A middle-aged couple in love must end their relationship, as Harry is forced by the failure of his business to leave his mistress to marry his business partner's daughter. King Hal and his Spanish Rose, as they see each other and, through each other's eyes, themselves, thereafter pine miserably for most of the novel. Very nicely written with a bite of unsentimentality. Sharp seems like one of those authors who doesn't do anything special, but redeem themselves with idiosyncrasy. I'm reminded of Mary Wesley, but I haven't read Wesley for ages so I may be mistaken. The whole eye of love thing is rather nice, if a little undercut by the authorial insistence on its lack of reality. I liked Dolores' grandiose image of herself and its source. The niece, Martha, discovers an interest and talent for drawing, which, as well as the romantic storyline, underscores the vision of love theme. She draws gas ovens and has a need to find hard outlines and the right shapes; it was an interesting portrayal of an artistic character. I began to wonder if she was intended to have Asperger's Syndrome or something similar, but it was hard to tell, given the date.
