The Flame and the Flower (The Birmingham Family, 1)

Such a delightful escape!! Your heart goes out to Heather and the strife she encounters. Brandon is quiet a character. I've read it 30+ years ago and have pulled it out since then. Kathleen Woodiwiss creates magic with her writing!!!

There are varying opinions on this book and I don't agree with many of them but that's why we're entitled to our opinions, right? My thoughts are that many who've read and reviewed 'The Flame and The Flower' are possibly forgetting that this book was published in 1972. The genre was in relative infancy back then. Characterization was not what it is today. (Maybe it's me, but I find it hard to accept when the heroine is portrayed so opposite of what the norm would have been in a period piece; ie: the stubborn, defiant, rule-breaker who thwarts authority and tradition at every opportunity; the woman who is not only a jack of all trades---she's the master at all of them!) Nevertheless, the story of Heather and Brandon , while controversial, develops over time. Heather seems wimpy and weak yet makes you care deeply for her, especially when she is ill and delirious with fever.... what comes out in her fevered ramblings makes you realize what a rough life she had and how pathetic things really are. You WANT things to be better for her; you WANT her to find love and happiness even if it comes from the sordid beginnings of her relationship with Brandon. Yes, he is a cad in the beginning; with only his looks and his money to recommend him. I agree that the cranky, mulish personality he displayed when 'forced into marriage' with someone who he thought was a manipulative money-grabber, was a little over the top. But when he literally 'cuts his nose to spite his face' (swearing - more to himself - to keep his hands off his new wife) his behavior is hard to swallow. Sure Heather put up with alot of mental cruelty, but I believe this strengthened her as a woman and allowed her to come into her own. Brandon eventually allowed his feelings for Heather to become a positive influence on him and made him far more endearing as the story reached it climax. In true Woodiwiss fashion, the prose is indeed overblown and there were opportunities to better develop scenes which she chose not to do. Overall, the book does allow an appreciation of the era (c. 1800), a transatlantic crossing to a relatively new country and the romance of the old South. Like so many of KEW's books, the end of the story arrives in a flurry and is predictably happy. In the end, KEW leaves you wanting more, but mainly in a good way. Another thing that bothered me with many of the reviews is that people are criticizing Heather's seeming 'acceptance' of her "brutal" rape at the hands of Brandon. They are forgetting that she was lost, running from a situation where she thought she killed a man... when she was picked up by Brandon's men, she thought she was being apprehended by the authorities and brought to a magistrate or officer of the law. When Brandon's intentions are finally made clear to her (though not in the brutal fashion that many readers have described) Heather does put up a struggle, albeit a weak one. After the initial sexual encounter, she DOES tell Brandon t

I accidently came across this author after trying for so long to "get into" other books besides Danielle Steel's. I would start and then put them down -- nothing interested me. I was always curious about the romance authors and couldn't understand why everyone was so crazy about them and bookstores are packed with their books -- then I picked up this one! Well, I never had such a good time reading a book -- the characters are terrific, especially Heather and Brandon. She is strong, but yet loving and gentle. He is absolutely gorgeous. I love the way men were so protective in those days! He sounds like the perfect husband, doesn't he, ladies? I hope you all out there enjoy all her books; I do too, since I recently bought all of them!