This HaBO comes from Deb, who is hoping to find this book:
From way, way back, I remember reading a book I’m sure was entitled, “The Spanish Woman” but can’t remember the author or find anything about the book online.
I’m pretty sure it was set in England or Scotland, fairly modern day, e.g., 1970s? There was a reference to a hoof and mouth disease outbreak, one of which happened in 1967. The heroine is the daughter of a woman who was a jetsetter or some such, and she has a rare blood type. For some reason she ends up at the estate of a gentleman jetsetter who turns out to be her father (same blood type). In a hidden room on the estate is a painting by El Greco called “The Spanish Woman”. The hero is something like the gentleman’s grandson and runs the business of the estate. There’s a Spanish woman around working her wiles on the gentleman because unknown to all, she’s from the family of perhaps the woman in the painting and feels she’s owed the painting.
Other people have tried to steal the painting in the past but each died when trying, so it’s considered bad luck. It can’t be sold as the tax on it would beggar the estate.
Gentleman suffers some situation where he needs blood, which is where they realize the parentage. Heroine gives as much blood as possible but I think the gentleman dies anyway.
Somehow the heroine finds or is led to the painting and is shut in the enclosure by the wily woman who takes off with the painting. The heroine is bleeding and nearly bleeds to death until they find a donor. Painting thief dies in single car accident, heroine and hero inherit estate and live HEA.
Sounds like quite the soap opera!
This is giving me very Evelyn Anthony, Barbara Michaels, Mary Stewart etc vibes, but I don’t think I’ve read it and a quick trawl though likely candidates I could think of (Victoria Holt, Phyllis Whitney, Norah Lofts) for a sound-alike title hasn’t led me into any obvious results. I hope someone finds it b/c I”m definitely intrigued!
Wouldn’t that make the heroine the hero’s aunt? [raises eyebrow]
I thought this might be an Elizabeth Cadell book from the 1960s or ‘70s. But—although several of her books feature paintings and mysteries of provenance/ownership—I couldn’t find it. The description of the HABO definitely has that mid-century Gothic Romance feel, so I’m interested in the solution to this one.
@Jill Q: I was thinking more along the lines of Jackie Collins or such. Much more soap opera-ish than Stewart or Holt.
@Sandra, true! I think my mind just naturally makes everything gothic.
I am fairly sure this is The Property of a Gentleman by Catherine Gaskin. I read it in a Swedish translation as an impressionable teenager, and Gaskin’s books have recently been republished (in the original English) on Kindle. It still held up when I reread its as an adult the other year. From what I recall a lot of the earlier stuff I read by Gaskin is kind of Gothic like Victoria Holt, but the later books are very much the family saga type.
If the HABO is PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN, the book is currently available through Kindle Unlimited.
Might this be Summer of the Spanish Woman by Catherine Gaskin? The time period is right. It appears to be an historical family saga taking place in turn of the (last century) Ireland and Jerez, Spain. I may have read it back in the day, but I don’t really recall the details. I loved Falcon for a Queen by this author, and some of the other title seemed familiar to me. The description doesn’t mention the painting, but does mention an estate, surprise male relatives and a woman that the heroine must confront.
Definitely Property of a Gentleman by Catherine Gaskin. I have a copy of it – it’s a book I reread once in a while.
Some of the plot points are similar to Jilly Cooper’s Pandora, which also involves a famous painting and a secret possible-daughter, so throwing that suggestion out there; even if it’s not the right one it was a pretty good read.
Is this book possible “The Summer of the Spanish Woman?”
Early 1900s, Ireland. A tragic accident forces Charlotte Drummond to start a new life in Spain. Once there, the secrets of her grandfather’s early life and the mystery of “the Summer of the Spanish Woman” draw her into a web of passion, deceit and revenge.
A gripping story of family pride, forbidden love, secrets and lies, spanning the First World War and the Spanish Civil War.
When her grandfather dies without leaving a male heir, Charlotte and her mother must leave their family home. A distant cousin, Richard Selwin, inherits her grandfather’s estate and the title of Lord Blodmore. Charlotte and Richard are instantly drawn to one another, but a cruel twist of fate prevents them from being together.
Charlotte and her mother settle in Spain, among the families and vineyards of the great Spanish sherry dynasties. But the shocking events of a summer decades earlier have far-reaching consequences for Charlotte in the present.
Her destiny will be shaped by both her enemies and her allies in this foreign land.
I vote for Property of a gentleman as well but it was a cursed necklace that he could not sell, and every person who tried to steal it died in tragic ways.
I’ve read this book! There was a really spectacular description of the El Greco, and it was contemporary-when-written.
Obviously that doesn’t help with identifying it, but it exists as described.
I hope Deb comes back and verifies but I just checked PROPERTY OF A GENTLEMAN out on Kindle Unlimited and did some quick word searches and it does mention – El Greco (many times), blood donation, blood loss, and an outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in 1968.
Here’s a review with more details. https://thelitbitch.com/2014/03/04/review-the-property-of-a-gentleman-by-catherine-gaskin/
It mentions a Rembrandt rather than an El Greco, but maybe that’s an additional detail? Spoiler? The other clues are so similar, I feel like it has to be right. Well done, team Smart Bitches.
Yeah I’ve read Jilly Cooper’s Pandora and enjoyed it- there was a hidden painting and a secret daughter but nothing else matches. No rare blood types or anything like that. Still worth a read though.