The Promise of Happiness - Discussion Thread

[Betty Keira] You have my undying gratitude for the cover... [Betty Debbie] You're welcome.
Cruises and wheelchairs. Hmmm... I have been on two separate cruises with my friend Teresa(she has a hot pink wheelchair). Taking a person on a cruise that is confined to a wheelchair can be quite fun and not particularly hard at all. While you're on the ship. Or while you are visiting U.S. ports (...where ADA is the law). The ships that I've been on have been quite wheelchair accessible - the "accessible" staterooms are at least a third larger than a comparable "non-accessible" one. The bathrooms are two to three times larger. The biggest downside is waiting for elevators (I'm not usually an elevator girl...it's not the claustrophobia so much as it is the impatience factor for me--I dunno, an elevator on a floating ship (that could sink at any time!)--I'd take the stairs.). Shore excursions outside the U.S. vary greatly. Greatly. When we went to South America we couldn't make any reservations for shore excursions(which I don't usually like to do - but when traveling with a wheelchair, believe me, you want to make outings as smooth as possible) - because there were no guarantees of accessibility. We managed to get around...we just had to make sure we had a willing driver (if it was a bus) - a driver who was willing to help carry her onto the bus. We spent part of our day in the Falklands with a very nice man (he was giving historical lectures on the ship - yes, I'm a dork and would rather go to the lecture series than play shuffleboard) - he helped us get Teresa over a stile so she could see the penguins.

Moving on....I have 3 classifications for La Neels book titles.
#1 - Forgettable. The Promise of Happiness, Heaven is Gentle, Never Too Late, Once for All Time....what do these titles have in common? They are all, sadly, Forgettable.

#2 - Sounds familiar, but gee, I'm not sure. A Star Looks Down, The Course of True Love, Roses Have Thorns, A Girl to Love. The titles still are generally vague, but maybe I've read it often enough to make an educated guess as to the story (more than just "RDD meets PBN, they fall in love, won't tell each other, overcome some obstacle, achieve HEA")

#3 - Memorable. Caroline's Waterloo, Britannea All At Sea, The Moon for Lavinia, Esmeralda. See, much easier to remember.

As you can see, The Promise of Happiness falls into the "forgettable" category. The book itself is great, but if you can't remember the title, it loses a little something.

Becky is a whistler. She whistles like nobody's business. She whistles in Newcastle - her whistle here is a form of courage (whistling in the dark), in Norway she whistles because life is fun and she is content with her lot, and she whistles again Holland - for her dog Bertie - who has foolishly fallen into the canal. Do you whistle? Discuss. I am quite a good whistler. Mijnheer van Voorhees can't whistle, snap his fingers properly or roll his tongue--clearly his education was lacking... I'm okay at whistling - but just okay. Ditto finger snapping and tongue rolling.

The Baroness has to learn to use gutter crutches once they are in Norway. "...the crutches had to be mastered and since her patient had taken exception to them on the grounds that they were clumsy and ugly, it took a good deal of coaxing to get her to use them....her confidence was so small that she refused to go anywhere, even across the room without Becky beside her." I didn't know what gutter crutches were (thank you Google) - I just assumed they were the kind you stuck your arm in and used your hand. Nope, I was wrong. This is one of those cases where studying The Venerable Neels is educational. Evidently your forearm rests on the crutch itself (see picture). I have limited hand and wrist strength in my left hand/wrist. I sincerely and fervently hope I never have to use gutter crutches. I'm pretty sure I would have the same problem as Baroness Raukema van den Eck. If I ever do have to use crutches, you may refer to me as "The Baroness". Just sayin'.

Nicknames vs. Given Names. In The Promise of Happiness, Becky is only called "Becky" by the good guys (do they realize that she will soon be "Baroness Becky"?). Evil step-brother Basil (not the herb) calls her "Rebecca (*I should add a disclaimer that I am related to an unseemly amount of girls named Becky/Becca/Rebekah - two sisters (yes, two), a sister-in-law and a daughter-in-law). This is a volte-face on the part of La Neels. We discussed nicknames in An Unlikely Romance the hero calls the girl "Beatrix" while the annoying aunt and cousin call her "Trixie" (which, truth be told, is much worse than "Becky"). Betty Keira was given a name that doesn't lend itself to nicknames. (Which is why I jealously guard 'Keira Begira' to my bosom) On the other hand I (Betty Debbie) was probably called "Debbie" instead of "Debra" the day I was born...or at least very soon thereafter. Half of my children are regularly called by nicknames...at least intermittently. How about you? Do you regularly go by something other than your given name?

Speaking of names....Baron Tiele Raukema van den Eck. There's a mouthful. Or, it would be if I knew how to pronounce it.

I took a picture of my copy of The Promise of Happiness. Mucho better than the ubiquitous road going nowhere...She still looks thin but with a nod towards her creamy skin and silky eyebrows. You're right, it is mucho better...except that Becky seems way too tall. Tiele is only a few inches taller than her in this pic...shouldn't he be towering?