A Castle in Spain

by Eleanor Farnes

Plenty of English girls go to Spain for their holidays -- and many of them, like Venetia Hamilton, think nothing of going alone.

But few holidays turn out as romantically as did Venetia's, when she went to stay at the family castle of Don Andres de Arevalo y Llorento.

Genres: Harlequin Romance, Spain

188 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Eleanor Farnes is a British writer, who wrote over 60 romance novels at Mills & Boon from 1935 to 1979. Eleanor Farnes lived in England, but her family had a home in Spain, where she also spend part of each year. She also traveled widely in Europe, South Africa, and North America. She started to write after marrying and having 2 children. Her hobbies included the restoring of old houses and traveling, that had brought the charm and beauty of exotic locales to her novels, like Spain, Italy or Switzerland, that she knew personally. She also wrote doctor/nurse romances.

Reviews

[Naksed · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eleanor Farnes' A Castle in Spain is premised upon the trope that opposites attract. The title of the book refers not only to the setting of the story inside the Spanish hero's thousand year old, crumbling castle, but also to the English expression "building castles in Spain," which is an idiom for trying to achieve an impossible dream.

The English h is supposed to represent the liberal, independent spirit of the modern girl, while the dour, conservative H stands for the kind of domineering, ultra-macho man who would still like to confine his females behind metal grilles, with a duenna in tow.

The story quickly became a tedious bickerfest between an unlikable, entitled, judgmental, annoying heroine and a very passive and weak, for all his supposed macho grandstanding, hero. She pathetically ran after him the whole time while he spent all his hours with the more-suitable-for-marriage, gorgeous OW.

Then, last second, Heroine randomly saves his niece's life and he admits that it was her independence and know-how that saved the day. The rest of his female relatives and acquaintances would have stood there frozen and wringing their hands, waiting for a man, any man, to do the rescuing. So he decides to dump the gorgeous, perfect, marriage-material, but boring, Spanish OW and finally proposes to the heroine. Heroine magnanimously promises that their kids will be raised in the Spanish culture and religion so as not to mess with their identity. I am sure the author REALLY endeared herself to her Spanish readers with this portrayal of their women. #SARCASM

[Margo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two and a half stars for this one, which really didn't bring anything new to the table. The h was independent, the H was stuffy, and the OW was perfection itself. Pleasant enough is probably the best I can say for this one.

[Fiona Marsden · Rating 3 out of 5]

This an another author I don't remember reading way back when but am enjoying now. Venetia is an independent English school teacher travelling alone through Spain when she meets Don Andres. He is of course exceptionally yummy and rigidly straight-laced about how his women should behave.

Invited to stay, first while her car is repaired and then as tutor to his female cousins, Venetia is constantly in trouble for her brief bikini and other independent ways.

But somehow Don Andres is always around, whether disapproving or not, drawn to our charming heroine.

A sweet read with a nice happy ending.

[maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

solid 4, grandma has good taste?? i liked it, but the end seemed a bit rushed and it wasn’t built up as well as it could have been. don andres is EVERYTHINGGG tho

[Last Chance Saloon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was hoping for another enjoyable Spanish Grandee with brooding looks and a heroine to charm him against his will - but was disappointed. It's just OKAY. The first half is actually fun - the heroine is somewhat feisty for her time and does as she pleases, which shocks the hero and his family. But half way through she falls in love with him (not sure why as he doesn't do an awful lot), and has a personality change. She's obviously infatuated with him and he's too noble for her and spends the latter half dating the perfect Spanish woman (it gets a little dull and repetitive). The ending is also a tad disjoined and unsatisfactory. I think 4 stars for the first half and 2 stars for the second.

[Linda Verhage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Het droomkasteel

[Anne White · Rating 3 out of 5]

How could I not remember my first Harlequin Romance without a certain fondness? (It was probably from my grandmother's stash...)

And don't go barefoot in Spain, you'll get nasty things in your feet and Don what's-his-name will get mad at you because He Told You So. You can see how annoyed he is looking on the front cover.