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AN INCONVENIENT WIFE
by Megan Chance
Warner Books, April 2004
416 pages
$24.95
ISBN: 0446529567


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Lucy Carelton should have been happy with her life in 19th century New York City. She was born with a lot of money, had a husband, William, who was a successful stockbroker, she lived in a town house in lower Manhattan, and William was building her a brand new home near Central Park.

William and her father encouraged Lucy to sleep late and spend her days going to the best stores to decorate the new house. William wouldn't have Lucy wear the same gown twice to their many social engagements during the year so he made sure that she purchased something new and elaborate for every function, opera, and grand party that their friends held during the hectic social season. All William and Lucy's father wanted was for Lucy to act like the rich woman she was. That's all that Lucy wanted too, but she just couldn't.

Everyone knew that Lucy was one of those females who were prone to having hysterics. She was constantly afraid that one of these emotional attacks would hit her during a social occasion, and it always did. This caused a lot of gossip within their circle of friends.

Quiet times alone, drawing, and reading poetry would always calm Lucy and make her happy, but her father and husband forbid her from doing those things. In fact, they believed that her love of art was the reason why she had her attacks.

Lucy was taken to many doctors looking for a cure but nothing helped. At his wit's end, William thought Lucy's last hope would be with a new doctor, Victor Seth, who just arrived in New York City.

Doctor Seth practised the controversial healing theory of neurology. His therapy included hypnosis and electrotherapy to cure his patients, who were all women. With William's urging, Lucy started to see Dr Seth.

As time went on Lucy and Dr Seth's relationship went much further than just doctor/patient. Dr Seth encouraged Lucy, through hypnosis and electrotherapy, to draw and read poetry again behind her husband and father's back. Though there was an immediate improvement in Lucy's condition, William started to get suspicious about the new doctor and forbid Lucy to see him.

AN INCONVENIENT WIFE by Megan Chance, is the story of what women's lives were like for the wealthier class during the late 1800s. Wives were expected to stay home, visit friends, and spend money, and the men in their lives had the ultimate say on what they could and couldn't do. Women were considered inferior, both physically and mentally, and were only good for window dressing and child bearing.

In this novel we see what happens to a woman who decides to take charge of her own life and how society reacts to her decisions. It shows how the men in her life, the ones who were charged with her well-being, her husband, father, and even her physician, were all not actually concerned with her, but with how they thought she should live.

Megan Chance's new book is filled with fascinating characters and lots of emotion. It rings of truth about life during the 19th century, which makes AN INCONVENIENT WIFE a first-rate historical romance.

I enjoyed reading about Lucy, her friends, and especially about her life with her husband and father and what they expected of her. There are a couple of twists towards the end of the book, but even so, because we learn so much about Lucy, the very end isn't much of a surprise.

This is a fast-paced book and easy reading. The story pulls you along and you'll find that you finished the 400+ page book in record time. If you like historical romances I'd very definitely recommend AN INCONVENIENT WIFE. You'll read it in one weekend.

Reviewed by Sharon Katz, May 2004

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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