Tess DeMello made the biggest mistake of her life when her fiance was out of town. The year is 1944 and Tess's fiance, Vincent has been in Chicago for so long that she needs a distraction from her loneliness. She agrees to go away for the weekend with her best friend, Gina. Two handsome men and several martinis later, Tess sleeps with one of the men. Her guilt is compounded when she realizes she is pregnant. She breaks it off with Vincent and heads to Hickory, North Carolina to confront the man who got her pregnant, Henry Kraft. Henry marries her and Tess quickly realizes that life in Hickory, North Caroline is worlds apart from her life in Baltimore. Henry's family is distant and critical, as is Henry himself. When Tess loses the baby she thinks it will be her way out of her marriage and Hickory, but Henry will not let her go. Tess is miserable until she gets to put her skills as a nurse to work at the town's newly created hospital for polio patients. She finally has a purpose and has something to live for in such a dismal situation. Then Vincent shows up to work at the hospital and Tess knows that she has to find a way to get out of her marriage - but at what cost?
The Stolen Marriage is a rich, historical novel that eloquently illustrates how far this country has come from since 1944. In 1944 the country was rationing gas and food while soldiers fought in Europe. The Civil War still held great influence over behaviors and laws in the south and Polio was very much a medical threat. In fact, the book is historically accurate in regards to Hickory, South Carolina and the hospital that was created nearly overnight. - Miracle in Hickory. I really liked Tess, but one really bad decision changed her life. Moving to the South was such a culture shock for her that she almost immediately regretted it. Henry's mother and sister we less than welcoming, his mother even went so far as to call Tess a slut, more than once, it just highlighted the fact that Tess was from a different world. I couldn't figure out Henry and his stand-offish behavior to Tess. He didn't HAVE to marry her, so why did he? -- CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS
Bottom Line - Diane Chamberlain has a real gift for crafting a story that takes the reader to a different time and place. Her characters in The Stolen Marriage are so rich and the story is so captivating it is easy to get swept away, in my opinion, that is the mark of a true craftsman.
Details:
- The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain
- On Facebook
- Pages: 384
- Publisher: St. Martin's Press
- Publication Date: 10/03/2017
- Buy it Here!
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