On Wings of Song

Warrender Saga #13

by Mary Burchell

"It's the girl who interest me."

Those fateful words spoken by the great conductor Oscar Warrender changed Caroline's life.

She'd never considered herself a potential opera singer, but with Warrender's encouragement and an unknown benefactor who'd offered to pay for her training, she knew she could develop her talent.

She had second thoughts, though, when that mysterious patron turned out to be a man she knew all too well, and didn't even like!

Genres: Romance, Harlequin Romance, Music, Clean Romance

Paperback

First published February 1, 1985

About the author

Ida Cook was born on 1904 at 37 Croft Avenue, Sunderland, England. With her eldest sister Mary Louise Cook (1901), she attending the Duchess' School in Alnwick. Later the sisters took civil service jobs in London, and developed a passionate interest in opera. The sisters helped 29 jews to escape from the Nazis, funded mainly by Ida's writing. In 1965, the Cook sisters were honored as Righteous Gentiles by the Yad Vashem Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority in Israel.

As Mary Burchell, she published more than 125 romance novels by Mills & Boon since 1936. She also wrote some western novels as James Keene in collaboration with the author Will Cook (aka Frank Peace). In 1950, Ida Cook wrote her autobiography: "We followed our stars". She helped to found the Romantic Novelists' Association, and was its president from 1966 to her death on December 22, 1986.

Reviews

[StMargarets · Rating 4 out of 5]

So, this is the last book in the Warrender Saga, published in 1985, a year before Mary Burchell died. It's an interesting addition (I still think book 12 is the true thematic ending of the saga, with it's emphasis on Oscar Warrender and his place in opera history and his musings on what love did for him as an artist and a man)

This story was another lovely chapter in the saga - another Cinderella story - except for the kick-ass scene at the end where the heroine pulls out all the stops to win a TV music contest. An interesting bookend, when I think about it. Anthea didn't have a chance in her contest in book one, and in this story *spoiler* the heroine wins by sheer grit and talent and single-minded, woman-scorned purpose. It's a thing of beauty.

Okay - the plot:

Heroine is an orphan living with her aunt and cousin, who wants to be an operatic tenor. Heroine also sings, but keeps it to herself because she worships her cousin and would never compete. She is secretary to an agent (Hero) and she is a little afraid of him, so she's quiet in the office. When the story opens, she has just found a diamond ring in the park. Coincidence! It's Anthea Warrender's and when she hands it over, she asks for an audition for her cousin instead of a monetary reward. Hero is angry she did this because he thinks it reflects badly on his agency. Heroine goes with cousin to audition. He does okay, and then Oscar asks him to sing a duet - heroine jumps in and offers to sing. Oscar is more impressed with heroine than the cousin. Cousin is irritated that he didn't get to sing with Anthea Warrender because heroine jumped in.

Then off to the opera we go. Heroine has tickets because Hero is the agent to the Diva in the starring role. Cousin also goes because he met Diva at an event and is now following her around like a puppy. Heroine is jealous of Diva because she seems to have both her cousin's and Hero's attention.

Heroine does the first forward thing ever in her life and sends Oscar Warrender a letter asking what advice he would have for her. He tells her to seek more training and find the money somehow. Maybe she can even win the big TV contest in six months time.

Meanwhile the Hero's rich godmother gets involved because she was bffs with heroine's singing teacher back in the day. They decide heroine should have her chance and godmother will put up the money. Hero is actually supportive of letting her have flex time to go to all of these lessons. Heroine won't tell him who is sponsoring her, but tells him she'd never let him put up the money because she doesn't want to be obligated. Hero is hurt by this, but she doesn't see it.

So - six months of training for the heroine at the same time Cousin gets small parts in Germany and chases after Diva. Cousin says they're in love. Heroine doesn't know what to think so she throws herself into classes and goes talent-scouting to various concerts with the Hero as part of her job. They spend a lot of time with each other and finally heroine asks him if he would like to hear her sing. He does and is so moved that he kisses her with a lot of passion. Heroine thinks she's in love. Finds out Hero was the one putting up money for her training, not godmother.

Cousin returns and tells her Diva dumped him to be engaged to Hero. Heroine is upset and pushes Hero away when he tries to kiss her after his return from Paris. She tells Hero she knows he was the one putting up the money, but she isn't going to pay him back that way. He's very upset by this - but heroine is riding her high horse.

It gets worse. Right before the contest she finds out that Diva is a last minute substitute judge. This makes heroine square her shoulders and blow out the competition because she is going to show the Hero and his Diva fiance. She wins, but isn't happy about it - only vindictive. The next morning she goes into the office to write the Hero a check, which he tears up. Diva calls him on the phone at that moment and he listens and tells her to find a new agent. Heroine is shocked, because knows he is engaged to Diva. Hero is *more* shocked that she ever thought such a thing because he can't stand the woman. He makes her sign a contract for his agency to handle her career and then he takes off his ring and puts it on her finger. HEA.



So there's a Anthea's ring at the beginning and heroine's ring at the end. Very nice structure. The callbacks to book one are noticeable now that I think about it. The contest. The hero who is secretly paying for the heroine's training. What's different is the heroine really sheds the meekness quickly. She is formidable in that contest and it's so fun to read. The hero was very much in love with heroine, but she couldn't see it for a long time. They should make a good team.

I very much enjoyed the entire saga. I don't know if I would recommend reading it within a week, like I did since there were many recurring themes and speeches (about suffering for art and working hard and not going down the easy path that might ruin your voice) and that might feel tedious.

Mary Burchell started the saga in 1965 and finished it in 1985, so she had twenty years to play around with her universe. I will say she is remarkably consistent in her characterization of recurring players, like Oscar and Anthea, but also in her divas, and tenors and singing teachers. You certainly don't need to read the stories in order - each stands alone beautifully.

I decided to read the entire saga because I'm taking an "enrichment" class about opera and I realized that what little I knew about the genre, came from reading a few of these stories years ago. I paid close attention to what she was saying about opera and music as I read, and it's helped me enjoy the scenes we've watched in class. It really is another world and I can see why she loved it so. She uses a lot of operatic themes in her stories - love/hate, jealousy, love/fear, immortality through art, fear of death, revenge. Through a modern lens, the stories may seem contrived and artificial, but through the opera lens, they take on an added dimension - that of a labor of love and a tribute to artists and their art.

If you Google Ida Cook, you'll see how opera shaped her whole life. Her first published piece of writing was about a trip she and her sister took to New York to see an opera at the Met. From those dispatches, she was encouraged to write romances by Mr. Boon, himself (of Mills&Boon). But in the greatest confluence of opera and real life had to be how she met musicians from Austria and Germany and was compelled to help smuggle money, jewelry and people out of Nazi-held Europe. All told she and her sister saved 29 people and earned the distinction of Righteous Gentiles in Israel. In light of that, it's easy to understand why she made her heroes so very generous with time, money and advice. It's how she lived her life. Bravo, Mary Burchell. Your 112 novels live on as do your good deeds.

[Leona · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a nice way to finish the series. I loved the heroine in this one as well as the hero. There was a delicious OW, but she was mostly off page.

With this book I officially bestow Oscar with the status of hero (it took awhile). But then again, he had the love a good woman (Anthea) to round out all those rough edges.

[Aou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice finish which was both similar to and different from the first one in the series!

[Lucía · Rating 3 out of 5]

No puedo creer que haya acabado esta saga. Ha sido delicioso, aunque esperaba que, al ser el último, aparecieran más Oscar y Anthea (supongo que los libros anteriores me han malacostumbrado). Algo que he notado leyendo los últimos tomos es que la presencia del héroe se desdibuja, en favor de heroínas más autónomas, más perfiladas, en definitiva, con más agencia sobre su destino. Algo que apruebo absolutamente.

[Andrea Guy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a sort of Cinderella story, with the heroine Caroline pitted against her much loved cousin Jeremy for a singing career. The story is complete with an aunt that dotes on her son but couldn't care any less for the girl she helped raise when her parents were killed.

A strange twist of fate allows both to reach for their dreams, but little did Caroline know she was going to fall for her boss, a talent agent, who is unbeknown to her is also her benefactor.

It really is a modern day fairy tale with a wicked witch (the soprano Luicille)

But like all fairy tales, true love triumphs in the end.

This was a sweet story. Not quite a keeper, but a good book

[Nightwitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been on a Burchell binge, and while numerous elements of this are repetitive of plot elements in A Song Begins, the whole is my favorite kind of Burchell: the heroine is a talented singer, the hero understands and wants to nurture her talent, and the other woman is entangled with the other, lesser man, the one the heroine's kind of in love with but will eventually realize is unworthy of her attention. What I particularly enjoy is the way the heroines of the Talented Opera Singer Warrender Books play against type - they may begin as typical 1960's-70's shy, retiring, demure Harlequin heroines, but part of the point is that they need to learn to assert themselves. They need to stand up for themselves and what they want out of life, and it's not until they do that the heroes become interested in them. This was a prime example. A Song Begins is still, y'know, better, but this was pretty great.

[Jane · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of Mary Burchell's less interesting and original romance novels. I almost felt I was reading a first draft of the first book in the Warrender Saga - the girl with the voice, the mysterious benefactor she falls in love with, the big contest she wants to win. A Song Begins (the first) is the best book in the saga. I guess Burchell was bookending the series with this final, similar entry, but it lacked spark. For die hard fans of Burchell and/or the Warrender Saga.

[Mony · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐
A great vintage romance book. Liked it just as much the first book in the series, A Song Begins. Oscar Warrender, the famous operatic conductor in Book #1, appears in this one which definitely added to the story.

[Linda Pittman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely last of series

This, book 13, completes the Warrender saga. It is an echo of the very first book. There are many callbacks to characters from previous books in the saga, delightful "Easter eggs" to fans. The story follows the familiar form of all the books. If you like the formula, you will like this book. There is the usual sadness in coming to the end of a long series, with added poignancy of this being the author's last book.

[Barbara Ball · Rating 5 out of 5]

On Wings of Song

I have just finished reading this series of 13 books for the third time and enjoyed every minute. Perhaps it's the absence of gratuitous sex and bad language that makes them so enjoyable and so eminently readable.
One thing though - you really could do with a decent proof reader!

[MK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading the reviews twigged me to remember that I did read this when it first came out. I only remember bits and pieces but I do remember "It's the girl who interests me." I remember enjoying it, as I did all the books I've read in the Saga. Must re-read!

[Susan Taylor]

This was a satisfying wrap up to the series. Then I had to reread all 13 of the Warrender Saga books immediately to allow time for this opera/oratorio fan to listen to the musical selections referenced to imagine the hero or heroine singing that.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was under the impression that I had read everything Mary Burchell ever wrote, but looking over Goodreads I see that's more like...maybe half of everything she wrote? Anyway, what I remember best is she always concocted these EXCRUCIATINGLY humiliating scenarios in her stories where you were just bleeding for either the hero or the heroine at various points. That kind of emotional punch is actually not so easy to pull off, and although some of this stuff was a bit over the top, Burchell understood the essential fantasy at the heart of all successful romance novels.

This rating is for Burchell in general not this particular book, which is probably more of a four--enjoyable but not something I would have reread.

[Melody · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finally, #13 in the Warrender saga. The sad thing is there are no more Warrender stories. I enjoyed them so much.
Our heroine, Caroline, is the secretary of our hero, Kennedy Marshall, a music agent. She has a talented cousin, a tenor named Jeremy. After finding Anthea Warrender's missing diamond ring, she asks if Oscar Warrender will hear Jeremy sing. When she sings a duet with him, Sir Oscar finds that she, too, has a talented voice. It goes from there. I don't want to spoil the story with too many details.

Grey-eyed characters: Kennedy (hero); Oscar Warrender

[Karen-Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last in the series, a lot of times the last book is not very good but this was another new twist. I enjoyed it and am so sorry the Warrender series is over. I will miss them. Not sure I will get the chance to reread them again...I hope so.