The Obedient Bride by Mary BaloghMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
Viscount Astor inherits the title and the property following the death of a distant relative. Keen to make amends to his relative's widow and three daughters he determines to offer to marry one of them, sight unseen. Frances, the eldest daughter, is a ravishing beauty (but a bit of a ninny), Arabella, the second daughter, is short and slightly plump but also intelligent and spirited. Arabella volunteers to marry the viscount so that Frances can marry Theodore Perrot, a local man who she is in love with. Arabella thinks she is offering to marry a 50-something year old man who she will endeavour to make comfortable, instead she gets a young, handsome, demi-god, way out of her league. Arabella realises early on that the viscount would have preferred to have married Frances and does everything in her power to avoid disgusting the viscount with her presence. He, on the other hand, quickly realises that although Frances is breathtakingly beautiful she has no with or conversation beyond gossip and fashion, in fact she is heartily boring.
Following their marriage the viscount makes every attempt to engage with his new wife, buying her a new wardrobe of clothes, taking her to the theatre and balls, all the while Arabella is doing her best to remain silent and not disgust her husband any further. Yet with other people, especially the viscount's old friends, she is vivacious and friendly and outgoing. So the viscount attempts to woo his own wife, until she discovers that he has kept his very beautiful, very tall, opera singer mistress and continued to visit her after they were married.
This was an odd, very old-fashioned novel (and yes I know it was first published over 30 years ago). Arabella is both a doormat and also very outspoken in her views on the sanctity of the marriage vows which are at odds with most other historical fiction I have read where society women were taught that husbands have mistresses as a matter of course. I think it might have been better if Arabella was the daughter of a vicar (although how that would work with inheriting a title I don't know) in order to explain both her views on the sanctity of marriage but also her interference in the lives of others. In fact, this kind of reminds me of a mash-up of three of my favourite Georgette Heyer novels, Friday's Child, The Convenient Marriage and (randomly enough) Arabella, unfortunately Arabella comes across as a bit of a prig and I can't see why she, or the viscount fell in love with each other, the scenes in which they consummate their marriage are frankly scary to contemplate and show the thoughtlessness with which an aristocratic man would treat a virgin bride - he didn't even kiss her before clambering on top and starting thrusting!!!!
Overall, my least favourite Mary Balogh which richly deserves to be forgotten and out of print.
View all my reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment