The Swallow and the Hummingbird: Amazon.co.uk: Santa Montefiore: 9780340832608: Books

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Review

'Glamorous, memorable, delicious' (Wendy Holden, Sunday Express )

'Romantics will adore this story of yearning love.' (Daily Express )

She

Praise for THE FORGET-ME-NOT SONATA:
'Santa Montefiore has proved herself a talented novelist'

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Customer Reviews

6 Reviews

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

3.2 out of 5 stars (6 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Thoroughly enjoying read, 13 July 2004

By

Scarymushrooms (Dublin, Ireland) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Swallow and the Hummingbird (Hardcover)

I'm a big fan of Santa's work. And so when i saw this in the book shop, i knew i had to have it regardless that it was a hardback {which i loathe}. The story goes something along the lines of this,

Rita awaits the arrival of George Bolton having fought in Europe during World War 2. Unfortunately the war has changed George, he finds the small town that they live in too smoothering and decides to go Argentina for a year. Naturally Rita is devastated, having waited so long for George to come back from the war. Before George leaves he proposes to Rita, promising to come back to her. However as in all great romance books there's a slight turn of events.

On the boat to Argentina, George meets the Susan, a woman who is physically scarred {when we finally learn of how she was scarred, its quite disappointing} and naturally they fall in love.

Thats the basic outline of the story, however i found the two main characters of Rita and George weren't fully formed. I found myself disliking Rita, we didnt learn alot about her character. The other charcters in the book are much more engaging such as Mrs. Megalith, Rita's eccentric grandmother, who i simply loved. Also Rita's younger sisters Maddie and Eddie were great creations.

This book really is a terrific read and i found myself crying at the end. It sure pulls the ole heart strings. The reason i give it four stars is because of the lack of character development of Rita, i would have liked to learn more about her, i felt as if i didnt really know her unlike the other characters.

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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars SANTA's SET PIECES FAIL TO CONVINCE, 7 Nov 2010

By

Barry McCanna (Normandy, France) - See all my reviews
(TOP 50 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: The Swallow and the Hummingbird (Hardcover)

I would have given this two stars but another reviewer has awarded four on the basis of Amazon's fast service (!) so I hope this produces a more realistic overall assessment. First of all, it's not a bad book, but it's not a particularly good one either. Without giving anything away, there are a number of set pieces, such as the cats in the church, or the arrival at the wedding of the dying mother, which seem contrived and therefore don't come off as intended. Or the seduction scene on pp. 246 to 249, when Tchaikovsky is still playing on the gramophone after ten chapters of manuscript! It's trite rather than dire, as witness this extract from page 143:

"His heart was locked to her endeavours in spite of her heaving breasts. She sensed the ghostly presence of another woman and resigned herself to the impossibility of her desires."

Good stuff, what? Add to that the repeated references to George's lopsided grin, or Mrs. Megalith tucking her chin into her neck, and you get the picture. In case you think "it's a man thing", my wife saw me struggling with it and said "I started two of hers, and gave up on both". I rest my case.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Richly Woven Tale, 8 May 2011

By

LindyLouMac (Italy) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: The Swallow and the Hummingbird (Paperback)

I first took an interest in this author's writing in 2001 when her first novel Meet Me Under The Umbo Tree was published. I went on to read the next two as they were released The Butterfly Box and The Forget Me Not Sonata. It was another five years before any more of her books came my way when in 2008 I read two more of her novels Last Voyage of the Valentina and The Gypsy Madonna. With this latest one it seems I am still only half way through her novels. I have two more on my TBR bookshelf and do not think it will be long before I read them as they are the perfect type of novels for summer afternoons reading in the shade.

The setting is England and the Argentine, starting just after the end of WWII when George Bolton returns home to Frognal Point a quiet seaside village in Devon. The sweetheart he left behind before the war, Rita Fairweather has waited patiently for his return, expecting their relationship to continue from where it left off. George though is no longer the boy who went off to war and became a Spitfire pilot, he finds himself unable to settle back into his previous way of life. He decides that he needs to get away for awhile to get over his wartime experiences and departs again to spend a year with relations in Argentina. Rita although disappointed resolves to wait for him in Devon as she feels unable to go with him if they are not yet married. Would you wait for ever for the love of your life? This is what happens to Rita as she keeps her promise to George, he however finds a different life that he enjoys and it is ten years before he returns to England again.

The Swallow and The Hummingbird was Santa's fourth novel to be published back in 2005, the year after we left the UK to live in Italy so I somehow missed obtaining a copy until I found one at the end of last year. It is three years since I have read one of her novels but this was just as I expected it to be a richly woven tale with a large cast of characters and lots of vivid detail. Recommended for all lovers of romantic fiction, especially fans of Rosamunde Pilcher.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars jules
very quickdelivery and good condition , aplogies for late review i did it 2 weks ago and didnt realise it hadnt been submitted/worked

Published on 11 Jun 2009 by Ms. J. K. Whiffen

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
I am a big fan of Santa's work. I loved this book and was taken by her beautiful style and vivid descriptions from page one. I finshed the book in 3 days. Read more

Published on 8 Dec 2008 by Butterfly

1.0 out of 5 stars Mills and Boon author without the talent
There was no problem coming up with a word to describe this book ~ dire. I should have known what it was going to be like from the title. Read more