Enchanting Samantha--1973 Discussion Thread

Okay, I know this isn't one of our Betty's best efforts but, Betty Debbie, how could you have failed to mention rhubarb jam!

• Rhubarb! I am a low-maintenance freezer jam maker myself and can only imagine the effort that goes into rhubarb (with the boiling and the slicing and...whatever) only to be ruined there at the last minute (and yes, Betty allows some shocking inconsistencies--either the jam is on the burner or it isn't and all the rest hinges on that fact!)
• British slang award for use of the word "grotty"(British word alert!)--meaning unpleasant, nasty or unattractive. Silly Samantha maintains her coldness and rudeness much longer than is warranted but you have to admit that when they met she had been having a grotty night. ;"[Betty Debbie] That doesn't really excuse her rudeness. She was irritated at him for coming while she was busy...near the end of her shift. She's watching the clock, good heavens. When she first meets him, she won't let him get a word in edgewise. And then she takes affront at everything he says? And has the gall to think of him as rude and arrogant? I'd like to Smack You Upside the Head, Samantha.
• When a nurse comes in to tell Samantha that our hero is waiting for her and that he is "romantic looking", she responds with a line that makes the whole book worth it: "No one is romantic looking at this hour of the morning." My baby woke me up at 4am, have I mentioned? He feels grotty. I feel grotty. Grotty, grotty, grotty.
• And on the subject of vastness. I figure my husband is around 12 stone. That's quite vast enough for my purposes. It doesn't prevent me from having 9 pound babies though...
• I would like to say a word about cars. Handsome Dutch Doctor That Samantha is a Git to, Giles ter Ossel, supposedly drives a "Rolls Royce Merlin" (named after the falcon, not the magician). After somewhat due diligence (Google), I have come to the conclusion that there was no such car. During the late 1930's Rolls Royce developed an engine called the Merlin. Evidently that engine was used for aircraft, not automobiles."The first operational aircraft powered by the Merlin to enter service were the Fairey Battle, Hawker Hurricane and Supermarine Spitfire. Although the engine is most closely associated with the Spitfire, the four-engined Avro Lancaster was the most numerous application, followed by the twin-engined de Havilland Mosquito." (wikipedia). "Fairey Battle"?!? (What British flyboy wanted to admit to flying something called the "Fairey Battle"?)