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Dearly Beloved – Mary Jo Putney
Signet,
June 2004 (reissue)
ISBN-13: 978-0451208514
ISBN-10: 045120851X
Reviewed by Erin
May 2004
Before I begin there must be a note of caution. DEARLY BELOVED is a wonderful book but contains subject matter which may cause some offense. Some areas of this novel are dark in nature so I urge readers to proceed at their own risk.
The story begins with Gervase Brandelin future viscount of St Aubyn. He has had an incredibly difficult existence, haunted by his past he is secretive and not easy to get close to. We are introduced to Gervase during one of those life and soul changing moments that leave him scarred with unimaginable guilt and remorse. We find our hero on the Isle of Mull at a small inn where he has taken too much to drink. His senses obscured he is becoming more and more interested in the barmaid that had been enticing him since he entered the dining area. Finally after not much persuasion he takes her up on her offer. She informs him that she will be off in an hour to await her then. Having had too much to drink he decided to take some air and try to diminish the drunken fog he has allowed himself to obtain. When he returns to the inn he is excited about the forthcoming event and hurries to his room. She is waiting there under the covers of his bed and he stumbles to her side. Eager and drunk he doesn’t notice that this woman is much smaller and thinner than his original prey but to Gervase’s drunken mind he passes it off until she begins to scream.
Being the son of a viscount and the heir Gervase has always had to be very careful. Families looking to further their ambitions are not to be trusted and often try to trap their daughters in a compromising position so they will marry well. Gervase had always been an expert at avoiding such complications…or so he thought. The woman in his bed is not the barmaid and finds out quickly as the girl’s father storms into the room brandishing his loaded pistol and raving about evil and sin. He demands that Gervase marry his daughter immediately so that she, apparently a lustful creature willing to lure anyone to bed, is now off his hands. As a gentleman there is nothing he can do but make amends by marrying the girl. After the hasty wedding they are left alone together in the room. In his drunken mind he realizes that he is still lusting for female companionship and who better to accommodate him than his newly wedded wife. In anger and violence he takes her against her will and only after he has committed this unspeakable sin does he realize something that makes him even worse than a rapist. When he finally looks into the face of his wife he finds that she is not normal. She has the vacant expression of a person that is mentally deficient. He is a rapist and a defiler of innocents and he flees from the inn as if the blazes of hell are on his heels. He contacts his lawyer and sees that the girl is taken care of but he plans never to see her again.
Several years later we are introduced to Diana Lindsay. She is a sweet, quiet, incredibly beautiful woman who has had a mysterious past. No one knows where she came from and no one knows how she came to be in the small town of Yorkshire. She lives in a tiny cottage on the outskirts of town where she raises her young son with the help of an older woman named Edith. Having always been intuitive Diana has always been able to sense change. One night during a fierce blizzard she knows something is going to happen. Nothing dangerous but something profound that will change their lives forever. Diana had been out milking her cow in the shed when she hears something over the violent gales of the blizzard. It’s a woman caught in the storm and in need of assistance. Diana manages to find her and bring to the safety of the cottage.
Several days pass and their visitor is very ill. She has contracted a fever and needs constant care. When she finally pulls out of the delusions of fever she explains that she is a courtesan from London. Her name is Madeline and she came back to her home town only to be turned away by her sister into the on coming blizzard. Diana’s compassionate nature does not allow her to turn her back on someone who is so desperately in need of help so she invites Madeline to stay as long as she wants. Diana has always been restless. She enjoys her quiet life in Yorkshire but she longs for something more. When she announces that she intends to move to London and become a courtesan like Madeline, Edith and Madeline are both shocked but allow her to do as she wishes. They move their misfit family to London and Maddy teaches Diana about the art of seduction. After a long time of preparing Diana is finally ready to enter the dazzling world of demi-reps.
She and Maddy are invited to a party for the most sought after courtesans and this is where Diana and Gervase meet. He is stunned by her beauty and she is drawn to his quiet strength but they both have a tortured past and it may prove to be too much for either of them to handle.
DEARLY BELOVED is one of those books where you just feel. Your emotions run rampant, your mind races and you are just genuinely invested in the characters and the story. I have read a few novels by Putney before but never could I have imagined the masterpiece that awaited inside the cover of this one. She is masterful at pulling your heart in a million different directions and keeping you so thoroughly enticed that you never want her story to end.
I never knew that Mary Jo could create such a dynamic pair in Gervase and Diana. They are the type of couple that you just concern yourself with. You honestly ache when they have trouble and you are elated when they are progressing the way you want them to. Though their past together is turbulent and violent they find the pathway to true and fulfilling love that is both rare and beautiful, all the more special because of their trials. DEARLY BELOVED is a book that no one should miss. It is a pure treasure that will find a place on your keeper shelf forever.
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