) Hero is kind of an arrogant asshole but the Heroine doesn’t let him off the hook – she stands up to him. Making this Trope Older Than You Think. The war bits were also very well done and poignant.

[Sharla · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was enjoyable but I didn't like it as much as Berta Ruck's other books. I think Miss Million's Maid is my favorite from her so far.

Like other people have mentioned this is an ensemble cast so it bounces around between different viewpoints and story lines quite a bit. I liked the main character Olwen well enough and there was enough character growth to keep me interested. The romance was light and interesting but not my favorite.
I personally didn't like Captain Ross as much. He's pretty crabby the entire book and we don't get enough time to grow to like him (in my opinion). I wish there had been more interactions between him and Olwen that may have made it better. That said he is very condescending and Olwen lets him get away with it so I found that annoying.

I like the heroines in Berta Rucks' other books, they have a bit more spunk!

[Chrisanne · Rating 2 out of 5]

Talented but immature. It's flawed and wouldn't work out but if you're going for fluff it's not bad. Counted 3 racist jokes which just shouldn't be there.