The sequel to The Head of the House of Coombe, Robin deals much more with WWI and its aftermath. Unfortunately, it is laughably trite. The main two points seem to be "Spiritualism is right! Completely right! I talk to the deeeeeeaaaad" and "oh that Robin, so beautiful and perfect and pure and delicate. We must protect her at all costs because she's just so darned feminine and fragile." Coombe was wonderful; I could barely finish the sequel. The Head of the House of Coombe himself, btw, is a great character (if you like erudite, foppish, highly educated, too-clever British peers...) and well worth reading THotHoC. ( )

Read during Spring 2007

I think I started this almost two years ago. I read the first third or so and then began to see where it was going and lost interest. Finally, my conscience nagged at me enough and I fininshed it up. It's an odd book, the beginning could very well have been tagged on to the first book of the set (The Head of the House of Coombe). Robin and Donal are reunited at a party the night of the Archduke assassination in Saravejo. They have a very quiet but whirlwind courtship as he signs up and is sent off to the front. He is listed as dead and Robin found collapsed in the stair. That could all have been part of Book 1. Then there is a rather protracted bit of Robin explaining they were married and that she will have a child, no proof, how can this be dealt with, etc. Robin is near death with grief and agrees to be helped by the much despised Lord Coombe. This is where it started to loose it's way for me. Robin is sent away and believes Donal comes to her in dreams so survives, forgives Lord Coombe, and gives birth. Donal is not dead but was in a prison camp, escapes and returns. Lord Coombe reforms. Feather dies in an air raid. It was all rather sentimental and overwrought. Lots of psychic powers in dreams and horrors of war. Robin comes off as almost unearthly in her naiviete. I'm glad I fininshed it and it was interesting to read something by Burnett not for children but it wasn't the finest bit of literature ever.

Robin is the second half of the story began in The Head of the House of Coombe, telling what happened to Robin and Donal during the Great War.

It's boring. In that weird Burnettian way, we are constantly told how suited Robin and Donal are to one another, and how great of a romance they have, again and again for chapter after chapter, yet we somehow come away without having anything to actually point at that would demonstrate this. The Head of the House of Coombe himself continues to be the best character, but we never get enough of him, of course.

There's some psychic mind powers, but even that turns out to be underdeveloped.

I really should not give this four stars. It is absolutely sickeningly sentimental. It is utter bathos. Whatever! I adore the wretched yet impossibly beautiful and innocent Robin, and her divinely handsome (if somewhat inarticulate) lover Donal.

"Robin" picks up where "The Head of the House of Coombe" leaves off: it is the eve of WWI, soldiers are leaving to fight the Kaiser, and Donal, despite his beauty, charm, and noble estate, is prime cannon fodder. Donal may never come home again, so he and Robin engage in some pre-war indiscretions. Consequences ensue, but lucky for Robin, the Earl of Coombe is still watching over her, even though she still detests him.

Lots of Burnett-ish wanderings down Spiritualism byways, but again I say, I DON'T CARE. I'm a sucker for a too-obvious love story, and I can handle the sickly-sweet better than just about anyone I know. I might want to visit the dentist after all this sugar, though. ( )

The Sequel to "Head of the House of Comb." Robin is a little girl who is neglected by her mother who is a very flighty woman. Robin meets Donal in a garden at age 5 and they have a wonderful time. As Robin grows up other people become interested in her and help her. In her late teens, Robin meets Donal again at a party and they fall in love. Then WWI happens and Donal enlists and is sent to the front. The style of writing is a little are to follow. Several events are hard to figure out because they weren't talked about in polite society, such as unwed pregnancy, etc. ( )