Leo Marsden and Bryony Asquith were childhood acquaintances, growing up on neighboring estates. Bryony was four years older and took little notice of Leo, while he worshipped her from afar.
Leo grew up to become a brilliant mathematician, a golden boy whom society worshipped, and the boy who could have his pick from soceity’s very best.
Bryony followed the difficult path of becoming a female doctor. A female doctor in an age where it was unacceptable for women to have a profession and much harder if she had something as difficult as a medical calling. Bryony, alone, almost ostracized by the society….
And now their paths cross again when Leo is society’s darling golden boy and Bryony is twenty nine and firmly on the shelf. Bryony impulsively asked Leo to marry her. Leo just as impulsively agreed.
And thus begins an impulsive marriage…which is not at all what the other expected and not happy at all…there are no quarrels or arguments or misunderstandings or fits of temper…just stony silences, wooden expressions, bland reactions or rather a total lack of reactions….voids that leave not only Leo but also the reader puzzled, that what exactly is wrong….why are they so unhappy? Leo couldn’t break through Bryony’s cold-as-ice demeanor in bed, and when she finally asked him for an annulment, he numbly agreed.
Bryony left England to travel, Germany, America and eventually ending up in India.
Leo too has wandered but he always feared what Bryony would do in a strange foreign land. What if she was scared? What if she ran into trouble? What if she needed someone? How would anyone know with her friends and family so far away? So he wanders after her first Germany, then America and at last India, content in the fact that he is near her even if she doesn’t know it.
When in India Leo gets a wire from Bryony’s sister Callista to fetch her sister home….their father is dying….and thus Leo sets out on a groveling journey to the north west frontier of India.
Bryony is shocked to lay her eyes on Leo again, when she hears of the reason for his visit she is instantly suspicious of Callista’s motives, since Callista has fabricated numerous tales to throw Leo and her together and at first refuses to accompany Leo anywhere. At last she reluctantly relents and they set out to a journey to the Indian plains from where Byrony can return to England.
And thus begins a journey inside their minds as well, a journey when the surroundings are in chaos and turmoil as Leo comes down with malaria, and Bryony nurses him as they wind their way through the Indian countryside. A journey where and Leo are forced to examine their feelings for one another , to think about chances they have lost and to dream of second chances. A revolt against the British is brewing, and their path becomes treacherous. Caught up in midst of a minor war (the uprising of Swat) both of them come to terms with the fact that each cannot bear to lose the other and they would fall apart if anything happened to either of them.
. Both Bryony and Leo have apologies to make, and they must work to overcome their lack of trust in one another, no matter how hot their physical passion flares. They discover each other and ask themselves if only they can forgive each other and make a new start….if only….
Review – As you must have gathered by now this is not a regency romance, nor of the Napoleonic times….this is one from the period between Independence of America and the first world war. The change of scene is most refreshing. Leo is an easy to love, admire and empathize with hero. My heart went out to him right from the beginning of this book. Bryony though seems a little rude, aloof and unreasonable at the beginning, as the story unfolds, Bryony’s difficult past comes to light and her actions are easier to understand and accept and she makes her own special place in the reader’s heart. The story is not dramatic or full of emotions running high. It is a tale of understanding, acceptance, forgiveness and love that is long lasting, all embracing and enduring.
A 9/10
Sounds very interesting yashada - fresh and novel, quite different than the usual tales of love at first sight. There have been very few romances where a relationship breaks down (not due to some external agency) and yet the couple gets an opportunity to build it up again.
ReplyDeleteYa very true and even the few which are about second chances a few are as good as this one...and I say this because...if you remember when I had written a review of One night for love by mary balogh I had said there are very few stories in which everyone is guilty of something the hero, the heroine, the proverbial other woman and yet when you read the story you empathize with everyone, you understand everyone's side of the story and just don't feel like squarely laying the blame on any one of them....and in the end you want everyone to get their piece of pie and live happily ever after....this is that kind of story....
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