"Gerald and Elizabeth" by D.E. Stevenson (re-read)

My D.E. Stevenson online fan group recently completed our chapter-by-chapter reading & discussion of "Gerald and Elizabeth," which I read on my own before we started, back in mid-October. (Original review here.)  

Gerald and Elizabeth (Bess) are half-siblings:  as the story opens, Gerald is returning to England via ocean liner after several years in South Africa, for reasons we soon learn about. In the meantime, Bess has become a famous stage actress, and is being pursued by Sir Walter MacCallum, a wealthy shipbuilder from Glasgow. Walter wants to marry her, but Bess keeps putting him off, despite her longtime desire for a husband and children. Then Gerald travels to Scotland to visit his aging Uncle Gregor, meets Sir Walter, and learns a secret about Bess that will change all of their lives. 

This was one of Stevenson's later novels, first published in 1969. The ambiance, however, is still very 1950s -- as I said in my original review, not a hippie or Beatle in sight, lol.  Unfortunately, some aspects of this book have aged very badly -- for example, a scene in a Glasgow antique shop that prompted a lively discussion within our group over the casually anti-Semitic descriptions of the shopkeeper. As I also said in my original review, I would never tell anyone not to read a book based on a few offensive paragraphs, especially since they are in no way representative of Stevenson's work -- but be forewarned.  

My original rating of 2.5 stars on Goodreads, rounded up to 3, still stands. 

Our next read will be "Charlotte Fairlie," which also goes by the titles "Blow the Wind Southerly" and "The Fair Isle." Gerald's story continues in "House of the Deer" (the last book Stevenson wrote before her death in 1973, published in 1970), which we will be reading after "Charlotte Fairlie," sometime in 2022. 

This was Book #55 read to date in 2021 (and Book #1 finished in December), bringing me to 153% (!) of my 2021 Goodreads Reading Challenge goal of 36 books. (I've exceeded my best-ever showing in the Goodreads Challenge since I joined in 2016 -- which was 50 books read in all of 2019.)  I am (for the moment, anyway...!) 22 (!) books ahead of schedule. :)  You can find reviews of all my books read to date in 2021 tagged as "2021 books." 

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Edited to add:  This is my 200th post in 2021!! and post #1,995 since I began blogging in October 2007!  Five more to reach 2,000 posts -- hopefully by the end of December/2021!