Helpful Score: 2
Susan Fairford was left heartbroken, shamed, and deprived of her fortune by the deceitful but charming Mr. Stott the morning after their wedding. He left her nothing but her virtue and her home, Fairford Manor. No longer able to afford the costs of living at the manor, she now lives precariously in a small cottage in the village of Chipping Campden, renting the manor when possible, and selling honey to maintain herself.
On the morning of his wedding day, Philip, Marquis of Chalmondeley, walks in as his fiancée and his younger brother are coupling. The cuckolded groom calls off the wedding and rides he knows not where. Exhaustion halts him at the Cotswold village of Chipping Campden. He rents Fairford Manor in order to rest and come to terms with what has happened to him.
Love gently blossoms between Susan and Philip, but is hindered by understandable mistrust each has developed from brutal experience, and the greed and malice of his former fiancée and her lover.
Breach of Promise is quiet, thoughtful and understated, which lends depth, and more credibility to the relationship of Philip and Susan than the facts of the story might indicate. Fairchild excels at building and sustaining romantic and emotional tension. In this novel, she explores the nature of honor versus dishonor, and charm versus genuineness. Underlying all is the peaceful, hypnotic rhythm of honeybees and beekeeping.
This fine story does have problems and dangling threads. How could Chalmondeley have fallen in love within days of a devastating betrayal (stranger things have happened, but this is usually called rebound). The vast social gulf between Susan and Philip is never even alluded to. Why did Chalmondeley bail Stott out of debtor's prison? Lavinia's and Brett's final actions seemed out-of-character.
On the morning of his wedding day, Philip, Marquis of Chalmondeley, walks in as his fiancée and his younger brother are coupling. The cuckolded groom calls off the wedding and rides he knows not where. Exhaustion halts him at the Cotswold village of Chipping Campden. He rents Fairford Manor in order to rest and come to terms with what has happened to him.
Love gently blossoms between Susan and Philip, but is hindered by understandable mistrust each has developed from brutal experience, and the greed and malice of his former fiancée and her lover.
Breach of Promise is quiet, thoughtful and understated, which lends depth, and more credibility to the relationship of Philip and Susan than the facts of the story might indicate. Fairchild excels at building and sustaining romantic and emotional tension. In this novel, she explores the nature of honor versus dishonor, and charm versus genuineness. Underlying all is the peaceful, hypnotic rhythm of honeybees and beekeeping.
This fine story does have problems and dangling threads. How could Chalmondeley have fallen in love within days of a devastating betrayal (stranger things have happened, but this is usually called rebound). The vast social gulf between Susan and Philip is never even alluded to. Why did Chalmondeley bail Stott out of debtor's prison? Lavinia's and Brett's final actions seemed out-of-character.
