I read Kathleen E. Woodiwiss's A Rose in Winter in two different versions back in high school. The first version I encountered was an abridged, PG-rated version published in Good Housekeeping. The second version was the full R-rated novel, which a local university library happened to stock. I was fascinated by the differences - by the shadings and nuances that result when some scenes are present and others elided - and the version of the story's events in my head that somehow feels most true is somewhere between and beyond the two (as are so many other stories that exist in multiple forms - I first encountered Peter Wimsey via radio adaptation, Sherlock Holmes via a comic book rendition of The Hound of the Baskervilles, and Remus Lupin via a Dark Is Rising fanfic...).

Anyhow, I finally purchased my own copy the summer before my senior year of college, at Crown Books in downtown Chicago - the summer I began to explore the city on my own, and the summer the publisher happened to reissue Woodiwiss's novels with new, non-portrait covers (which I greatly prefer - I'm not ashamed of liking romance novels, but the people on the covers seldom match the ones in my head, and that's distracting).

So, even though I daresay it's not a book I would fall in love with now, it's nevertheless one I reread every couple of years. For, beyond the actual story on the pages, there are my memories of reading and rereading the novella in the basement of Crabbe Library (lingering on the big hurt-comfort scene -- yes, I was a fan of that trope from the get-go), of savoring the description of a particular gown, of the hero playing Greensleeves on a harpsichord in the dead of night... and then, later, of finding and reading and rereading the book, and the memories linked to that as well. And while her other books didn't grab me the way Rose did, I do remember laughing aloud at one particular scene in Shanna, so that's a good memory as well.

Woodiwiss's obituary in USA Today

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Long night ahead, but first, a listing of blessings:

* The BYM is back from his trip. And the plane wasn't even late.

* Conjugal satisfaction aside, it means I can return to ignoring the damn phone. Considering the current mayoral and council blitz-o-rama, this is a Very Good Thing.

* BPAL - Gemini. Doesn't linger long, but oh, it's lovely.

* Crape myrtle in bloom.

* Shakespeare. For inspiring BPAL (Juliet) and David Bevington, and for the lines of Hamlet I borrowed yesterday for some drabbling.

And, of course, cold Cokes, hot coffee, and other stimulants. Time to get back to work.