#Glynalong week 1

Reading Rambo updated her blog with a #glynalong and if you know me at all, it's that I'm a sucker for Books, Readathons, Readalongs and Fellow Readers Telling Me What To Read.

...And that's why Alice is my favorite book blogger ever, because she has to do with everything that's mentioned above.

Anyway, this week we're reading chapters 1-6, so here are my random thoughts…

Introduction to my American Readers

This is basically a disclaimer along the lines of "this is about passionate love and romantic vulnerability in a soulful relationship, so if you think this is just smut, you're wrong, you worm-grubbing mole!"

Chapter 1.

Paul (aged 22, 6'2") is pretty hot stuff, worldly, charming, and has cougars lined up for miles. Isabella Waring (6') just has big hands. Seriously, that's all Glyn has to say about that. Paul and Big-Hands have a summer fling. Mama does not approve. When Paul and Big-Hands part ways so he can go on his rite-of-passage-European-tour-extravaganza, she simply says "good-bye, old chap. We have been real pals, and I'll not forget you!" … is that like the Victorian-version of how 90s kids, after summer camp, wrote "HAKAS KIT" (Have A Kick Ass Summer Keep In Touch) in each other's journal?

Now Paul encounters a foxy lady at dinner during his stay in Lucerne. His reaction? "She's well over thirty. I suppose she has nothing else to live for! I wonder what the devil she'll eat next!" Ouch. As an over-30s foodie, I take IMMENSE OFFENSE, YOU WHIPPERSNAPPER!

Chapter 2.

Paul encounters the Lady again, but all he can think about are Isabella's big red hands. But since the kid is fickle, he starts obsessing over the Lady and lowkey stalks her.

Egad! Turns out he's not subtle and she already knows that she's being stalked. She one-ups him by taking him to her suite. Sweet. ;)

Chapter 3.

The Lady apparently already knows him and his family. They proceed to flirt and then she's like "leave before I do something I regret" and he's like "eff yeah, let's do this!" so she gives him a bunch of tuberoses as he leaves for his hotel and is like "see you boo".

Wikipedia says that a tuberose is "A symbol of dangerous love and voluptuousness to the Victorians". Well okay-hey, symbolism! I see you!

Chapter 4.

They go on their first date to admire the Swiss lake. Then he kisses her slender gloved ones. No thoughts of Isabella's big red hands, eh?

Chapter 5.

I spoke too soon. He finally remembers Isabella. But then sneaks off into the ivy to kiss the Lady. Dude, you suck. 

Chapter 6.

He's finally feeling guilty about the kiss. But then he thinks that Isabella "was not a person of deep feeling anyway" and also "in any case he was not bound to Isabella in any way." He then pens a letter to break it off with Isabella… and on the way back from posting the cop-out breakup text, he buys a tiger skin for the Lady. He's kind of the worst.

He goes over to the Lady's place, and I can't tell if she's trolling him, or she's legit kind of crazy. She first teases the hell out of him, and then reads him fairy tales in Latin, and then starts singing to him, and then purring in his ear. He finally snaps and then there's a cliffhanger! Ahhh!