The Marriage Bed (edició 2005)

I know the times were different but he is such a cad, i hated him. He doesn't really accept blame, even if there a problems that doesn't make it okay to be unfaithful... and the wife is so hurt by the gossip and his cheating, for years with different women. Not my type of book, at all. ( )

Didn't think I was going to end up being able to give this book a good rating the way it looked for the first two-thirds of the book. Not that the writing was bad, Ms. Guhrke is a fine writer. It is the hero, John. There is not much to commend him for quite awhile. He is an immature, selfish, cheater. An event causes him to rethink things, and he decides he needs an heir. His wife is supposed to forget how he treated her and forget about all his mistresses, because it is clear that he blames her for kicking him out. He does go through a process and finally, finally, comes to the realization that he loves his wife. I liked the ending and the epilogue was fine.
I have one big bone of contention in that the (last) former mistress gets the sweet apology from him, and not his wife! ( )

The "hero" being sarcastic after having been called out by his wife for his serial infidelity: “After Maria, what did you want me to say?” he asked. “Something along the lines of, ‘Sorry, old thing, messed it all up again, but if you stay, I’ll make it up to you.’ Is that what I should have said?”


Final verdict of this clown show:


The end. ( )

I can see why this is such a controversial book. Adultery is not an easy subject to tackle. I didn't particulary care for either H/H but I found myself asking "Was the story believable and did I buy the HEA?". My answer was yes to the first but maybe to the second. The whole subject made me a bit uncomfortable and was very thought provoking. But, heh I'm not Dr. Phil, so I guess I gave them the benefit of the doubt because I ended up liking it. (Grade: B) ( )

The Marriage Bed isn't an easy read, for it doesn't tell the happiest of stories. Viola Hammond and her husband John have been estranged for 8 years, and he's been cheating on her with a series of mistresses. Upon the death of his cousin, John needs an heir and so he demands a reconciliation with his wife, who is, to put it mildly, resistant to the idea of returning to his home, let alone his bed.

This is such a well written romance. The characters and their interactions are explored with stunning insight and sympathy. Neither Viola or John are perfect. The book will try and tell you she can be cold and unforgiving (though personally I say she has every right to hate her husband for what he’s done to her.) John especially is a true scoundrel who is all the more a cad because for much of the book he lacks crucial self-awareness. He doesn’t even know what he’s done wrong. But the book makes you think hard the whole time about the rights and wrongs of John and Viola's relationship, and questions of blame are not easily resolved. You know a book is good when it can make you feel sympathy for a character like John. And he really is charming. Viola never stood a chance. Whether the book manages to convince me of his side of the story is another matter, but The Marriage Bed gets a lot of points for depicting it thoroughly and making sure all those grey areas don't escape the notice of readers whose gut reaction to John might be "Kill the cheater!" Maybe the book tries too hard to make John sympathetic - but, even while I was on Viola's side the whole time, I was still pulled into his struggles and tribulations as he tries so desperately to win his wife back. And at the same time I felt sorry for Viola and all John's discarded mistresses (Guhrke's treatment of the latter in particular offers an unexpected, understanding take on the "other woman"). A lot of the time I wished Viola could resist John's seduction of her - always a bad sign. She seems so helpless in the face of her love for him, and he seems so unrepentant. This imbalance defining their relationship can have some disturbing undertones.

Ultimately, you'll like this book if, like the heroine, you believe in John's sincerity and remorse, his eventual awakening, his pledge of fidelity. If you take the opposite view, then The Marriage Bed is a very depressing book indeed. For the sake of a happy ending and even though I should know better, even though John's redemption is tenuous at best, I decided to be optimistic and take John at his word, and so I can give The Marriage Bed (an admittedly reserved) five stars. It’s a complex, at times heartbreaking romance that doesn't shy away from harder issues and realities, the pain that can so often go hand in hand with love. ( )