Unlike the first Raddall title from Harlequin, Roger Sudden, there is no notice that the work is abridged. But a comparison with the New Canadian Library edition published in 1963 shows the Harlequin has less pages, less lines per page and less characters per line. The full effect is about 15% less novel.
I haven't read the book but my guess is that the heroine depicted on the Harlequin edition isn't what Raddall had in mind. The book is available from the Halifax publisher Nimbus.
Harlequin 189 - September 1952
Harlequin 189 back
New Canadian Library N38 - 1963 ("sixth reprint")
New Canadian Library N38 back
Acknowledging that it's been some time since I read the book, if memory serves the Harlequin cover does a disservice to heroine Isabel Jardine. That said, the publisher did get the hair cover right - which can't be said for about Popular Library and their edition.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the hair colour info and connection to the American version. I do still wonder about the Harlequin "bronzed men who lived like monks."
ReplyDeleteI tried reading a Raddall novel years ago and couldn't get through it. Just not my type of writing style and story.