Melanie

This is the first HP that I have read that I would not call a traditional romance. From the description on the back it would seem to be the story of Alix, a young woman raised by her grandmother who has recently discovered her mother is alive and is the famous Varoni. But actually, it is the story of a celebrated opera singer (Varoni), a renowned composer( Moerling) and their secret child(Alix). Alix’s romance with an admirer of her mother(Barry) is a minor part of the story. For the longest time, I kept wondering who the hero was going to be! When it turned out to be Barry, I was quite disappointed. I wanted it to be the mysterious Moerling….but he turned out to be her father!All in all, a bit strange for an HP, but given the original story date (1939) it makes more sense. Apparently the story was re-edited and re-issued in 1970. Unexpected as it was, I enjoyed the story of this family and although the HEA for Alix was rather blah, the HEA for her newly found family was well done.