Rape is bad, mmkay?
Bad in real life, but a fact of life in the old bodice rippers. If it's something that bugs you, chances are the whole book would suffer from its inclusion and you'd probably be better off not bothering to read it. Especially a book like this one, where rape occurs multiple times (and mainly by the hero).
This is the first Rosemary Rogers book I've ever read, and I'm glad that I didn't gobble this up back in high school along with Bertrice Small and Johanna Lindsey because, like other people, I might have focused solely on the sexual violence Marisa suffers and therefore ignored the other elements in the book. The adventure and crazy action is tops, of course, but the primal scream of female suffering comes through real loud and no doubt struck a strong chord back in 1976. It still resonates, and putting it in a historical perspective, the brutality Marisa endures from all quarters - even by those who profess to love her - is part and parcel of depicting a brutal time. Despite the Enlightenment and a professed dedication to Rule of Law, some parts of life were lawless, and a woman's body was unprotected territory.
These alpha heroes and spitfire heroines and the nasty things they do and suffer through are perfect fits for the settings of the old rippers. There's Old World decadence under the veneer of gentility, and New World blunt, raw brutality as frontiers are tamed and a whole race is grist for another's mill. There's contradictions to navigate and fail, like mixed blood being fashionable in France but is grounds for enslavement in America. What one takes for granted is stolen away in an ocean's breadth. The world is still like that in many respects, and the unidealized atmosphere and characters in this book and many others of its time never fail to make me react and think.
Like any book, though, there are some weak moments. I thought the character of Dominic was too flat for most of the book. Only at the end did he have an awakening of sorts, and it was too little too late, and the eventual HEA with he and Marisa came too closely on its heels. Still, I give the book 5 stars because the final act still had my interest and a good pace.
This is a true bodice ripper classic, and if you don't mind squirming a bit in discomfort in parts, it's definitely worth the read.
Bad in real life, but a fact of life in the old bodice rippers. If it's something that bugs you, chances are the whole book would suffer from its inclusion and you'd probably be better off not bothering to read it. Especially a book like this one, where rape occurs multiple times (and mainly by the hero).
This is the first Rosemary Rogers book I've ever read, and I'm glad that I didn't gobble this up back in high school along with Bertrice Small and Johanna Lindsey because, like other people, I might have focused solely on the sexual violence Marisa suffers and therefore ignored the other elements in the book. The adventure and crazy action is tops, of course, but the primal scream of female suffering comes through real loud and no doubt struck a strong chord back in 1976. It still resonates, and putting it in a historical perspective, the brutality Marisa endures from all quarters - even by those who profess to love her - is part and parcel of depicting a brutal time. Despite the Enlightenment and a professed dedication to Rule of Law, some parts of life were lawless, and a woman's body was unprotected territory.
These alpha heroes and spitfire heroines and the nasty things they do and suffer through are perfect fits for the settings of the old rippers. There's Old World decadence under the veneer of gentility, and New World blunt, raw brutality as frontiers are tamed and a whole race is grist for another's mill. There's contradictions to navigate and fail, like mixed blood being fashionable in France but is grounds for enslavement in America. What one takes for granted is stolen away in an ocean's breadth. The world is still like that in many respects, and the unidealized atmosphere and characters in this book and many others of its time never fail to make me react and think.
Like any book, though, there are some weak moments. I thought the character of Dominic was too flat for most of the book. Only at the end did he have an awakening of sorts, and it was too little too late, and the eventual HEA with he and Marisa came too closely on its heels. Still, I give the book 5 stars because the final act still had my interest and a good pace.
This is a true bodice ripper classic, and if you don't mind squirming a bit in discomfort in parts, it's definitely worth the read.
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