The Stolen Marriage

by Diane Chamberlain

Step into the formidable world of The Stolen Marriage, an absorbing novel by Diane Chamberlain, painting a vivid portrait of love, betrayal, and uncertainty in a small town.

In 1944, Tess DeMello abruptly trades a promised future with the love of her life for a marriage shrouded in mystery with Henry Kraft in Hickory, North Carolina.

In a town tainted by racial animosity and the heavy burdens of war, Tess's new life is dominated by the enigmatic figure of her husband, Henry. As his inexplicably reclusive nature unfurls, unwelcome secrets emerge, causing Tess to reassess her hasty decisions.

Tess faces the cruel scrutiny of townsfolk following a local tragedy, fuelling fear and speculation. But when polio threatens her newfound home, Tess draws upon her nursing skills, defying Henry to serve her community.

As she unravels the mystery surrounding her husband and the town of Hickory, will she manage to save not only the lives of her young patients but also build a life for herself?

• ISBN10: 1509808531
• ISBN13: 9781509808533
• Publish Date: 5 October 2017 (first published 3 October 2017)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 23 December 2022
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Imprint: Macmillan
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[chymerra]

I have a secret. Well, it isn’t a secret to those who know me in real life but to those in the blogging community, it is. See, I live in Hickory, where a good majority of The Stolen Marriage takes place. My son goes to school at the elementary school in the historic Oakwood area. I see the Baptist Church when I go downtown. My youngest goes to preschool at the Presbyterian Church mentioned in the book. When I saw the blurb for The Stolen Marriage on NetGalley, I had to request it. I had to read about Hickory in the mid-1940’s. When I was approved for the ARC, I was thrilled and I hoped that the book lived up to my mental build up. It did.

The plot of The Stolen Marriage was a pretty straightforward one. Tess made a big mistake (read the book) and in her haste to rectify her mistake, she married Henry Kraft. Which surprised not only his mother and sister but the townsfolk of Hickory. Everyone expected him to marry the daughter of a prominent lawyer. So when he turned up married to Tess, unhappiness abounded. But Tess’s marriage was a strange one. Henry stayed out all hours of the night and never made love to her. While he treated her with kindness, he held her at arm’s length. There was a disconnect that she found strange. It takes two personal tragedies for Tess to unravel her husband’s secrets. It also took a polio epidemic for Tess to realize her worth.

The Stolen Marriage is women’s fiction with a twist. There is an element of mystery interwoven in the story. I will admit, I did figure out the mystery pretty early in the book. But me figuring out the mystery did not take away from my pleasure in reading the book. As with all mysteries, there is a twist in the plot that did take me by surprise. Looking back, there were hints leading up to the twist but I ignored them. Teaches me to ignore hints.

I liked Tess but I thought that she made some major decisions while not thinking. I get why she went to Hickory, to begin with, I would have done the same thing. It is that she didn’t show that same spirit while living in Hickory. She was so beaten down by everything that was going on and how she was being treated that she gave up for a while. But after the accident and what happened afterward, I saw some life come back into her. By the time the hospital was being built, she was almost the same Tess that she was in the beginning of the book. Then the twist happened and truths were revealed. Instead of returning to that weak women, Tess became stronger. She became the women she should have been while living in Hickory.

I couldn’t get a handle on Henry for most of the book. I also couldn’t get past the secret keeping. That man had so many secrets, it wasn’t even funny. My head spun from all the secrets he had. It was one secret right after another with him. I got a bit tired of all the skulking around he did and was almost relieved when his secrets finally came out. I was a little shocked when what happened next happened. I didn’t think that he had it in him. I also do think that he should have been there more for Tess. She was going through hell and he stayed away from the house. He could have at least put his mother and sister in their place.

The end of the book was a bit of a surprise but it fit well with the story. All the storylines were ended in a way that satisfied me as a reader. I also liked the peek into the lives of Henry and Tess in the future!! What I also liked is that the author chose to put a personal note with references to the events in her book.

4 stars

My Summary of The Stolen Marriage:

The Stolen Marriage is a wonderfully written women’s fiction/mystery/drama that is steeped in the history of WWII era Hickory, NC. This book is not a quick read. I would recommend that if you do read it, that you set aside a bit of time. This is a book that will capture your heart!!

Will I reread: Yes

Will I recommend to family and friends: Yes

Age range: Older Teen

Why: There is sex in this book but it is not explicit and details are not given beyond what was needed to let you know what was going on. There are some mild violence and language used also

I would like to thank Diane Chamberlain, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review The Stolen Marriage

All opinions expressed in this review of The Stolen Marriage are mine and I was not compensated in any way for this review

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**

[kimbacaffeinate]

Tess, a young nursing student, lives in an Italian community in Baltimore, Maryland and is engaged to a young Doctor. He travels to Chicago to fight a polio outbreak and keeps extending his time there. Depressed and unsure she begrudgingly goes to Washington DC for the weekend with her best friend.  Events that occur there have her breaking off her engagement and marrying Henry Kraft, a furniture maker in rural Hickory, North Carolina. She has married into wealth, and Henry is more than generous, but the people of Hickory are far less accepting. Her marriage isn't a happy one. Henry isn't intimate with her, works odd hours and hides money from her. The townsfolk make it clear she is an outsider. She finds solace when speaking to a local medium and this thread was particularly interesting and touched on magical realism.

Through stubbornness and Henry's understanding, Tess gets her nursing license, but he forbids her to work. As his wife, labor was seen as beneath her station, but when a polio epidemic breaks out, and a hospital is set up in Hickory, Tess soon finds herself working. Here, Tess meets up with the young doctor she abandoned and confesses everything to him. It was fascinating learning more about this epidemic, iron lungs, and these makeshift hospitals. It was heartbreaking, and the story shared both joyful and tearful moments. Chamberlain detailed societies fears and misunderstandings of this epidemic that devoured children and folks of every race and social standing.

THE STOLEN MARRIAGE not only dealt with the polio epidemic, but it shared the pressures of society and racism. We delve into Tess's mistakes and consequences. We explore Southern culture, marriage laws, racism and more. Chamberlain's research is evident, and her eloquent writing styles paint a detailed picture of the climate and characters in 1944. There is romance threaded throughout the story, and I found it touching and surreal. We also get a bit of suspense, regarding Henry's odd hours and hidden money.

This is the type of story that pulls you, connects you to the characters and brings the period to life in vivid color. Each of the characters is flawed and realistic. Chamberlain shines a realistic light on situations these characters faced, allowing the reader to become emotionally connected. She combines the best of fiction and history giving readers a story that will stay with them long after the book ends.

A must-read for fans of historical fiction, diversity, and American history. THE STOLEN MARIAGE ranks among my favorite Diane Chamberlain novels. This review was originally posted at Caffeinated Reviewer