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Hope for Tomorrow
Jan was just an ordinary girl, neither ravishingly pretty nor interestingly plain; she was also rather shy. So, when she captured a very distinguished and attractive husband, her family couldn't help wondering whether the marriage would be a success. Jan had her own doubts, which grew to fears when a beautiful girl from the past came back into Simon's life.
328 pages, Hardcover Large Print
First published January 1, 1959
29 people want to read
About the author
Anne Weale
225 books49 followersJay Blakeney
aka Anne Weale, Andrea Blake
Jay Blakeney was born on Juny 20, 1929. Her great-grandfather was a well-known writer on moral theology, so perhaps she inherited her writing gene from him. She was "talking stories" to herself long before she could read. When she was still at school, she sold her first short stories to a woman's magazine and she feels she was destined to write. Decided to became a writer, she started writing for newspapers and magazines.
At 21, Jay was a newspaper reporter with a career plan, but the man she was wildly in love with announced that he was off to the other side of the world. He thought they should either marry or say goodbye. She always believed that true love could last a lifetime, and she felt that wonderful men were much harder to find than good jobs, so she put her career on hold. What a wise decision it was! She felt that new young women seem less inclined to risk everything for love than her generation.
Together they traveled the world. If she hadn't spent part of her bridal year living on the edge of a jungle in Malaysia, she might never have become a romance writer. That isolated house, and the perils of the state of emergency that existed in the country at that time, gave her a background and plot ideally suited to a genre she had never read until she came across some romances in the library of a country club they sometimes visited. She can write about love with the even stronger conviction that comes from experience.
When they returned to Europe, Jay resumed her career as a journalist, writing her first romance in her spare time. She sold her first novel as Anne Weale to Mills and Boon in 1955 at the age of 24. At 30, with seven books published, she "retired" to have a baby and become a full-time writer. She raised a delightful son, David, who is as adventurous as his father. Her husband and son have even climbed in the Andes and the Himalayas, giving her lots of ideas for stories. When she retired from reporting, her fiction income -- a combination of amounts earned as a Mills & Boon author and writing for magazines such as Woman's Illustrated, which serialized the work of authors -- exceed 1,000 pounds a year.
She was a founding member of the The Romantic Novelists' Association. In 2002 she published her last novel, in total, she wrote 88 novels. She also wrote under the pseudonym Andrea Blake. She loved setting her novels in exotic parts of the world, but specially in The Caribbean and in her beloved Spain. Since 1989, Jay spent most of the winter months in a very small "pueblo" in the backwoods of Spain. During years, she visited some villages, and from each she have borrowed some feature - a fountain, a street, a plaza, a picturesque old house - to create some places like Valdecarrasca, that is wholly imaginary and yet typical of the part of rural Spain she knew best. She loved walking, reading, sketching, sewing (curtains and slipcovers) and doing needlepoint, gardening, entertaining friends, visiting art galleries and museums, writing letters, surfing the Net, traveling in search of exciting locations for future books, eating delicious food and drinking good wine, cataloguing her books.
She wrote a regular website review column for The Bookseller from 1998 to 2004, before starting her own blog Bookworm on the Net. At the time of her death, on October 24, 2007, she was working on her autobiography "88 Heroes... 1 Mr. Right".
aka Anne Weale, Andrea Blake
Jay Blakeney was born on Juny 20, 1929. Her great-grandfather was a well-known writer on moral theology, so perhaps she inherited her writing gene from him. She was "talking stories" to herself long before she could read. When she was still at school, she sold her first short stories to a woman's magazine and she feels she was destined to write. Decided to became a writer, she started writing for newspapers and magazines.
At 21, Jay was a newspaper reporter with a career plan, but the man she was wildly in love with announced that he was off to the other side of the world. He thought they should either marry or say goodbye. She always believed that true love could last a lifetime, and she felt that wonderful men were much harder to find than good jobs, so she put her career on hold. What a wise decision it was! She felt that new young women seem less inclined to risk everything for love than her generation.
Together they traveled the world. If she hadn't spent part of her bridal year living on the edge of a jungle in Malaysia, she might never have become a romance writer. That isolated house, and the perils of the state of emergency that existed in the country at that time, gave her a background and plot ideally suited to a genre she had never read until she came across some romances in the library of a country club they sometimes visited. She can write about love with the even stronger conviction that comes from experience.
When they returned to Europe, Jay resumed her career as a journalist, writing her first romance in her spare time. She sold her first novel as Anne Weale to Mills and Boon in 1955 at the age of 24. At 30, with seven books published, she "retired" to have a baby and become a full-time writer. She raised a delightful son, David, who is as adventurous as his father. Her husband and son have even climbed in the Andes and the Himalayas, giving her lots of ideas for stories. When she retired from reporting, her fiction income -- a combination of amounts earned as a Mills & Boon author and writing for magazines such as Woman's Illustrated, which serialized the work of authors -- exceed 1,000 pounds a year.
She was a founding member of the The Romantic Novelists' Association. In 2002 she published her last novel, in total, she wrote 88 novels. She also wrote under the pseudonym Andrea Blake. She loved setting her novels in exotic parts of the world, but specially in The Caribbean and in her beloved Spain. Since 1989, Jay spent most of the winter months in a very small "pueblo" in the backwoods of Spain. During years, she visited some villages, and from each she have borrowed some feature - a fountain, a street, a plaza, a picturesque old house - to create some places like Valdecarrasca, that is wholly imaginary and yet typical of the part of rural Spain she knew best. She loved walking, reading, sketching, sewing (curtains and slipcovers) and doing needlepoint, gardening, entertaining friends, visiting art galleries and museums, writing letters, surfing the Net, traveling in search of exciting locations for future books, eating delicious food and drinking good wine, cataloguing her books.
She wrote a regular website review column for The Bookseller from 1998 to 2004, before starting her own blog Bookworm on the Net. At the time of her death, on October 24, 2007, she was working on her autobiography "88 Heroes... 1 Mr. Right".
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 20, 2024
Hero got his heart broken by OW and never got over it. Drab, bland, Debbie Downer heroine was the perfect, non-demanding, domestic wife who worshipped him and would make a comfortable home for him while he is busy writing and directing brilliant plays. The OW comes back in town and reads the situation perfectly. She manipulates the H and the h like the puppets they are, and never gets any comeuppance. She will continue to be the star of the hero's plays, his muse and the woman that he lusts for and stimulates him, even though she will never be wife material for him cause she won't let him dominate her. That the heroine bought the super lame story that hero just happened to give a lift to the OW because her car broke down and there was absolutely no one else in London, or all of England for that matter, to pick her up, was the height of credulity. He LIED about where he was going that day and next thing you know, the police calls the heroine in the middle of the night to say that her husband and his floozie were in an accident together. Puh-leeze. And that sad little note she left him just SCREAMED "come after me." The heroine had no pride and no spine. And none of the villains in this story, from her malicious, user siblings, neglectful parents, cheating husband, or arrogant OW got any comeuppance whatsoever. Now how is a story like this supposed to leave me satisfied???!!!
April 14, 2016
A very early Anne Weale book 1965. It started off lovely enough, Jan meets Simon on the beach, she is recuperating from flu at a seaside town. They get along really well and spend their holiday seeing a lot of each other. When she gets back to London, she continues seeing him but secretly. Jan is the plain one in a good looking family and she is insecure about introducing her escorts to them, since she gets subjected to teasing. Jan doesn't know Simon is a famous playwright, when her sisters find out they laugh at her and speculate that he is only taking her out to get material for a new play on 'mousy women'. However Simon continues to see her and marries her with all speed despite the protest of her parents. Simon really does come across as charming and loving. Her mother is concerned since Jan is very young and doesn't know that in his youth Simon was engaged to a beautiful actress, who is now married to an old Hollywood producer. Jan is insecure about Simon's affections but since she loves him she goes ahead with the wedding.
On her wedding day Jan sees the newspaper announcement that the Hollywood producer has died, and her husband's ex-fiancée is now a widow. She goes ahead with the wedding and they honeymoon in Amsterdam. While there they run into a couple of Simon's acquaintances who reveal that Venetia (the EX) is a widow. Although he hides his emotions, Jan knows the news affects his profoundly. From then on, probably purposefully done by the author, Jan's whole married life is tainted by her impressions of Simon's dissatisfaction. Venetia comes back to London and is even cast as lead in Simon's new play. All Simon's reactions point to his still being in love with Venetia. Even the reader will feel this, the heroine is not over reacting.
SPOILERS:
Things come to a head when she is awoken one night by police to say her husband has been in a car accident and to come to the hospital. When she arrives she finds out that Venetia was in the car with him and they were coming from out of town. Since he is still unconscious she gets to see Venetia who tell her that they are still in love but Simon is too loyal, that he would never leave Jan on his own. She appeals to Jan to release Simon if she really loves him. Jan decides to fight her on this, but when she gets to see Simon he looks
angry and tells her immediately that he is through putting up with the situation. She doesn't need to be told and runs immediately out of the room. She writes him a heartbreaking goodbye letter and leaves town.
Of course since we know this has to have a happy ending, Simon follows her to reveal that he has loved her all along and has not loved Venetia since he broke off their engagement years ago. He's explanation for acting off-hand after the wedding is that he felt her awkwardness and thought she regretted marrying him. As the reader I guess the explanation is sufficient but I just felt as Jan did, that all his actions since finding out that Venetia was widowed all pointed to his being still in love with her. Oh, why they were out of town, he said Venetia called him to help her, she had engine trouble. How she found him was never explained. These were they days before cellphone and he wasn't home at the time.. So many loose ends. I just felt sad at the end.
On her wedding day Jan sees the newspaper announcement that the Hollywood producer has died, and her husband's ex-fiancée is now a widow. She goes ahead with the wedding and they honeymoon in Amsterdam. While there they run into a couple of Simon's acquaintances who reveal that Venetia (the EX) is a widow. Although he hides his emotions, Jan knows the news affects his profoundly. From then on, probably purposefully done by the author, Jan's whole married life is tainted by her impressions of Simon's dissatisfaction. Venetia comes back to London and is even cast as lead in Simon's new play. All Simon's reactions point to his still being in love with Venetia. Even the reader will feel this, the heroine is not over reacting.
SPOILERS:
Things come to a head when she is awoken one night by police to say her husband has been in a car accident and to come to the hospital. When she arrives she finds out that Venetia was in the car with him and they were coming from out of town. Since he is still unconscious she gets to see Venetia who tell her that they are still in love but Simon is too loyal, that he would never leave Jan on his own. She appeals to Jan to release Simon if she really loves him. Jan decides to fight her on this, but when she gets to see Simon he looks
angry and tells her immediately that he is through putting up with the situation. She doesn't need to be told and runs immediately out of the room. She writes him a heartbreaking goodbye letter and leaves town.
Of course since we know this has to have a happy ending, Simon follows her to reveal that he has loved her all along and has not loved Venetia since he broke off their engagement years ago. He's explanation for acting off-hand after the wedding is that he felt her awkwardness and thought she regretted marrying him. As the reader I guess the explanation is sufficient but I just felt as Jan did, that all his actions since finding out that Venetia was widowed all pointed to his being still in love with her. Oh, why they were out of town, he said Venetia called him to help her, she had engine trouble. How she found him was never explained. These were they days before cellphone and he wasn't home at the time.. So many loose ends. I just felt sad at the end.
December 18, 2019
This book was originally published by Mills & Boon in the UK in 1959, and reprinted in North America as Harlequin Romance #901 in March 1965. My copy is a 1976 facsimile reprint edition.
One of the things that I didn't know about old Harlequin novels until obtaining them for myself was that many were reprints of British novels. I've always been interested in England, so it's fascinating to read material from there, especially older work that reflects how life used to be. For example, on page 20 our hero Simon asks our heroine Jan if she would "like to see the new Kenneth More film at the Odeon." I became aware of Kenneth More a few years ago when watching the original 1967 BBC TV mini-series The Forsyte Saga, in which he starred. And near the end of the novel, we get a chance to listen to the Home Service on "the wireless" (i.e., the radio). So, an old Harlequin romance novel combines two of my very favorite things: old stuff and British stuff!
One drawback to romance novels of the 1950s-60s is that they often focus on the woman's perspective at the expense of the man's. The reader is denied access to the hero's thoughts while the heroine spends the novel wondering whether he really loves her or not. That question is the crux of the novel, as Jan wonders if her playwright husband Simon is still in love with his former girlfriend who has since become a famous Hollywood star. Some of his actions suggest that such is the case, but the reader cannot be sure of his motivation because we don't learn what he is feeling about the matter until the end when he finally voices his thoughts to Jan.
This is a lowkey romance, about a gentle young woman in love with an artistic man who appears content to be with her but reluctant (until the end) to say the words that she longs for -- "I love you" -- that will put her doubts to rest. The characters were vividly realized and interesting, except for Jan herself who by her own admission is not as interesting as the rest of her family. I enjoyed this book and enjoyed spending time in its pages despite its leisurely pace.
One of the things that I didn't know about old Harlequin novels until obtaining them for myself was that many were reprints of British novels. I've always been interested in England, so it's fascinating to read material from there, especially older work that reflects how life used to be. For example, on page 20 our hero Simon asks our heroine Jan if she would "like to see the new Kenneth More film at the Odeon." I became aware of Kenneth More a few years ago when watching the original 1967 BBC TV mini-series The Forsyte Saga, in which he starred. And near the end of the novel, we get a chance to listen to the Home Service on "the wireless" (i.e., the radio). So, an old Harlequin romance novel combines two of my very favorite things: old stuff and British stuff!
One drawback to romance novels of the 1950s-60s is that they often focus on the woman's perspective at the expense of the man's. The reader is denied access to the hero's thoughts while the heroine spends the novel wondering whether he really loves her or not. That question is the crux of the novel, as Jan wonders if her playwright husband Simon is still in love with his former girlfriend who has since become a famous Hollywood star. Some of his actions suggest that such is the case, but the reader cannot be sure of his motivation because we don't learn what he is feeling about the matter until the end when he finally voices his thoughts to Jan.
This is a lowkey romance, about a gentle young woman in love with an artistic man who appears content to be with her but reluctant (until the end) to say the words that she longs for -- "I love you" -- that will put her doubts to rest. The characters were vividly realized and interesting, except for Jan herself who by her own admission is not as interesting as the rest of her family. I enjoyed this book and enjoyed spending time in its pages despite its leisurely pace.
pback-to-read
June 1, 2021Jan was just an ordinary girl, neither ravishingly pretty nor interestingly plain; she was also rather shy. So, when she captured a very distinguished and attractive husband, her family couldn't help wondering whether the marriage would be a success. Jan had her own doubts, which grew to fears when a beautiful girl from the past came back into Simon's life.
March 24, 2024
3 1/2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️This was very reminiscent of Mary Burchell! I liked it even though there could have been more angst. The H/h needed to talk! She slaved away for her family without any pay!
June 24, 2025
Miscommunication abounds in this old school romance published in the fifties. My least favorite trope, along with a rather boring plot made this a meh read.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews