Ton: 0 ( )

I should probably have been more gracious in my scoring and rated this book higher. It was certainly very well written and very engaging. I cried at several points. Reading an older romance does remind me what a good writer can do without sex scenes, and makes me wonder why so many more recent books fail to carry these qualities over into the more liberal world of sex-filled historicals.

SPOILERS.

The real problem I had with this book I only discovered in the last few pages. I had been rooting for the wrong man! First Edith falls in love with Sam and is disillusioned. Then she has a wretched passionate but entirely chaste affair with a married man (the Duke). This ends badly and leaves her with a guiltly conscience. The Duke is widowed and Sam steps into the breech when the Duke declares to Edith that he will never re-marry. Yes! I think. Good old Sam wins the day. But no, the Duke is all of a sudden somewhat redeemed, and shown to still love the heroine, and all is nicely settled within the last few pages. Wonderful in fact, if only I had been expecting it and had been championing the hero!

I couldn't help wonder as well at the fact that in marrying as she does she will be distancing herself from the illegitimate daughter, which seems a little cruel. But then... in truth I was a little squeamish at the idea that Edith would otherwise be bringing up the late Duchess's child and always have a strange tie to the Duke.

All credit to Sheila Bishop for producing such a moral tangle and not tying everything up at the end in a pretty bow. I'm off to find out the extent of her back-list. ( )