How does a good and honorable man atone for misdeeds when he was neither good nor honorable? How does he tell the woman forced to marry him of the supernatural event that transformed his life, that cleansed him of the darkness? Above all, how does he convince his wife that he loves her, that he, too, is worthy of being loved, when all she feels for him is hatred?
Evan Richmond, a spoiled, debauched aristocrat is confronted by an obligation he can’t ignore. He must marry, and Brenna Hilliard is to be his bride. On his wedding night, he committed an unforgiveable deed, stirring the wrath of something beyond this world. In the guise of a raging storm, he is struck unconscious. When he awakes, his life is forever changed, for he no longer carries the soul he was born with. Another has taken its place. Thus Brenna is faced with a choice. Does she reject her husband because of what he has always been–or love the man he is becoming?
This is a complicated story that begins in Ireland where Lady Brenna Hilliard was born, daughter of an English lord and his Irish mistress. Her birth was legitimatized when her father’s wife dies and he married her mother. Now Brenna’s father is dead and her older half-brother, a man who hates her because of her mother and his father’s infidelity, has decreed that the Irish holding will be sold and that she will honor an old agreement to marry Brenna to Evan Richmond, son of an earl and his father’s neighbors in England. In the midst of her mourning and grief, her pain at being wrenched from the only home she has ever known, and facing a loveless marriage, Brenna arrives in England. She is graciously received by her soon-to-be in-laws, and her reception into the home went relatively well–that is, until Evan Richmond and his obsessive, compulsive, possessive, self-centered twin sister Evangeline appear and the situation goes south very quickly. Brenna hopes against hope that she can have some kind of relationship with a man who clearly disdains her from the outset. Yet his betrayal on her wedding night nearly broke her spirit and she must find a way sistain her personal sense of self, her dignity, and to live with a man who would stoop to such depths of wickedness.
But unbeknownst to Brenna and even to his twin sister, an ancient soul that had been condemned to dwell between Heaven and Hell, in retribution for his evil life hundreds of years earlier, has now come to dwell within Evan Richmond and Evan’s soul has departed to be purged and cleansed of its evil. The man who began the evil acts against Brenna on their wedding night was vastly different when he emerged from his coma. He looks like Evan on the outside–walks and talks like him, but has no appetite for the evil deeds and companions that were the substance of his life. He rejects them as well as his sister, and slowly but surely she slides toward insanity. One of the great sadnesses in this novel is the broken hearts of Evan’s parents as they see what their daughter is and what she eventually becomes.
This is a remarkable story that is, on the one hand, a very good historical novel and, on the other hand, a curious journey into the fantastic. Whose soul really resides inside Evan Richmond? And can this new person be a person that Brenna can love and claim as her true spouse? This story is full of surprises, dark and shadowy characters, parents who have to face their own failures and a woman who has to discover her own inner resources in order to manage her life in the coming years. It is also about the reclamation of a soul, albeit an ancient one, that has “learned his lesson” and has returned to a full earthly existence, living now in the life of Evan Richmond.
This novel touches on a question many have asked: Can the human soul really be reclaimed? Ms Wicklund has crafted a story that taps into the concerns all human beings have that the soul lives on and that it perhaps can live a redemptive existence. It is a creative way of using fantasy to create a scenario, a possible way of seeing the radical changes we sometimes witness in people who think and act in destructive ways. The characters in this novel are strong, real, feeling and thinking individuals. There are no lightweights here. The reader can easily empathize with Evan’s parents as they watch his twin slowly abandon her connection with reality. You can also be a part of Evan and Brenna’s story as they try to establish some way of muddling along together. There is hope, betrayal, disappointment, loss, renewal, and light at the end of the tunnel. It is about the stuff of which life consists and in this story I would find it hard to believe that we couldn’t all find ourselves in one way or the other.
Ms Wicklund has written a story that is totally readable, well-written, well-researched, creative, with a plot that is unusual and a story line that moves along well toward its conclusion. The characters fit the story and the dialogue keeps the readers interest while the internal dialogue doesn’t overwhelm the external action of the story. Historical fiction fans and romance fans will find much to hail here. The thread of fantasy that runs throughout adds spice–just enough to take this story out of the ordinary. It is one I have come to like a great deal and it is on my re-read list. I look forward to future work by this very adept author.
I give this story a rating of 4.75 out of 5.
You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.
This book is available from Cerridwen Press. You can buy it here in e-format.