Captured by a Smile Imprisoned by Love: A Memoir of Young Love that Refused to Die

I loved that she made him grovel at the end, take that ass-hat! El la apresa la vuelve su esclava, su prisionera, su sierva, y le hace lo mismo que ella le hizo a el. Sep 25, Kylie rated it did not like it Shelves: I'll start this review by saying that for the last six months I've been working on writing a book of my own.

It's undergone numerous drafts. It's stolen countless nights of sleep. My obsession with it has turned me into a downright social pariah. But still I write, knowing and not caring that it will never get published.

And of those who do only a select few will ever gain notoriety. It's discouraging, to say the least, when I think on those statistics. Even more so wh I'll start this review by saying that for the last six months I've been working on writing a book of my own. Even more so when I remember that most aspiring authors overrate there capabilities and fail to see their own flaws. Naturally, I begin to second guess myself. I come up with ridiculous excuses why no one can read what I've written.

• UNDER HIS WINGS: DWELLING IN THAT SECRET PLACE?
• Ancient Sports and Pastimes of the English;
• Prisoner of Tehran | Book by Marina Nemat | Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schuster.
• The Reader ( film) - Wikipedia.
• Rule Breaker (Breed Book 29).
• Les parachutistes de la légion: 1948-1962 (HISTOIRE) (French Edition).

Maybe because deep-down I know that what I've written is completely shitty and people will make fun of me for it? But then I read a book like this and I'm left disturbed and confused. I don't know if my fears should be assuaged, if I should be highly insulted, or if I should rant and raise my fists to the heavens over the vast injustice of the publishing industry. I would like to freely admit that this is an example of a book that is completely shitty and needs to be made fun of, but I'm not going to do that. I refuse to show my petty jealousy. I don't know how in God's creation she did it, but I'm impressed.

Jan 01, Debbie DiFiore rated it it was amazing. Just reread this for the 2nd time and I forgot how much I had loved it. I read it years ago and I couldn't quite remember it so I read it again and it was wonderful. I loved Johanna Lindsey in her early writing years and read every book.

I didn't quite like all of them because there were a couple with heros and ow and I hated that but this one was good. The H was very cruel in the beginning of the book but he had reason to be I guess. I did like that he felt terrible when he realized how wrong h Just reread this for the 2nd time and I forgot how much I had loved it.

I did like that he felt terrible when he realized how wrong he had been and he tried to atone. I also liked that she was strong enough not to just fall over when he said he was sorry.

She made him work for it. He started out as an evil villain but then at the end he seemed like he wasn't as bad as he was painted. He did save her life. I guess there are many facets of personality but that one was a whoa there. What happened to the guy from the beginning of the book?? It didn't really compute. Now that I think about it the same could be said about Warrick who did horrible things to the h sometimes yet did incredibly nice things for her too.

So I guess Gilbert could too. I am glad I reread it. I even raised the stars because I liked it so much. May 16, Blaze King rated it it was amazing Shelves: This book is a great read because of the story, and how well Johanna Lindsey tackled a tacky plot. Warning - It has rape involved. Both, of the Hero and the Heroine. The heroine is forced to make physical relation with the hero; or see her mother die at the hands of her step brother.

The hero when gets a chance to escape, he comes back and takes her prisoner believing her to be an immoral woman and seeks to exact revenge by raping her in return. As he says 'Like For Like'. But what ensues the re This book is a great read because of the story, and how well Johanna Lindsey tackled a tacky plot. But what ensues the revenge was a lesson a hardened warrior learns in love.

He couldn't stop himself from taking her more times than he cynically planned. And she miserably failed to loath his touch every single time! Warrick and Rowena - theirs is a romance that will make you frustrated, render you cursing, but in the end it'll leave you with a complacent smile, no less. Now, I have to clarify that this book will not be for everyone- but if you enjoy old school romances, bodice rippers and Johanna Lindsey-then you won't have any problem with it.

The book starts with our heroine, Rowena Belleme being witness to the brutal whipping of her mother by her lecher stepbrother- and to save her she is forcefully married to an old haggard asshat. However, before consummation, the old man dies and the stepbrother ta "Prisoner of my Desire" is the story of Rowena and Warrick. However, before consummation, the old man dies and the stepbrother takes it on himself to find a replacement so she can beget a heir.

Much to her surprise, he enslaves a virile and king sized man- and Rowena is forced to "rape" him- not knowing that he is a noble knight, and tables are about to be turned on her pretty quick! What follows is a deliberate escape, the captor becoming the captive and some good old fashion JL type of torture- including servitude, evil past OW and daughters and humiliation. The hero is definitely more aged than the heroine- having 2 legitimate and 1 illegitimate daughters from 2 dead wives and a serf, but he is not cruel to Rowena.

There is passion, reluctance and a HEA. That being said, I found the end abrupt and wished this had a better resolution. Is this one of my favorite JL romances, or even hero? Is this her best captive romance? But if you want to destress with a reluctant romance, and dont have a lot of triggers semi consensual sex, public whippings, humiliation, tying up - you might enjoy this. Sep 09, Regan Walker rated it it was amazing Shelves: Set in England in , this is the story of Warrick de Chaville, Lord Fulkhurst, a fierce knight who learned at a young age to take revenge on any who harmed him.

So he would take his revenge on the woman who captured him, had him chained to a bed and forced herself on him, stealing his seed. Little did he know that Rowena Belleme, Lady of Tures, was herself forced to use him, a man she thought a slave, to produce an heir for the old lord she was forced to wed, who died before he could even consummate the marriage.

If she did not cooperate, her ruthless stepbrother Gilbert would kill her mother. Rowena hates the arrogant knight and the passion he forces from her, but out of guilt for what she did to him, she willingly plays the servant. Lindsey does a superb job of bringing an unlikely tale to readers in a way that is rich in medieval setting, period language and history of England between King Stephen and the coming of Henry II. The sexual tension between Warrick and Rowena, as you can imagine, is high.

Warrick is a domineering knight who has already had two wives and thinks to take a third, but it seems his betrothed has gone missing. Meanwhile, he must contend with the spirited woman who he changed from a lady to a servant, all for the sake of revenge. A bodice ripper that turns the tables—a great read that will keep you turning pages!

Nov 14, Piper rated it it was amazing Shelves: I loved it from beginning to end and I am anxious to read more from this author. Thank you, Karen, for recommending this to me. As it happens, a castle—nay, a hundred castles—cannot compare with what you mean to me. View all 4 comments. Feb 24, Salena rated it did not like it. This wasn't a romance novel. This was an erotic novel posing as a romance, so it wasn't even that good.

The plot was weak, with so many logical fallacies on the parts of the characters that I genuinely questioned their intelligence. Too, the rape bothered me. And everything up til her planned seduction was rape. TBH, while it's not my thing, I would have been fine with it if the novel weren't trying to be a romance. Or even if Lindsey had managed to pull a believable love story out of those begi This wasn't a romance novel. Or even if Lindsey had managed to pull a believable love story out of those beginnings. As it was, the love story was incredibly weak, with the characters' feelings appearing out of nowhere.

Their only interactions were sex or humiliation.

The eroticism was also weak because, well, after those first few scenes the sex was bland. What was left was a book that tried to fit both categories and fell short of both. Aug 29, Stacia Leigh rated it it was amazing Shelves: After reading the reviews on Goodreads, I decided to go ahead and pick this book off my Grandma's shelf.

It was a twisted tale indeed I was so curious how this was going to turn into a romance Good writing, snappy dialogue, enjoyable characters This was my first book by this author I'll probably pick up another one some time. Now I know what my Grandma reads Dec 27, Felicia rated it it was ok Shelves: This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.

Prisoner of My Desire by Johanna Lindsey

To view it, click here. I mean, from a very logical POV I have to admire the subject matter, the original take on the tropes. It's dealt with very interestingly, and from a deep character perspective, but I just can't get on board the plot. UGH, made me feel not ok. Give my heart a little wiggle room before it explodes.

Actually, all my reviews are written for that purpose. It was meaningful when Rowena first said it to Warrick at the beginning of the book and even more s 5 Old School Stars I'm in love with Warrick deChaville, the "fire-breathing dragon of the north. It was meaningful when Rowena first said it to Warrick at the beginning of the book and even more so when she said it again at the end.

It was incredibly heartwarming and made me teary-eyed. Even though this was a reread, it felt like I was reading it for the first time since I only remembered the gist of the story. It's the only upside of having a terrible memory; I get to experience these books like the first time lol So the way the story begins is If I'm honest, it felt just a little comical in some parts though not in a bad way. Maybe it was a bit of a stretch at first but I was soon sucked in by the storytelling.

The characters came alive and stole my attention and my heart. I could NOT put my Kindle down. The story gave me all the warm and fuzzies and who wants to put a pause on that? I did the whole "one more chapter I loved the story and even though Warrick was rough around the edges that's putting it mildly , he was completely harmless. Yes, he had a talent for frightening people with his terrifying scowl and he had a big scary dungeon where he locked up Rowena Warrick chose the sweetest jailor he had to watch over her, who practically turned her cell into the coziest space a girl could ask for LoL.

It was all terribly romantic. These two only had heart-eyes for each other and I loved how mean he would act only to go out of his way to accommodate Rowena anyway. The guy was gaga over her. I also loved how Rowena stood up for herself and didn't cower to anyone. She was a survivor and I admired that about her.

I enjoyed every minute of this story and I'm so happy this book is still one that I love. I've been doing more rereads lately and they don't always work out the second time around. Aug 04, Readdiction rated it liked it. It was a case of deciding between rating the romance or the story itself but I truthfully liked the book. Although I found the hero's obsession and possessiveness of the heroine scarily thrilling, I did not feel that it was the beautiful true kind of love. The novel featured rape by both the hero and heroine inflicted to each other and I could not understand how anyone could ever get over that kind of emotional turbulence and find love.

The author played with a unique concept It was a case of deciding between rating the romance or the story itself but I truthfully liked the book. The author played with a unique concept in that it is the heroine who first rapes the hero and although her reasons were not stemmed from power, it seemed like she began to enjoy the feeling of power derived during the act. She never enjoyed the act itself though.

The hero in turn shows the heroine pleasure when he rapes her to show just how the body can betray the mind. He continuously humiliated her and got his revenge but slowly he overturned those that he could due to his infatuation with the heroine and even began to act the romantic hero. The hero's revenge implies that the response to rape in a male is different and this may be true - you don't really hear anything about adult male rape victims.

I just can't see how a loving, trusting relationship can be formed despite the rape when there's such horrible history involved. It was a twisted relationship which I guiltily enjoyed reading much like watching an episode on Jerry Springer and although I could never fathom such a union, the emotions and feelings were powerful. Wamariya is piercing about her alienation in America and her effort to combat the perception that she is an exotic figure, to be pitied or dismissed…. Wamariya tells her own story with feeling, in vivid prose.

She has remade herself, as she explains was necessary to do, on her own terms. And like those memoirs, it painstakingly describes the human cost of war. The fractured form of her own narrative—deftling toggling between her African and American odysseys—gives troubled memory its dark due. It truly floored me.

It is our human tragedy that there will always be war, and that there will always be displaced people. Memoirs that show exactly what that means, exactly what the toll is, are vital. If you read this book—and once you read the first page, you will not put it down—you will never think about political violence, displacement, or the privileges and responsibilities of citizenship the same way again. Wamariya tells the story of her discombobulating resettlement in the United States as a teenager, following her harrowing experiences in the Rwandan genocide and as a refugee roaming the African continent in search of a home.

Wamariya is unsparing in her criticisms of Western indifference and moral presumptuousness, and she subjects her own judgments and values to the same withering scrutiny, revealing a young woman that figures out how to survive but struggles to learn how to live. Her gripping and brutally honest reflections inspire us to count our blessings and summon us to follow her fierce and unrelenting example to try to help build the world we wish to see.

Wamariya is an exceptional narrator and her story is unforgettable. This beautifully written and touching account goes beyond the horror of war to recall the lived experience of a child trying to make sense of violence and strife. Sliding easily between past and present, this memoir is a soulful, searing story about how families survive. A Conversation with Clemantine Wamariya In , when you were six years old, you and your fifteen-year-old sister had to flee Rwanda very suddenly, carrying almost nothing. How did you get from that moment to where you are now?

One day there was a knock on the door and our grandmother motioned for us to run out the back toward a sweet potato field. We never saw our home again. From that point on, the world fell away and nothing made sense. Over the next six years we wandered through seven different African countries, through hunger and fear, and moments of unexpected beauty, too. My sister saved us, again and again.

In , when I was twelve, she got us asylum in the United States, and we started on a whole different journey. The title of your book comes from a story your nanny told you as a young girl. That story was magic! When my nanny, Mukamana, told me about the girl who smiled beads, she did not just lay out the plot. She invited me to shape the tale. She set out this character, this miraculous, beautiful girl who smiled beads.

The story allowed me to believe I controlled my own destiny. It allowed to me to try and make sense of a universe I could not understand. By the time I was six, the universe had turned upside down. Neighbors were disappearing, soldiers were murdering families. I understood so little. Why did people hate us? Why did we need papers to flee war and seek peace? The girl who smiled beads also spoke to me in a very deep way about self-worth. I so badly wanted to be that girl. Inside she had an abundance of treasure. She took it with her everywhere she went and it never ran out.

The world tried so hard, for so many years, to tell me and my sister, Claire, that we were worthless. That story proved them wrong. I am a treasure to the world. My value is limitless. No one can take that away. As a child, what were the first signs you noticed that the world as you knew it was in jeopardy? I was so young at the time, so as the world imploded I noticed small things in what, for me, was still a very small, safe world.

I heard drumming in the streets. My mother stopped going to the church and instead prayed at home. My father stopped going to work. I had a sleepover with a friend, and we traded sweaters as we were parting ways, and then I never saw her again to trade back. My mother drew the shades in our house. I asked my brother about strange noises.

He told me the gunshots were thunder.

The Girl Who Smiled Beads

What was the day-to-day reality like for you in those situations? You wait in line for corn, for hours. You wait in line for water. You pick bugs out of your feet. You are in a constant battle against lice. The whole environment is constructed to strip your identity away. I tried so hard to hold onto myself. Many of the kids in the camp walked around the naked and filthy and that threw me into a rage. I could not stand to see the flies around their eyes that nobody bothered to swat. Get out of here and go tell your mother to put clothes on you. But I did find loving, intact people who shared their hearts and lives with me.

One older couple took me into the forest beside the camp to hunt for mushrooms with them. They taught me to treat all living things, including every plant, with deep respect. One day we found a green tomato. In the first chapter, you say of your sister: I have never been inviolable. Hare, who rejected using a voiceover narration to render the long internal monologues in the novel, also changed the ending so that Michael starts to tell the story of Hanna and him to his daughter. The primary cast, all of whom were German besides Fiennes, Olin, and Winslet, decided to emulate Kross's accent since he had just learned English for the film.

One of the film's producers, Scott Rudin , left the production over a dispute about the rushed editing process to ensure a release date and had his name removed from the credit list. Rudin differed with Harvey Weinstein "because he didn't want to campaign for an Oscar along with Doubt and Revolutionary Road , which also stars Winslet. Entertainment Weekly reported that to "age Hanna from cool seductress to imprisoned war criminal, Winslet endured seven and a half hours of makeup and prosthetic prep each day.

Fiennes masters the default demeanor of someone perpetually pained. The sex scenes were shot last, after Kross had turned The film's widest release was at 1, theaters on February 27, , the weekend after the Oscar win for Kate Winslet. The consensus states, "Despite Kate Winslet's superb portrayal, The Reader suggests an emotionally distant, Oscar-baiting historical drama. Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post wrote, "This engrossing, graceful adaptation of Bernhard Schlink's semi-autobiographical novel has been adapted by screenwriter David Hare and director Stephen Daldry with equal parts simplicity and nuance, restraint and emotion.

At the center of a skein of vexing ethical questions, Winslet delivers a tough, bravura performance as a woman whose past coincides with Germany's most cataclysmic and hauntingly unresolved era. Manohla Dargis of The New York Times wrote, "You have to wonder who, exactly, wants or perhaps needs to see another movie about the Holocaust that embalms its horrors with artfully spilled tears and asks us to pity a death-camp guard.

But the film is neither about the Holocaust nor about those Germans who grappled with its legacy: Patrick Goldstein wrote in the Los Angeles Times , "The picture's biggest problem is that it simply doesn't capture the chilling intensity of its source material," and noted there was a "largely lackluster early reaction" to the film by most film critics. Most felt that while the novel portrayed Hanna's illiteracy as a metaphor for generational illiteracy about the Holocaust, the film failed to convey those thematic overtones.

Navigation menu

Lack of reading skills is more disgraceful than listening in bovine silence to the screams of people as they are burned to death behind the locked doors of a church you're guarding to prevent them from escaping the flames. Which is what Hanna did, although, of course, it's not shown in the film. Kirk Honeycutt's review in The Hollywood Reporter was more generous, concluding the picture was a "well-told coming-of-age yarn" but "disturbing" for raising critical questions about complicity in the Holocaust.

At The Huffington Post , Thelma Adams found the relationship between Hanna and Michael, which she termed abusive , more disturbing than any of the historical questions in the movie: When asked to respond, Hare called it "the most ridiculous thing We went to great lengths to make sure that that's exactly what it didn't turn into.

The book is much more erotic. The film appeared on several critics' top ten lists of the best films of Club named it the 8th best film of , [34] and Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times put it on his unranked top 20 list. Several writers noted that her success seemed to have made real her appearance in the BBC comedy Extras , in which she played a fictionalized version of herself desperate to win an Academy Award.

In the episode, Winslet decided to increase her chance of winning an Oscar by starring in a film about the Holocaust, noting that such films were often awarded Oscars. Winslet commented that the similarity "would be funny", but the connection didn't occur to her until "midway through shooting the film That's part of the story and provides something of a backdrop, and sets the scene. But to me it was always an extraordinarily unconventional love story. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Chris Menges Roger Deakins. Germany [2] United States. British Board of Film Classification.

The New York Times. Retrieved March 21, Retrieved February 7, Retrieved September 6,