Sweet Awakening

Rating:
Summary: An astonishing, heartrending read - 10 stars!
Review: Well, Marjorie Farrell has done it again for me. I have been overwhelmed by this book and hope anyone reading this review will not hesitate to obtain a copy and read it. This is a story about a battered wife and the personal growth of those closest to her following the incredible crescendo of the heroine killing her husband.

Lady Clare Dysart, a late in life child, grows up in the summertime company of twins Giles, Viscount Whitton and his twin sister Lady Sabrina Whitton. Over time, Giles falls deeply in love with Clare but hesitates to make an official proposal of marriage until she has enjoyed an unfettered first season. This allows her the opportunity to fall in love with Justin, Earl of Rainsborough. Sadly, Justin is a man who has two faces, two personalities. One is sensual, loving and giving but the other is crazed by alcohol and turns vicious, violent and jealous. He and Clare marry and, at first, their marriage is a flurry of passion and sexual satisfaction. However, his mental flaw soon brings out the insane jealousy that leads him to abusing Clare.

The author has portrayed the breakdown of the marriage of an insane man and his battered wife with incredible honesty. You flinch as you read it but are gratified at her amazing honesty portraying this sad, sad situation.

Eventually, Justin threatens to kill his wife in a jealous, irrational rage, and she finds the strength to fight him off and, in so doing, kills him. A trial ensues which deals (thank goodness !!!! ) with the issue of violence in marriage honestly within the historical context. Wives were chattel; a man could "chastise" his wife in any way he wished in those days and so the various characters in the story view the situation with historically contemporaneous rather than modern attitudes. Nonetheless, the message about the utter horror and degredation wife beating causes was well portrayed and Clare is found to have killed her husband in self-defence.

Now Giles is able to marry her and live happily ever after with the woman he has always adored. WRONG! Rather than end the novel here, Marjorie Farrell brings in a sub-plot which allows Sabrina to eventually secure the love of barrister Andrew More who had defended Clare in the coroner's court. The point of the sub-plot, however, was to deal honestly with the after effects of the trial, Clare's acceptance of herself for the woman she has become, and Giles's difficulties in admitting his own hurt and anger. She has grown and changed as a result of her disasterous marriage; he must accept her and love her on those terms - not in a gallant but misguided way based on who she was before the tragedy of her experiences.

I cannot praise this book highly enough. All of the characters, although very young, behave in an honest, open fashion. Serious issues are raised and the characters discuss them and deal with them in wholly believable ways. This book is a celebration of inner strength, loyalty, friendship and love whilst at the same time dealing with a highly emotive and awful issue: wife battering. The author is courageous enough to have written a book firmly set within its historical context without an overlay of unnecessary 21st century PC overtones. The message therefore is strong and clear but at the same time makes for an un-putdownable read. Although you sometimes feel the book is almost leisurely in its pace - something this author usually manages - it allows proper development of the plot and wholly credible character growth.

Please try to find a copy. If you enjoyed Mary Jo Putney's "The Rake" you will relish this novel. Ignore the tacky, tasteless and stupid cover. If you like your regency historicals strongly written with unforgettable characters acting out a thoroughly credible but satisfying storyline, find a copy - you won't be disappointed.