The Second Husband (Ulverscroft General Series)

Rating:
Summary: Unusual, Intense
Review: An historical tale that tells of the integration of two familes. It explores some of the problems of step children, it tells of the time when to be Catholic or Protestant could mean death by torture. Mary Dacre is left a widow with four children, she marries Edward Garnham who has three. Her new husband has a deadly hatred of Catholics, and has been racked for his faith. Mary slowly pulls the family together.

Not a Regency but well worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Historical Romance set in 1576
Review: An historical tale that tells of the integration of two familes. It explores some of the problems of step children, it tells of the time when to be Catholic or Protestant could mean death by torture. Mary Dacre is left a widow with four children, she marries Edward Garnham who has three. Her new husband has a deadly hatred of Catholics, and has been racked for his faith. Mary slowly pulls the family together.

Not a Regency but well worth reading.

Rating:
Summary: Unusual, Intense
Review: But definitely not a "romance novel." In fact, it was so dark, sometimes I wondered why I was reading it.

The story is more of a psychological study about how people and relationships can be damaged, wounded and emotionally poisoned. At first it is the story of two families coming together, and Mary Dacre's attempts to make a family, and deal with puzzling aspects of her new husband's behavior, especially his contemptuous treatment of his gifted elder son. She discovers his cruel tongue and harsh judgment can be turned without warning against herself, which poisons the marriage.

Finally, when the situation seems hopeless, a full picture of her husband's past and suffering is revealed. However, even that wasn't quite enough for me to accept some of his actions, which included brutal abandonment of someone entirely dependent on him. Two abandonments if you count his first wife.

The strong points of the book include Bishop's ability to write a gripping story, to build suspense that keeps you reading. This was never a story where I could guess what was coming next. I enjoyed Walsingham's cameo appearance in the story, and found him a more believable character than in, say, the recent movie "Elizabeth."

I am not necessarily sorry I read the book, but it is definitely not a pleasant story about two people discovering each other and falling in love. I had to dock it a star because it was not the light evening's reading I was expecting, or that most purchasers would expect.