Oh, ye jigs and juleps -- look what just landed in my mailbox, thanks to a completist brother-in-law.
This "Harlequin Ginger Blossom - Harlequin Pink" version of A Girl in a Million is credited as "written by Betty Neels" on the cover and copyright page, but the title page admits it is "Based on the original novel by Betty Neels." I can't find any mention of who adapted it to this format, and s/he did a lot of adapting. The artwork is by Kako Itoh. The pix attached give some idea...
The story begins, as in the novel, with Caroline delivering a book to her nursing colleague Corina's cousin Marius Van Houben whilst on a vacation in Amsterdam, falling on his steps and being succored by Marius and his butler Fram. Back in London, she specials Marius's injured nephew, thinking it's his son. However, there's a dramatic back-story of Marius having been engaged to his now sister-in-law, but losing her to his brother when Marius chose to go into medicine rather than the family corporation where he'd have been wealthier.
HEA for sure, though, with white wedding.
I hope you enjoy these pix 1/10 as much as I enjoyed this wacky little book!
All the best,
Betty van den Betsy
 |
| Sorry this is on its side... |
 |
| ...and so is this. |
 |
| Does it have English captions? |
 |
| I'm kind of digging it... |
 |
| ...in spite of the fact that the couple look to be teenagers... |
 |
| ...they do have a HEA. |
There are a bunch of Betty Neels remakes into Manga (or Anime or whatever Japanese graphic novels are called). Amazon has them for the Kindle. I haven't tried one. The "looks like teenagers" aspect is a big red circle with a slash through it for me.
ReplyDeleteMy kid (11, heir to the Van Voorhees fortune)loves Manga drawing. We got him special Manga pens and a Manga monsters drawing book for his birthday. I dunno, I might give this a try...
ReplyDeleteIt's all in English. The teenage-look is Manga protocol for heroes and heroines; that is, when they don't look like pre-teens. More off-putting for me with this story is the really angst-y plotline about Marius, his ex-gf/now-sister-in-law, SIL's troubled marriage to Marius's cold & jealous brother, the family fortune seems to stem from manufacturing and Marius lost it all (except Amsterdam mansion and servant) when he chose to defy tradition and become a doctor... Yikes!
ReplyDeleteAunt Meg is adorable, though, as is the middle-aged sister on Caroline's ward. And the tea party reproduced above is a comprehensive one.
I used to have this and a few other of these Harlequin pink books for Betty Megan. She liked them. It takes about 5 minutes to read, so not really worth the cost. Lucky for me I got them from PBS, but I needed credits and sent them off when BettyMegan was ready to let them go.
ReplyDeleteAnd we also had The Bachelor Prince by Debbie Macomber, Jinxed by Day LeClaire and A Prince Needs a Princess by Barbara McMahon and a few others.
The teenagey look appealed to her. I wouldn't have got them w/o her interest. They were fun for a few minutes, but no substitution for a real book. Be warned the Pink version is G-rated, but the Violet ones are a little more 'graphic'. (pun intended!)
Betty Barbara here--
ReplyDeleteBack from vacation and catching up on all things Betty.
I have a copy of this that I will gladly mail out, free of charge, to whomever wants it.
It is an absolute hoot. I was especially fond of the large crystal chandelier in the front hall of Marius' house.
Betty Magdalen--Anime is video(as in animated), Manga is print.