The Cross of Love

Barbara Cartland's Pink Collection 1

By: Barbara Cartland

Narrated by: Anthony Wren

When Rena's father dies she is alone in the world, forced out of the vicarage that has been her home, with nowhere to go and no money. She seeks help at the large wooden cross standing in the nearby grounds of "The Grange". And there in the earth she finds three golden coins, which she hands over to the new young Earl of Lansdale. They form a friendship, the sweetest one of her life. But her new happiness is threatened by Mr. Wyngate, a wealthy man determined to force the Earl to marry his daughter.

There is something sinister about Mr. Wyngate, also another man who looks mysteriously like him, and seems to come and go without warning. In the end, one man lies dead and another's heart is broken before Rena's faith and courage triumph. If you like "Downton Abbey" you will love Barbara Cartland.

Barbara Cartland was the world's most prolific novelist who wrote an amazing 723 books in her lifetime, of which no less than 644 were romantic novels with worldwide sales of over 1 billion copies and her books were translated into 36 different languages. As well as romantic novels, she wrote historical biographies, 6 autobiographies, theatrical plays and books of advice on life, love, vitamins and cookery. She wrote her first book at the age of 21 and it was called "Jigsaw". It became an immediate bestseller and sold 100,000 copies in hardback in England and all over Europe in translation.

Between the ages of 77 and 97 she increased her output and wrote an incredible 400 romances as the demand for her romances was so strong all over the world. She wrote her last book at the age of 97 and it was entitled perhaps prophetically The Way to Heaven.

Her books have always been immensely popular in the United States where in 1976 her current books were at numbers 1 and 2 in the B. Dalton bestsellers list, a feat never achieved before or since by any author. Barbara Cartland became a legend in her own lifetime and will be best remembered for her wonderful romantic novels so loved by her millions of readers throughout the world, who have always collected her books to read again and again, especially when they feel miserable or depressed.

Her books will always be treasured for their moral message, her pure and innocent heroines, her handsome and dashing heroes, her blissful happy endings and above all for her belief that the power of love is more important than anything else in everyone's life.©2017 SAGA Egmont (P)2017 SAGA Egmont

Problems with editing

Some words seem to have been cut out, which is annoying and disruptive. One of the first sentences is repeated. Odd silences; then no pause between chapters. Intro is not in English. Very shoddy job with the recording. I feel like the quality at Audible may be going downhill. 😕

The Cross of Love

Barbara Cartland romances were the first I'd ever read & the stories hold a lot of nostalgia for me. In fact, I still have my paperback collection! The stories are short & sweet & just as I remembered them. The narrator did a good job, also. The only thing that jarred me, is that the audible introduction & sign off are in German & for a moment I feared the book itself would be read in that language, but thankfully not.

Sweet but blunt and boring

Barbara Cartland is a legend amongst romance writers, one of the pioneers of the genre and so prolific it’s almost unbelievable. Unfortunately, in my humble opinion, the book didn’t stand the test of time and didn’t age well.
It’s so sweet and naive almost like fat free sugar free vanilla ice cream : not bad but not good either. I can understand sentimental value of this book for someone who read it in their teens and hold some emotional attachment to it but for the new reader (me, at least) it was totally underwhelming.
Unfortunately Anthony Wren’s performance didn’t improve the story. His narration was ok but when it came to characters, his male voices were just too sweet and feminine.

Beautiful story

I have not read one book of Barbara Cartlands that was boring !!
they are true to the heart .. I have all the paper back still read over and over !!

No.

Perhaps English is not the reader's native language in which case I take back what I am about to say, but- oh my. SO many mispronounced words that it is eventually comical. Every character sounds the same (which one doesn't expect with an audio book) and the reader ignores punctuation and inflection half the time. When paired with the thin plot and unlikely-for-the-time-period characters (rather expected, but still) it comes to a 2 star for me. Still, it was under $4 so I think I got my money's worth.