Had its good points but also had its low points. D.E Stevenson can do lovely, straightforward romances sometimes, but she can also get all modern and divorce-y, and in this story there was a fair amount of stupidity going around. Will probably vet my future Stevenson choices a little more carefully, have run into a couple of duds lately. ( )

I can't really change my review of the prior edition. It's oddly good but poorly marketed. ( )

I feel like I should complain of false advertising. This cover, though gorgeous, doesn't really express the spirit of this novel. And, this being the first post-Barbara-Buncle Stevenson novel that I read, I was expecting something different.

I wallowed in indecision at the beginning of this book. I didn't really like the pity party it seemed to be. But at some part, I think after the courtroom scene when Char finally grew a spine, I thought this might be passably decent-- but I still was unprepared for the way I was disappointed when it ended. I'm not sure when I really came to enjoy the story but at some point I did. Not sure I would read it again... I don't prefer romances that take themselves too seriously (with the exception of a couple classics). But it was an enjoyable read. ( )

I found this book less humorous than Miss Buncle's Book but still very satisfying to the romantic in me. ( )

“The Young Clementina” (1938) by D.E. Stevenson, at least in its 2013 edition, is an easy book to misjudge by its cover. I expected something light and breezy, rather on the order of “Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day” by Winifred Watson, also first published in 1938 and made into an equally delightful film 70 years later. Stevenson's novel, while of comparable quality, is composed of more serious stuff.

We might also misjudge this book by its title. Charlotte Dean, the novel's narrator, has a younger sister named Clementina, though this pretty, manipulative woman calls herself Kitty. Kitty's daughter is also named Clementina. To which does the title refer? Neither, it turns out, lies at the center of the plot, although both are vital to it.

The key character, if not Charlotte herself, is Garth Wisdon, heir to an estate, whom she has loved since childhood. They plan to marry but the Great War interrupts those plans. When Charlotte first sees him after the war is over he is dramatically changed and shows no affection for her at all. He marries not her but Kitty and they soon have a daughter, while Charlotte settles into spinsterhood.

The marriage proves a stormy one, and Charlotte becomes a reluctant witness at their divorce trial. She discovers that her sister expects her to lie under oath on her behalf. Much else happens, best left for readers to discover on their own. These discoveries will be pleasurable and, for the most part, surprising.

Stevenson's novel turns into melodrama by the end, and that ending may be predictable. Still, on the whole, this is fine stuff, not the book we might expect but one we can enjoy. ( )