14 h 2 minAudiobook16 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
On the roads of Spain, a noisy motor car carries romance into the path of chance.
The Car of Destiny by C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson brings travel, adventure and the pull of the heart together. Spain provides the setting: old cities, mountain passes, church towers and bright, dusty light. The motor car is still a daring novelty, and the road offers movement, risk and surprise.
This 1907 romance invites you into the sunny, sentimental world of Edwardian adventure. The married authors mix handsome scenery with feeling, while their title hints that fate rides along in the car. Expect a gentle pace and a polite, sometimes playful tone: a journey to enjoy for its atmosphere as much as its forward motion.
What you’ll discover
- Spain beyond the window Travel through a setting of old cities, mountain passes and bright, dusty light.
- The thrill of early motoring Enter a world where the motor car still feels daring, noisy and new.
- Romance meets the road Enjoy a light adventure that brings travel and the pull of the heart together.
- Room for chance Discover the appeal of a journey shaped by movement, risk and surprise.
- A gentler kind of adventure Settle into a polite, sentimental and sometimes playful tale with an unhurried pace.
Who will love it
Readers who love road trips, old motorcars, secret identities and a love story with a dash of danger, and anyone curious about the towns, food and festivals of Spain in the early twentieth century.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A wish by the road at Biarritz
- A masked ball and a hard warning
- A new name and a trick at the border
- Burgos and the family who adopt him
- A trap in the Escorial
- Sabotage in Madrid and a gift from Toledo
- Dream-book luck on the road south
- Córdoba, Seville, and a cold look in the garden
- What the story is really about
- How the story is told
Who’s who
- Ramón Cristóbal, Marqués de Casa TrianaA banished Spaniard, brave and romantic, who sneaks home in a motorcar to win the English girl he loves.
- Lady Monica ValeA gentle, golden-haired English girl of eighteen, raised to make a grand marriage, who loves Ramón and fears her mother.
- The Duke of CarmonaA wealthy, ambitious and ruthless grandee who wants Monica for his wife and the royal court's favor for himself.
- Dick WaringRamón's witty, loyal American friend, a comrade from China, who poses as a newspaper writer and falls for Pilar.
- Peter RopesRamón's calm, resourceful chauffeur, who loves the Gloria, follows tire tracks like a detective and will do anything for his master.
- María del Pilar O'DonnelA quick, dimpled Andalusian girl with an Irish heart who plans schemes for Ramón and loves a brave fighting bull.
- Colonel O'DonnelPilar's gentle, round father, called the Cherub, who knew Ramón's parents and charms everyone he meets.
- Lady Vale-AvonMonica's proud, cold mother, who wants a rich match for her daughter and will do almost anything to get it.
Formats and delivery
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- Large-print eBook
- The same book in bigger, clearer type, from the first page.
- Audiobook
- 14 h 2 min, complete, read by Lucas Linden.
- 15-minute summary
- The key ideas in about 16 minutes, to read or to hear.
- Paperback
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Hardcover
- 6 × 9 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print paperback
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
- Large print hardcover
- 8.5 × 11 in. Printing soon: leave your email under Paperback or Hardcover above.
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L'auto del destino
by C. N. Williamson; A. M. Williamson · 1907
A banished Spaniard in a borrowed uniform chases a duke's gray car across Spain to save the girl he loves.
Medium level10–20 hours to read25 languages
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In short
The Car of Destiny is a romantic adventure by C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson, a husband and wife who wrote many travel novels together. It sends a young man across Spain in a red motorcar in the early days of motoring, when roads were rough and a drive from the French border to Seville was a daring trip.
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A wish by the road at Biarritz
The story opens in Biarritz, where Ramón Cristóbal, Marqués de Casa Triana, has come by car from Paris with his American friend Dick Waring. Dick warns him that the young King of Spain is in town, visiting his English bride-to-be. A Casa Triana has good reason to stay away. Ramón's father was a Carlist general who fought for a rival claimant to the throne, and Ramón himself was jailed in Barcelona after a bomb was thrown on the day he arrived.
Ramón ignores the warning and takes an English name, Christopher Trevenna. He wants only a look at the King, so he follows the royal party's car along the Spanish road. He wishes that something would stop it, just as he once wished for apples to fall in an English orchard. The royal car stops, because its petrol tank has a leak, and Ramón offers a spare can.
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What is The Car of Destiny about?
It follows Ramón, a banished Spaniard, who drives across Spain in a motorcar to stay near an English girl, Monica Vale, while a powerful duke tries to marry her. It mixes a love story, a chase and a tour of Spanish towns.
Who is the Duke of Carmona in the book?
He is a rich Spanish grandee with a hot temper and Moorish ancestry, whose family has long been an enemy of the Casa Trianas. He wants Monica for her beauty and for the favor her friendship with the new queen can bring.
Why is Ramón not allowed in Spain?
His father was a Carlist general who fought against the royal line and was exiled. Ramón was then jailed in Barcelona when a bomb was thrown on the day he arrived, so he is warned never to return.
The author
C. N. Williamson
1857–1920 · British novelist and motoring journalist
British writer and motoring journalist, novelist frequently as duo with wife A. M. Williamson.
More by C. N. Williamson; A. M. Williamson
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