Poor Elise Lesconflair! About to be married off to a fat German baron with lots o' money, she happens to swim in the nude as so many heroines do and gets herself raped by a wandering n'er-do-well who calls himself the Marquis de Pelessier. Family honor forces her to marry the man and her troubles only multiply from there. She finds out that the "Marquis" is really American Garth McClelland, who is always on a mission for his country when he's not seizing what he wants for himself. But, you know, those heroines just can't leave the asshats behind and they are in each other's blood whether they like it or not. The adventure is on and never lets up.
This is one of those old bodice rippers where the heroine is never given a break for hundreds of pages. Gang rape (and miscarriage) aboard a slave ship, framed for murder and sold into slavery by conniving enemies, continual rape by whoever gets their hands on her (including the "hero" McClelland), a near-hanging, a trial for murder, and branding. Her happier moments are spent pillaging ships at Jean Lafitte's side and being his mistress. In a book of jaw-dropping troglodytes, cads and weasels, he was the only true gentleman.
I'm sure I forgot a few things - after awhile, there was so much thrown at Elise that I lost track. Absurd hilarity, but in an enjoyable way. The coincidences and convenient plot thread convergences are ridiculous to the extreme. It was so amateurish and read like it was tossed off in a weekend that it was almost admirable - sort of like an Ed Wood movie.
In reply to LAK's earlier review, I think the "broadsword rape" was only figurative. It's a gang rape that aborts the fetus. She isn't actually raped with a sword. Also, the sodomizing of slave children is only indirectly referenced to. It isn't described in graphic detail.
This book is an intense adventure about a girl who does whatever it takes to survive in a world rife with war, pirates, and lots of danger.
From the luxury of a French chateau to the exotic existence as pirate Jean Lafitte's mistress Elise Lesconflair becomes a woman caught up in a breathtaking adventure. Woven throughout her saga is mysterious, secretive Garth McClelland.
