Past All Forgetting

by Sara Craven

Librarian's note: Alternate cover edition of ISBN 0-373-70743-6.

Even as Janna pleaded with Rian for mercy, she realized it was futile.

Rian hadn't forgotten anything that had passed between them seven years earlier. Not forgotten--and not forgiven. Why had he come back? What did he intend?

Rian laughed sardonically. "You always knew I'd be back, and you know why as well. Hang on to your courage, sweet witch. You're going to need every last ounce of it by the time I've done with you!"

Genres: Harlequin, Harlequin Presents, Romance, Contemporary Romance, Hqn

187 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

About the author

Anne Bushell was born on October 1938 in South Devon, England, just before World War II and grew up in a house crammed with books. She was always a voracious reader, some of her all-time favorites books are: "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen, "Middlemarch" by George Eliot, "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë, "Gone With the Wind" by Margaret Mitchell and "The Code of the Woosters" by P. G. Wodehouse.

She worked as journalist at the Paignton Observer, but after her marriage, she moved to the north of England, where she worked as teacher. After she returned to journalism, she joined the Middlesbrough Writers' Group, where she met other romance writer Mildred Grieveson (Anne Mather). She started to wrote romance, and she had her first novel "Garden of Dreams" accepted by Mills & Boon in 1975, she published her work under the pseudonym of Sara Craven. In 2010 she became chairman of the Southern Writers' Conference, and the next year was elected the twenty-six Chairman (2011–2013) of the Romantic Novelists' Association.

Divorced twice, Annie lives in Somerset, South West England, and shares her home with a West Highland white terrier called Bertie Wooster. In her house, she had several thousand books, and an amazing video collection. When she's not writing, she enjoys watching very old films, listening to music, going to the theatre, and eating in good restaurants. She also likes to travel in Europe, to inspire her romances, especially in France, Greece and Italy where many of her novels are set. Since the birth of her twin grandchildren, she is also a regular visitor to New York City, where the little tots live. In 1997, she was the overall winner of the BBC's Mastermind, winning the last final presented by Magnus Magnusson.

Reviews

[Iris · Rating 5 out of 5]

6/14/22
Annual comfort re-read and not a moment too soon. And I thought I'd mention the glamorous and unusual M&B cover by Jørn Beinkamp. Why unusual? Because there are only 4 M&B and HQN covers between the mid 1960s - 1980s—out of thousands—where one of the MCs is lying on top of the other in a sexual situation. Beinkamp's favorite chiaroscuro effects and gestural scumbling of pencil, ink and acrylic evoke an atmosphere of moody sexiness perfect for the story. A very 1960's image.

Update 8/10/21
I got the french version for my b-day.
Artist Will Davies, it's wonderful but not as evocative as the HP cover

Cover artist Don Besco. Fabulous cover, no visible sig but the formal details: color choice, composition, facial features, overall gestalt!—given the artists working for HP at the time—there's really no one else it could be. Over the years I've occasionally used a blown up version of this as my desktop image, which I totally recommend if you want to scare your husband half to death you have a clear conscience—those eyes are piercing—this cover conveys the tone of the book perfectly!


the TL;DR review of my favorite Harley of all time:

Sara C: what about an H who's rational and even tempered?—not obviously motivated by pride or jealousy—owns nothing but a fancy sports car, some turtlenecks and a ruffled dress shirt—really subversive stuff!

Iris: swoons

or maybe SC was firmly on the side of HP's wrathful angels and simply lost control of her H who was like:

Rian: sorry Sara, vengeance just isn't my scene man!

SC: what? Have you forgotten what that scheming little tease did to you?

Rian: lighten up Sara I was there—but she was just a kid, a super hot kid but still...

SC: Kid? She was 16, that's like 25 in hero years.

Rian: but yeah thanks for dressing her in that little see-through number.

Iris: (squeeing) Wait! I loved that look. I wanted that look—the crocheted "trouser suit", the frosted lip gloss, the silk rose...

If you're like me you'll queue up Yvonne Elliman's If I Can't Have You and alternate with something super consciously gloomy like Morrisey's Everyday is like Sunday—listen on a loop while you read.



The blurb hints at a revenge plot but it's a feint—PAF is a damsel in distress story where the not especially chivalrous hero coolly waits for the damsel to rescue herself. The heroine's mood shifts from frantic flirtatiousness to guilt induced stasis to a palpable sense of dread while the hero hangs out exuding wry cynicism and cigar smoke. It's leavened by humor between the MCs, always an indicator of a well matched couple in SC books, but overall it's a somber and introspective story filled with very private anxiety.

At book's beginning Rian, a successful journalist/war correspondent has returned to his home town after 7 years. He left under a cloud, though only he and Janna are aware of that fact, and he's one of SC's purest examples of the enigmatic hero: indifferent to the opinions of others, emotionally opaque, and as befits his occupation, an observer. He's also sardonic with a penchant for swimming in the nude, spending time sprawled in chairs where his long legs can be seen to best effect and making homemade soup! Basically my dream man were it not for all the smoking he does.

In the flashback scenes 16 year old Janna is a beautiful egotist whose desperation to be noticed by Rian is age-appropriate and funny but wince inducing. She's super confident! she's in despair! she'll make him grovel! she'll just die if he doesn't dance with her! The believably teen behavior, the transparent come-ons, reinforce the idea that he definitely should have been able to resist her. He's ten years older, and much more than that in experience. As Janna's mom says "—he's too old for you. He was old the day he was born, I think. And deep."

I ask you—who doesn't love a deep hero? Well Janna's mom for one, she likes life to be safe and conventional and will take sneaky steps to ensure that Janna's life moves along the same path. Mom is incredibly selfish, she's also less of a caricature of middle-aged womanhood then is usual for SC because she actually loves her daughter; the realism makes her behavior worse. But she isn't wrong on the age thing, Janna and Rian are a danger to each other at this point and Rian's efforts at deflection are a half-hearted mix of amusement, bemusement, and condescension—whatever—this is HPland—this is Love whose power is impossible to deny—he's a goner.

It is to laugh! thinks Janna as she vows to bring him to his knees; aloof dude is just one squirmy slow dance away from crumbling and she's finagled an invite to his Aunt's big party! Now if she can just sneak out without her mom catching her and making her put a bra on. Years later he'll use Janna's sexual response to him as a tool against her, but in the flashback scenes he's the one fighting a losing battle against treacherous body syndrome and a train wreck is inevitable. Discovered making out with him in his room she panics and accuses Rian of assaulting her—Janna, bundled up and deposited on her own doorstep by Rian's aunt, is relieved that her parents will never find out what happened at the party but she's also quite believably horrified at her own cowardice. Rian immediately leaves town and Janna, guilt ridden, unable to make amends and unwilling to forgive or even trust herself, adopts a regime of prim self-abnegation.

I love both Rian and Janna as MCs but there's no way of sugar coating Janna's behavior—it was awful, she was aware of that while she was grabbing at excuses to save herself and it just makes the scene more wrenching. However I've had many teenage girls in my life over the last decade or so—they are amazing and at times terrifying; what they are not is emotionally mature adults. I won't pretend they are just so harley dudes can shag them with impunity.

Both Janna and Rian made crap decisions: he capitulated to his lust for a teenager, she capitulated to her fear of what her parents would think. Once they were on that bed there was a time bomb in the room with most outcomes disproportionately likely to harm Janna. Yet in PAF, Rian seems to take the brunt of the blast leaving Janna in the clear. And yet she isn't. Show me a hero whose self-disgust at a forced seduction/rape perpetrated against his h reaches the level of Janna's self-contempt at her accusation against Rian, or has let it have such a pervasive effect on his life. SC allows Janna to put herself through psychological hell (and for once a heroine's tears didn't annoy me) but the takeaway isn't that what Janna did is worse than what HP heroes get away with—are forgiven for by heroines and readers on the regular—rather she seems to be exploring a truth about girl's and woman's vulnerability in these circumstances and the internalized belief that they can make everything right again with super good behavior and self-policing.

Janna, 23, remains self-reproachful but I love that she didn't just shut down and become a sorry sack; she went away to school, became a caring and effective teacher and is engaged to the town's most eligible guy. But these aren't the choices she would have made had the disaster with Rian not occurred and her guardedness is to protect others. Those intemperate passions of hers have harmed one person already; she won't let it happen again. But it's reached a point where the (self)punishment has exceeded the crime and she's on the brink of making a bad mistake when Rian cruises back into town. And the quietly stunning thing (to me whose only reading trigger is male rage) is that he's already forgiven her, like years ago, he was only slightly mad anyways—because he's a f*cking adult!—yet Janna can't see it because his mere presence creates such a panic in her.

Which isn't to say he ain't got plans, wrecking her relationship with her fiancé for one, but his motive is less about getting revenge then because he's still so stoically gaga for her. Now if only he can determine if the "spectacular lass" with the attitude still exists under the conservative schoolmarm garb, whether she still wants him, and whether she's grown up. Their first conversation answers him with the yes, yes, and yes he hopes for "'You swine!' she said between her teeth, and he laughed for the first time with a note of genuine amusement. 'That's more like the Janna I used to know. I thought she was dead when you came here asking for mercy instead of spitting in my eye as you would have done once, daring me to do my worst'"

It's just a matter of applying enough malice laden grins, silky toned taunts and angry kisses; the good kind where she's absolutely NOT going to respond until suddenly she's ablaze, to get her in enough of a tizzy that she not only blows up every aspect of the boring life she doesn't really want but has the maturity to pick up the pieces all by herself as well. Then they can wipe the dust and provincialism of the town off their feet for cool adventures and a hard-won, absolutely believable HEA.

I'm sure I'm making this seem more dour than it is—for instance there's a surprisingly sentimental reveal from an hero as aloof as Rian and really romantic for SC—and tons more stuff I'm leaving out—so see St Margaret's and Dianna's insightful reviews if you're on the fence.

[StMargarets · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is way more nuanced than the blurb promises. In fact, it's astonishing how much SC packs into this story. This is definitely a romance that celebrates the cost of passion over social norms, but it doesn't end in tragedy like most romances with this theme. SC gives the heroine her happy ending after she suffers a bit.

The premise: the heroine at 15-almost 16 chases after the 25 year-old war correspondent hero. The hero tries to resist her, but when they start making out in his bedroom while a party is going on below, they are caught by his aunt and uncle. The hero is unrepentant and owns up to his actions. The heroine is ashamed and lets the aunt think that the hero forced her and ripped her shirt off. She did this because she didn't want her mother to know that she had been a willing participant. But her mother never found out because the aunt and uncle elected to keep it in the family. The upshot: the hero is disinherited. The aunt and uncle shut up the house and move to a warmer climate. And the heroine carries a burden of guilt for 7 years.

When the story opens the heroine is engaged to the son of the owner of the main employer in town. She is a teacher at the local primary school and a good one. As soon as she hears the hero's name, she assumes he's going to exact his revenge. He has bought the his aunt and uncles house and has plans to turn it into a youth hostel and outdoor center. To add to the drama, the hero has enrolled a Vietnamese girl in her class. Everyone assumes she is a souvenir from his time as a war correspondent. The heroine never asks him about his relationship to the girl.

I'm going to echo the very insightful review below. The hero in this one isn't the revenge agent. His return is the catalyst that sets the heroine in motion.

Because the heroine is full of guilt (and realizes she still loves/is attracted to the hero more than her fiance), she starts questioning everything in her life.

She gets drunk at a party of her father in law's. The hero takes her home, but she passes out and he gets a hotel room for the two of them instead.
This leads to her breaking off her engagement.
Which leads her to quit her job.
She finds herself on the wrong side of the town gossips when she gives the lead in the Christmas pageant to the hero's "daughter" instead of the girl from the big, influential family.
She assumes the hero is going to marry his "daughter's" mother.

To add to the heroine's burden, her mother disapproves of all of this. She wants the heroine to make up with her fiance and forget about the hero. In fact, she shows the heroine a letter the hero had sent 7 years before when he absolved the heroine of any guilt and that he would wait for her. Her mother had opened the letter and never showed it to the heroine.

Now it was all making sense to the heroine, but she thought it was too late for them since the hero was going to marry his "daughter's" mother. As you can guess, the father wasn't the hero, but one of his buddies. He had helped engineer their reconciliation and the couple is going to run the hostel. The heroine rushes to the hero after the Christmas pageant and HEA. They are going to travel together and have adventures.


So - I was 16 in 1978 when this was published. And I can tell you the heroine's behavior would have been scandalous (but not unheard of) in my little corner of the world. The hero had absolutely no business with a girl that young. Her mother was right to be worried (and the lack of communication between mother and daughter sounds about right).

There was no good way for this story to end if the H/h had gotten together at the time. What's too bad is that the heroine never worked through it until the hero showed up again. She lost a lot of confidence and independent thought. She just hoped that that by following the rules she would get rid of her guilt. But you can't get rid of guilt if you never ask for forgiveness or even try to understand your actions.

SC did a great job with the school politics and the stultifying atmosphere of small town life. I was glad that SC didn't give the H/h a conventional ending with them slipping into village life, accepted by all. Instead they get travel and adventure and they can finally let their freak flags fly for all to see.

[Dianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

But first a warning: no one has amnesia. I don't know that Craven wrote an amnesia book, certainly I don't remember one from my previous experience with her oeuvre. So we're not dealing with a forgetting from a brain injury but instead something so heinous that the heroine can never forget. And gosh, she's tried!

Janna is a teacher (a job!) and she lives with her parents in the village where she grew up. Her family is comfortably middle class, but Janna has landed rich Colin, so her mum's a bit lah di dah about posh soon to be in laws. Janna's not so sure - Colin's making noises about her quitting work after the wedding, and her father in law is an awful bully to his employees.

These concerns are minor compared to the apocalypse about to crash all over her lovely dull future. Her schoolgirl crush is back in town. He's in her school! He's placing a shy little girl in her classroom! Drama!!

Time for you to pay for what you did to me, Rian tells Janna (or words to that effect) let the revenge plot begin!

There's a lot of backstory flashback, but to summarise: Janna followed Rian around, Rian grumbled about it a little while suppressing his hot eyed stares, until one day Janna threw herself at him at a party and they ended up in bed. Rian's uncle walked in on them and to save her reputation Janna said Rian was raping her.

She ran out, promising that of course she’d never mention it, nothing happened, etc. Later, she learned that Rian had been thrown out and disinherited. He left and she never saw him again. She's been wracked with guilt ever since and certain that one day he'll return, and she'll have to face the music.

Rape accusations are highly contentious and this is a significant background flaw in a heroine. Sara Craven presents it sympathetically, although within a highly class-conscious context. Janna's panic is predominantly that if she's presented as a willing participant Rian's wealthy relatives will think badly of her, and it will bring shame to her family.

I got this, because a significant part of the plot not to do with the romance is to do with Janna's relationship with her mother. Which at first looks lovely. Janna still living at home as an adult with her own income and independence hasn't caused any friction. They like spending time together. But the mother is a snob, and her behaviour and expectations surrounding her daughter are driven by that snobbery. As a teen, Janna responded to a social situation that would have diminished her in her mother's eyes with panic. She gets a chance to see just how far her mother is prepared to go to preserve her intended future for Janna, and confront her disappointment over how her mother's values aren't driven by her daughter's happiness.

I like complex family relationships and it impressed me how many layers Craven packed into this one in such a short book. Janna's mother is certainly villainous but this plot operates comfortably in everyone having a few grey areas.

Of course, the bigger plot is the revenge and it's fantastic! Within a tiny space of time Janna loses her fiancé, her superficially good relationship with her mother, her personal and her professional reputation. And Rian doesn't do a thing! He's the catalyst, but this is one of those perfect revenge stories where the victim does it all herself. I was so pleased, this is a different take from those poor innocents who don't realise they're targets until it's pointed out to them. This is curse revenge and it's near perfect.

I was so taken with how awesome all this was that I didn't have a great deal of time for the actual romance but that's ok. It's all predicated on the fact that neither of them ever stopped loving the other, and feeling hurt that the other hadn't, when apparently given all opportunity to do so, fought harder for their love. This works. Each in their own way was angry but earnest about putting things right.

They each make stupid mistakes trying to set each other free of the past, and it was sweet ... Or at least as sweet as Craven ever gets, which is basically sour gummy bear.

Rian can't be given view point because it would spoil the tension but he's rather lovely. All right, once again that's subjective since even Craven's rare heroes with senses of humour that's not just snark have some clear anger management issues. I can't honestly fault him for almost succumbing to temptation and sexing with an underage girl because that's pretty much built into the genre and the consciousness that physical attraction is impossible to deny when true love is thrown into the mix.

The fact that Jenna was flawed and had such a complex relationship with her mother and had to suffer through a huge reputation loss which I actually cared about, plus went through the usual torture of the feels completely won me over. She's active - even if she's most active in her own self destruction, so I thought she was just great.

This is another favourite for me.

[Roub · Rating 1 out of 5]

this was one big bitch heroine which we encountered! not only did she cry rape but she also felt like the victim! what she did was unforgivable and she was the villain in the story, for me atleast. i can't understand what the hero fell in love wid! her body!? lol. who can fall in love wid a woman who accuse you of rape !? when she was actually begging of it!it was more like she cud have raped him! hahaha!

[DamsonDreamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5
Putting this review here rather than under the kindle cover travesty (I did actually read the kindle one) because I hate those samey blue/pink/photo-model covers with a passion. For me, the cover influences the reading feel and is part of why modern day M&Bs don't cut it. If they are going to reissue digital versions of the great Sara Craven's works, why not use the original cover? I presume it's money.

Anyway, this is a good one. Solid characterization and plot and some additional food for thought on life's decisions and if onlys. As an insight into the immoderate pursuit of an object of passion by the teenage girl, this one really delivers. Oh, how we have all been there. Poor Janna's devotion wasn't quite mature or strong enough, on the flagrante spur of the moment, to overcome a lifetime's good-girling in a convention obsessed small town and family. And how she suffers for this lapse throughout the story. Her mother's role is also interesting. An object lesson on not superimposing your own wants onto your child, still valid in so many ways to every generation.

The fiance and fiance's father were a bit comedy northerner stereotypes as is generally the case in these books when they are set outside London and the South. Also still valid in so many ways to every generation.

Rian is a good H, a man of strong values and self control whose only real weakness is his love for the h. I liked his laconic style and self sufficiency. The only complaint from me, in their moments of physical connection, was the one that happened the morning after the drinking/vomiting night before. It took quite an effort for me to willingly suspend belief that she didn't have a mouth like the bottom of a parrot's cage. Not very romantic. I also wasn't keen on the plot-required miscommunication/misconception about the child, Fleur. Child as object/plot device is always a teeth sucking thing for me; I'm not a fan of the instrumentalizing of another human being, hence my dislike of the modern accidental pregnancy/secret baby trope. Racking my brains to think of an SC book with one of those and I don't think there is one so this is only a minor quibble. Probably explains my strong preference for vintage authors as it's become a lazy go--to scenario these days.

[RomLibrary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even as Janna pleaded with Rian for mercy, she realized it was futile.

Rian hadn't forgotten anything that had passed between them seven years earlier. Not forgotten--and not forgiven. Why had he come back? What did he intend?

Rian laughed sardonically. "You always knew I'd be back, and you know why as well. Hang on to your courage, sweet witch. You're going to need every last ounce of it by the time I've done with you!"

[Suzanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like this one at all....she's too young when they meet and it goes downhill from there.
She accuses him of attempted rape and of course he is innocent .....but she is underage and if someone hadn't walked in that is exactly what would have happened....because she is underage and he was taking her clothes off.
so no this one is a bad-dy.

[Lizzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Revenge plots in a Harlequin are a hit-and-miss for me - sometimes I like them, sometimes they're a bit too much for me. The last "revenge" one I recall liking was Patricia Wilson's "A Lingering Melody", which *spoiler alert* turned out to show that the H used the "revenge" as an excuse to rebuild his relationship with the h. It's probably why I'm so fond of this book too - the H may be sore about a few things (but not about what the h thinks he is angry with her for) but his aim is to win her back rather than put her through any long-term misery. Though the H in this one does a far better job of not-actually-threatening than the H in Lingering Melody, so that most of his menace is really what is built in the h's head...but it's not like he won't use her perceptions of him to his advantage.

Like many M&B's where the couple have some sort of history, the flashbacks come in fits and starts, so that we are better acquainted with the h in her present, before delving into why she is now the way she is.

Janna (h) is a schoolteacher in her early twenties, all prim and proper and not even a hair strand out of place, paired up with a rather bland OM whose family has titles and pedigree. Her mum approves, her dad simply wants her to be happy. All through the first chapter we see her looking guarded and closed-off...until she encounters a house that has been left alone for years - one that she has VERY bittersweet memories of.

Colin (the OM and her fiancé) suggests they buy the house, as the Colonel who used to live there recently passed away (as did his wife a few years earlier), and their globetrotting nephew had been disowned seven years ago and isn't likely to show up at their tiny town anyway. At the mention of the nephew the h bristles coz she has some *very good ideas* WHY the nephew was cast out.

She flashes back to her teen years, where we see a wholly different Janna - very confident, rather-self centred, out to get what she wants by any means possible and driven mad by desire because of...who else!...the Colonel's nephew, Rian Tempest (H). He tries (not hard enough though - there's still some level of flirting going on and he's not completely successful in hiding how he feels from her) to fend her off - treating her like a child, dating other girls, even pushing her into the shallow part of a river when she tries to ogle at him skinny-dipping one night.

However, she winds up being invited to a party by the H's aunt, dresses herself up in a lacy see-through pantsuit with no bra on, secretly sexy-dances in front of the hero and basically just breaks down whatever little defences the man has left before he finally carries her to bed. They're thankfully caught before they can actually do the deed, but the aftermath is a trainwreck of epic proportions.

All said and done, this h is a kid and the H basically left his brains on the terrace. They jumped into this situation without the slightest idea what they'd do next (I say this for every book I have read so far that has an adult H and a teen h - yes there are situations where you're so stretched to your limits that you finally lose it and that's what happens in most scenes involving a compromising situation between the two. It's still important to acknowledge that in all these cases the H should have at least communicated more). To say Janna handled her reaction to this situation badly would be an understatement - she panics and accuses Rian of assault, seemingly breaking his relationship with his surviving relatives and getting him disowned (I will try to explore this aspect of the story later, but as previous reviewers put it, it has a lot to do with the h's own familial relationships).

Janna's guilt over the whole episode isn't shown immediately, but rather it creeps into her consciousness and warps it so that she spends the next seven years enacting some form of self-flagellation. Even though she is engaged, she seems to show no desire or enthusiasm to take things further with her fiancé, and seems almost afraid of her desires and needs.

So when the OM and his dad suggest buying the H's old house, the h balks at the suggestion because as far as she is concerned she is the whole reason the H was disinherited in the first place. Shortly after, it's revealed that the H has returned to the town.

In the midst of some friction between the H and the OM's family about the house - the H buys back the house in order to convert it into an adventure center and the OM's dad plans to thwart these plans - Janna goes to Rian to "beg for mercy" so that he doesn't target people close to her, and he makes some vaguely threatening remarks about how he won't let her forget what she had done (he does strongly allude to the incident where she accused him once or twice tho). It doesn't take too long for the catlike Jenna to unleash her claws, and when she does, the H's response is to laugh and tell her that THAT is the Janna he knows and remembers.

The house issue takes up the first half of the book, but we also get other threads - for instance, the new student in school who everyone believes is Rian's love-child with a Vietnamese woman, Colin and his father's union issues, and the shifty behaviour of Janna's mother every time either Rian or Colin (but especially Rian) are mentioned. Throughout this time, Janna has to deal with her confused emotions around Rian, her growing discontent with her future in-laws, and town gossips. Rian for his part attempts to engineer situations where he could be alone with Janna, kisses her a couple times and comments on her response to him, and she bonds with his "daughter" Fleur in the meantime as well.

Tensions run high at a party where Colin's father and Rian argue over Rian's current plans for the house, and Janna has finally had enough with Colin and his father's highhandedness and snobbery and drinks way too many brandies (Colin's dad also notices the v obvious sexual tension between Rian and Janna). She gets sick on the way home, so Rian takes her to a motel to sleep it all off, and the two almost sleep together in the morning before being interrupted by room service.

She confronts Colin on the way home, is honest about the situation with Rian (telling Colin that she wanted Rian, but Rian did the honorable thing of "not taking advantage" of her) and breaks off their engagement. Rian seems to withdraw from her too at this stage, so Janna focuses on preparing her class for the Nativity Play for Christmas. Rian's "kid" Fleur manages to get the leading role due to her excellent singing over the daughter of a family who somehow always gets their children to bag lead roles, leading to some friction both within the classroom and, soon enough, outside of it as well.

Rumours begin to spread about Rian and Janna spending the night at a motel (the oldest sister of the kid who wanted to play the Virgin Mary was a chambermaid there), and people speculate that Janna gave little Fleur the role because of her affair with Rian. Janna hears about this news from different people (including a colleague who is now actively dating her ex-fiancé), and is extremely distressed by both the rumour and the possibility that Fleur's mother is coming back to live with Rian (she believes the speculation that they're lovers, and Rian hasn't exactly said otherwise because he was hoping Janna would directly ask him).

Rian catches her in this state of distress (which he believes was caused by Colin's engagement with the colleague) and brings her home. They almost get into bed together - again- but Janna stops it in time believing that no matter how much she loves him, he belongs to Kim San. Heartbroken (because Rian believes Janna is still in love with Colin) he promises to keep out of her life from then on and cause no further damage.

By this time Janna has already resigned from her teaching job (since she can't bear to see Rian get married to someone else), and is only staying around to showcase the Christmas play. While discussing Colin's engagement with her mother one day, the latter lets it slip that Rian had in fact never resented Janna for her behaviour at that party, and in fact had wanted to marry and take her with him after a year. Unfortunately (or fortunately?) for Janna, her *mother* saw that mail instead of her, and hid it away because she thought Janna was too young. She had also warned him off when he visited the house after Janna's first confrontation, making him believe that Janna genuinely loved Colin. Essentially Janna realizes there may have been a chance Rian loved her but that she has now lost that love.

The Christmas pageant goes without a hitch (despite one of the brats attempting to ruin Fleur's dress, which Kim San manages to replace) and Janna is given a lovely send-off by the school, before learning from Kim San that Fleur's dad isn't Rian as everyone assumed, but a friend of his. Essentially the couple had been having seven years of fighting between them, which they only recently managed to resolve. Incidentally Rian took Fleur with him so the two could have the space to reconnect, while also ensuring that they can later work at the adventure center he plans to build. Janna finally realised he's loved her all along and hurries back to Rian's old house before he leaves for good, confessing her love for him and clearing up all their doubts.

It turns out Rian and his uncle patched up their old fight before the latter died, and it was he who had provided enough money to Rian so he could purchase the house as soon as it came into the market. Rian's main aim for returning was to win Janna back, while punishing her a tiny bit for never replying to his letter. He had been blindsided by the mother, who had convinced him that Janna truly loved her fiancé, which was why he withdrew even though he loved her. The two confess their feelings, kiss, promise to stay together and explore the world together for real this time, and I'm pretty sure they'd have gotten hot-and-heavy right there and then if Kim San, her husband and Fleur hadn't interrupted them (again!!).

"Past All Forgetting" was lovely! I definitely loved Rian - he's got that gently mocking debonair type of personality that I love to see in M&B's, and he's just the right amount of secretly-besotted. My first assumption - having read so many Harlequins by now - was that he would keep a grudge (and the heroine's actions make it such that he wouldn't be entirely wrong for doing so - her words could have inflicted some serious damage!), but I was pleasantly surprised that he understood the nuances of the situation straightaway and really tried to relieve Janna of that burden. What he's truly angry about is her supposed lack of care in responding to him, but as soon as he sees how much she's hurting herself, he finds it hard to maintain the facade of the vengeful ex.

Janna tends to get mixed reactions in general - mostly, I think, because of how awful her 17-yr-old reaction to being caught was. And it IS written in a way that is extremely unflattering to her - to punctuate just how terrible her accusations of assault are, the writing shows us a Rian who warns her off multiple times and who is giving her an out from the situation just minutes before the two are caught by his relatives. But what really captures me about that sequence - and this character in general - is how tied into her worldview is the way her mother sees things. Janna's father is more easygoing and consistently trusts her to make her own decisions, but her mother often projects her conservative approach onto Janna. Janna grows up with a curiosity about sex that -together with her intense feelings for Rian - explodes into a situation she can't fully understand and is poorly prepared for, but with a mother who is immensely uncomfortable actually TALKING about these things to her daughter. Which is why her first thought when she is caught is fear for what the ensuing shame will do to her parents - but it hurts the one man she had feelings for and casts him out of his own. That she spends close to a decade punishing herself for that speaks to how intense her feelings for him still are.

The OM and (fake) OW are pretty alright. You can see straightaway why Colin is wrong for Janna, and also why Janna chose him in the first place. We slowly get to see how badly things may have gone for Janna if she had eventually married into that family, and Rian is definitely the perfect contrast to that both in the excitement and unpredictability he represents, and the genuine emotions and understanding he feels for Janna. Kim San (and her beloved, Philip) - I kind of view this couple as a parallel to the leads. They spend years miscommunicating and arguing and not actually finding a solution that would allow them to be together, until Rian takes Fleur to his old town and allows them that space. It's only fitting that in the end, they are the ones who make sure Janna and Rian get THEIR happily-ever-after.

The story actually makes a pretty cool and subtle parallel between the leads - both of them, as adults, have significant conflicts with their parental figures and wind up in situations where they may have to choose between their parental figure and their beloved. In the past, Rian clashes with his uncle over his lifestyle (which culminates in him being cut off from the family when he tells his uncle he intends to marry Jenna once she's 18). In the present, Janna has less-explosive, but still very eye-opening, confrontations with her mother where they clash over her life and her relationships. The mother views the bland, boring life that Janna could lead with Colin as peaceful and comforting, but Janna herself can never be happy with such a life, and acknowledges that she needs to pursue what gives her joy first. The book itself ends with Rian reminding her that they are free, that they can travel wherever his work takes them...but that now they can also try to build a permanent home to settle down to as well. Essentially - the two get to fulfill their own desires to travel and contribute to the world, while ensuring they have a home to return to like their parents would want for them.

(Sidenote re: Janna's mother: tbh I understand some of her motivations for hiding Rian's letter from Janna when she was 17. Rian's way of life was too alien to her and Janna too young for her mother to contemplate taking that risk. What I did find annoying was her continued interference after. They COULD have frankly spoken about it - Janna is 26, has considerably more life experience and would at least have gotten a bit of confidence to explore what SHE wanted from her life. As it is the nervous, cowed-down Janna is the type of woman she knows will please her mother, and it never made her happy)

Overall I really love this book. Maybe not as much as Comparative Strangers from the same author, but still pretty damn close! 4.5/5.

[Aisha · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Janna was 17, she had a crush on Rian, 10 years older, and did her best to seduce him. Unfortunately, the situation got out of her hand and Rian, who lived with his uncle and aunt (his parents had died) when his job as a journalist (which forced him to travel frequently) allowed him to, ended up being thrown out of the family and even disinherited.

Seven years later, at the time when Janna's life is stable (with her work as a teacher and even engaged to another man), Rian returns to town with a girl who will take classes with her, and Janna believes that he comes to get revenge. Endless entanglements occur that trigger a series of misunderstandings.

The plot takes place in a small British town, in which EVERYTHING is known and blatantly speculated. The virtue of a woman is highly valued and not being a virgin is being the town's slut in the sight of everyone. *sigh* Un fact, misogyny and double standards are the order of the day. *Aisha rolls her eyes*

That said, the story can be read. It has been well written and the scenes flow naturally. Janna is a woman who has a way of thinking far ahead of her time to some extent; she remains a virgin because of the way she was raised. Rian, for his part, is the typical cosmopolitan man. But he's in love with Janna since day one, although they were seven years apart from each other.

Secondary characters? Let's say that, with the exception of Janna's father, who wants his daughter to be happy above all else, everyone gave me chills. Especially Calvin, Janna's fiancé, Beth, the unbearable co-worker and Janna's mother, whom I still don't understand... *Aisha wants to hit something*

Anyway, a good story and fast reading, but for the 21st century, where there's a lot of feminist movements, is somewhat shocking. And it's vintage Sara Craven, written in the late '70s. It was a suitable plot for the era in which it was published. Today? That's a bit questionable. Anyway, I recommend this book to old school people, who like this type of book.

[красная мафия · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lo primero comentar que este libro en España lleva por título: "Más allá del olvido" y distinta portada :)

No sé sí es porque me pilló en momento sentimental pero simplemente... ¡lo amé! Me gustó muchísimo esta novela y guardaré a Rian Tempest entre mis protagonistas favoritos.

A mí esta novela de Craven me ha gustado muchísimo :) Creo que lo le sucede a muchos es que el libro es de 1978 y por lo tanto, tiene "ideas" que en este 2013 no compartimos del todo pero eran muy comunes por aquel entonces.

La historia me ha tenido enganchada desde el principio y los protagonistas, ambos, Janna y Rian, también me han convencido (él mucho más que ella). Debo destacar que Rian, el protagonista masculino es muy parecido a esos personajes que más me llaman la atención en las novelas en cuanto actitud: ser el de la mala reputación, irónico, sus contestaciones también sobre todo... muy buenas, llenas de sarcasmo y ese humor irritante. SIEMPRE con una sonrisa burlona.

La historia nos cuenta como una adolescente (Janna) vive por y para un chico/hombre que le lleva diez años y es el ídolo de cualquier fémina en el pueblo pero además, también la oveja negra del lugar. Es muy gracioso leer los "trucos" de Janna para lograr que él se fije en ella y no la vea como una niña... porque a pesar de su reputación, Rian siempre la "respeta" o lucha por no dejarse arrastrar porque sabe que es DEMASIADO joven... Mí predicción fue acertada Rian digamos es "desterrado" de su pueblo por algo que la muchachita por aquel entonces cuando era una menor e intentaba conquistarlo, inventa O.o NADA de que eran parejita y alguno creyó que había una infidelidad y por eso la "separación", como me comentó una amiga al leer la sinopsis.

Más cosas:

Pasados 7 años él regresa al pueblo y ella, que está comprometida con un snob piensa que es para vengarse por lo que le hizo en el pasado... Y en realidad eso parece ser exactamente lo que busca él. Es más, Rian comenta en alguna ocasión que ha vuelto para terminar lo que dejaron a medias hacía varios años atrás y arrogante e irónico como es, para advertirle que será mejor que vaya dejando a su prometido porque sufrirá mucho cuando acabe entregándose a él.

Cuando parece que las cosas pueden arreglarse a Rian lo envuelve una "sombra" o más bien, 2 "sombras" que hacen que Janna dolorosamente se aleje de él. Algo que sucede porque Rian tiene la "mala costumbre" de dejar que la gente opine absolutamente lo que quiera de él, aunque sea la peor de las cosas. Es más, incluso hasta parece divertirle ese hecho. Entre esto y que el rechazo de Janna él lo malinterpreta por lo que no es... les toca sufrir un poquito más.

Muy emotiva una carta que leemos por "ahí", en la novela, sobre todo por lo que significaba... Otra cosa del libro es que aún no tengo claro del todo sí hubo ese "gran momento" o no (jajaja) Creo que no. Cosa que odié por otra parte, porque no estamos hablando de una lectura juvenil y no me vale la "excusa" del año en que fue escrito, ya que he leído novelas de ese entonces y las autoras narran lo que hay que narrar, lógicamente sin llegar a la vulgaridad y con ese aire de "sutiliza"... ¡Pero lo cuentan! Sara Craven ya no es que "tal vez" no lo desarrolle, es que encima para colmo de males me dejó la "duda" ¬¬ Así que sí alguna se lo ha leído y me da su opinión en cuanto a esto, se lo agradecería (jajaja) Aunque repito, creo que no llega a pasar nunca... Cosa que... no nos engañemos, irrita mucho porque no es que una quiera momento Hot en cada capítulo, pero las lectoras de romántica en general siempre anhelamos esa escena donde la unió es completa y se describe la relación/el amor/la pasión... En fin, aquí os quedaréis con las ganas, aunque sí que tiene varias ocasiones del "casi, casi"... (jajaja)

Debo eso sí, admitir, que también me dejó un sabor agridulce porque a no ser que en su momento (hace ya años, lógicamente sí el libro es de 1978) la historia tuviese una segunda parte, me quedé con ganas de saber en qué se covertiría la vida de Janna y Rian al fin juntos. Ya que no fue el típico final de: "Nos casamos, tenemos un hogar con hermosos retoños y vivimos enamorados y tranquilos para siempre..." No. Aquí termina (Spoiler) con una segunda oportunidad y Rian prometiendo amarla perooo... por su trabajo (periodista que acude a zonas conflictivas y en guerra) le dice que de momento solo puede ofrecerle una vida de idas y venidas, en hoteles, con las maletas arrastras etc... pero que en el futuro tendrán un hogar con hijos.

Así que me hubiese encantado leer algo más de esa vida en común y más que nada, para saber como se les quedaba el cuerpo a todos esos cretinos que les habían jodido las vidas en parte. Comenzando por la madre de ella, que me pareció enervante que hiciera lo que hizo y su actitud, y al final quedara de rositas ¬¬ Hubiese sido perfecto leer como Janna se iba con Rian a vivir su vida junto a él y la mami odiosa esa entrar en cólera porque no soportaba a Rian y solo pensaba en el ex prometido de su hija, que podría tener miles de defectos, pero claro, era rico ¬¬ Y el final fue en parte tan precipitado que no se sabe en que quedó el asunto de la madre y como quedarían todos en el pueblo al verlos finalmente juntos y estaba claro (aunque no se contara en la novela) casados. Marchándose a empezar de nuevo de aquí para allá por el mundo, unidos. Como debió ocurrir hacía 7 años.

Así que... solo me queda comentar que estoy feliz de haber decidido finalmente "hincarle el diente" a esta novela y la guardaré con cariño en mi biblioteca personal :) Y por supuesto solo añadir que... ¡recomendado!

[SmittenKitten · Rating 3 out of 5]

The one where the 16-yr old heroine pursues the 25-yr old hero and then when caught making out by his aunt, she lies to save her reputation by saying she was forced by the hero.

Strong start, “meh” ending.

[Maheran Aljufri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the story when i first read it over 30 years ago and i still like it now.

[Suzanne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I found it hard to get past that she had unjustly accused him of rape ....usually when the hero wants revenge its for something the heroine didn't do.
but it was really well written

[Lynn Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought this from Morgan's bookstall in town same year it was published.

[Jo]

MÁS ALLÁ DEL OLVIDO (Spanish Version)