Awakening Love reviewed again

Awakening Love by Gladys Hobson.

Ulverston-based novelist Gladys Hobson is 75 years old and counts training for church ministry as part of her mature education, so some people may be surprised to discover a rather steamy side to her writing.
Not that any of it is tasteless or gratuitous.
Indeed, sex scenes are going to be inevitable in a book that tells the story of a young woman coming of age and falling in love.
In Awakening Love, the heroine has to choose between different suitors at the same time as coping with her emerging sexuality.
Her ambition is to be a top dress designer, but she becomes distracted by war hero Arthur and his younger brother Charles.
Adding a rather more sinister twist is the dominating figure of her boss, Robert.
Mrs Hobson has come relatively late to the literary world, but appears to have taken to it like the proverbial duck to water, both as a writer and publisher (she runs Magpies Nest).

Review by Allan Tunningly.
Westmorland Gazette, (Leisure supplement) Friday April 25th 2008

Of Love and Marriage

We have been married for 55 years. Even so, we still have much to learn about life-giving partnerships. I can tell you, we had a rocky start but there was never a question of divorce or unfaithfulness. We married for better or for worse. The years have rolled by and our marriage, still not without its ups and downs, grows better and better. And we grow more and more in love.

I came across what amounts to an excellent dissertation on Love and Marriage in a most unlikely source:
http://phoolsparadise.blogspot.com
But there is nothing foolish about what is written in the article on love and marriage. I wish we had had it to read before we were married. Even so, it is still relevant and helpful to us today. There are so many nuggets of wisdom that concerns all of us, whether married or not. For this piece of prose is not written by a mere marriage guidance counsellor (he may indeed be that) but, judging by the quality and content of the essay, by a philosopher-psychologist and sincere human being who knows what he is talking about.

For instance, I have heard many people talk about humility: what it is and what it is not. Payton L Inkletter writes of it so beautifully that I quote a few of his words below. But do visit the website and read the rest of his wisdom. (The print is tiny but I copied and pasted them onto a document so I could read it without eye strain)

Humility
Humility’s only tool is validation. Humility starts with validation, proceeds with validation, and ends with validation. This explains the organic connection between humility and love.

The not so sharp have said that humility is being a doormat, the clever say that humility is considering others as more important than oneself, while the enlightened say that humility is considering others as important as oneself.

Joy beyond words

I stand under the cherry tree gazing upwards at heavy pink blossoms illuminated by sunlight. I am in awe of the beauty in which my senses are drenched. A silent thanksgiving escapes my heart and mind, and I am blinded by tears of joy as I am lifted into another dimension. I and the blossoms are one — part of creation's grand design — one with the Creator. This is heaven and too overwhelming to linger for long. Refreshed and uplifted, I return to earth to continue my daily tasks knowing I am in God and God is in me. This surely is the reality of eternity.

The harmony of spring

Daffodils are blooming in the garden. Drifts of them throw a golden light before a dark stone wall. Kind thoughts and words lighten up the dark places of my soul. Tall silver birch spread their budding branches upwards as if in prayer. I know that others are praying for me and my happiness. Brown soil is a backcloth for jewel coloured primulas and pansies, azalias and all the many flowers that bloom in the spring. They are my jewels that enrich my being. The whispering trees talk to me and the brook sings its sweet melody. All nature tells me that spring is here and life will ever move on in regenerating cycles. New life is born through dying — it has ever been so.