Friday, September 12, 2008

Review: The Lost Diary of Don Juan by Douglas Carlton Abrams

Seville, Spain in the year 1593 is a wealthy city. The gold and riches pouring in from the New World have led to prosperity for Spain but unfortunately the country has lost many of its men to recent wars and the colonization of the New World. There are more widows and lonely wives than ever before. The result of the low male population is the rise of the Galanteador, a gallant or seducer. The most successful and famous of these was Don Juan Tenorio.

Don Juan was abandoned as an infant at a convent in Seville. He was raised by the nuns who were thrilled to have a child in their care. Growing up amidst a group of women has great advantages for Don Juan. He learns to understand and love them in a way that many men do not. At the age of fifteen he falls in love with a young novice but their affair is found out and he is expelled from the convent. He briefly lives in a nearby monastery where he is mistreated by the monks, so he leaves to make his own way in the world.

After several years as a burglar Juan is befriended by a Marquis who trains him to be a spy and Galanteador. Juan learns quickly and soon exceeds the Marquis in talent. He becomes famous for his exploits with women. He worships women and he believes that he could never be happy with just one. His happiness lies in showing each different woman how beautiful she is, regardless of her age, race or station in life. Then one day Don Juan meets the beautiful Ana and she has an unexpected effect on him.

The narrative will leave you breathless. It has amazing sword fights, frantic escapes, a fantastic bull fight, the horrors and torture of the Inquisition and steamy love scenes. It is full of action and excitement and I couldn’t put it down! The characters run the gamut from charming and endearing to dastardly and evil. I was rooting for Don Juan as he grew from his experiences and finally learned the truth about love.

The Lost Diary of Don Juan is published by Washington Square Press. ISBN 978-1-4165-3252-1


Order The Lost Diary of Don Juan from Amazon

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Carey, great review. I'm so glad to see you enjoyed this book, as I have it and will be reading it in a few weeks!

Jill said...

Hi, Carey: Thanks for stopping by my blog and commenting on Mrs. Lieutenant. I hope to read that book some day - even if I don't win it.

I loved looking at your blog - you have so many books reviewed that look so interesting to me. I noticed you're on LibraryThing. If you don't mind me asking, what is your user name there? I would love to see your library. I'm there, under "mrstreme."

I will be adding you to my Google Reader and look forward to reading your reviews.

Jill
http://mrstreme.livejournal.com

The Tome Traveller said...

Hi Jill! I loved your blog! I've been going through the BBAW list and having so much fun looking at all of them! My user name on LT is thetometraveller . I really encourage you to contact the author of Mrs. Lieutenant if you are interested in reviewing the book on your blog. You can contact her through her website:

http://www.mrslieutenant.com/

She is very supportive of book review bloggers!

Anonymous said...

I'm reading this one next week, I'm happy to see you liked it:) Great review!

Carrie said...

Well that was an enthusiastic recommendation! I'd seen a review of it before but had forgotten whether it was positive or negative. So now I guess I'll just keep your positive review in mind and look for a copy. Thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

I snatched this book up after reading the first chapter online through AuthorBuzz. I can't wait to finish it, especially after reading your glowing review!

tashiana said...

this sounds excellent! a book about don juan falling in love for real? im down(more old slang)


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New Hampshire, United States
Bibliophile, Anglophile, Traveller... I have been an avid reader all of my life, since I took the Dr. Seuss Dictionary away from my Mom when I was less than a year old because I wanted to read it myself. In college, where I earned my degree in English Literature, I was often asked "What are you going to do with it?" Now I finally have the answer to that question!!! Being employed as a Flight Attendant for twenty years has given me a lot of life experience and, better still, a lot of time to read. I love to travel for fun, too.