"Beautiful writing style!"

Even though Richard of Warefeld has given up his life as a knight and spent the last year of his life with the Benedictine monks, in devoted prayer and service to God, he has not succeeded in ridding himself of the demons that haunt him and the seductress who visits him nightly in his dreams to torment him. Then one day Isabel, his boyhood friend and personal tormentor, appears at the door of the abbey, seeking sanctuary and assistance. Lady Isabel has fled her home upon the death of her father. She is a rich heiress with many holdings, and fears that she may be in danger from greedy, landless knights until her betrothed, Richard's brother Hubert, can come for her. Richard was her dearest friend until he turned his back on her and departed for the abbey, She has always secretly loved him, and her fondest wish has been that she be betrothed to him instead of Hubert. When her father died, she could have fled to Hubert, but her only thought was of reaching the abbey, and Richard. Richard's welcome of her is not what she hoped it would be, but is cold and disdainful. He clearly is not happy to see her. Then a messenger brings the answer to Isabel's prayers and the rejection of Richard's. His brother has died and Richard is now ordered by his overlord to marry Isabel in his stead. An eager Isabel and a resentful Richard are then married and sent on their way to Isabel's home of Dornei, where Richard soon shows Isabel that even though he will accept the duty of being the new lord of Dornei, he won't like it, and won't forgive the fact that Isabel has finally gotten what she wanted and has also disrupted his life.

I had mixed emotions about THE MARRIAGE BED. Claudia Dain's writing style is beautiful and succeeded wonderfully at immersing me in the feeling of the times. Her use of terminology and lyrical phrasing seemed accurate enough to this non-historian and kept me happily wanting more. The problem for me came with the characters of Isabel and Richard. She pursued him with the mindless selfish devotion of a Scarlett pursuing her Ashley, with no care for his (or anyone else's) true feelings. He was self-righteous and self-involved, not caring for her feelings either. I found it difficult to sympathize with either of them in the beginning, but then I realized that they were maturing before my eyes, and by the end of the book they had each grown up enough to be able to appreciate the other. So I would say that if you are like me, and find Richard and Isabel irritating, just stick with it and enjoy the way Ms. Dain's writing can take you out of this century and transport you back to 1155.

Reviewed by Janice Bennett
Posted December 11, 2001

Summary

A reluctant monk and a sensual lady seem an unlikely pair until the banked attraction between them catches fire in the marriage bed.