Judith’s review of The Harlot
It is a Dark Era, one when a lusty lass will do what she must to survive. Even if it means bartering flesh for a palmful of coins…
Forced to watch her mother burned at the stake and separated from her siblings in the aftermath, Jessie Taskill is similarly gifted, ripe with a powerful magic that must stay hidden. Until one night when she’s accused by a rival, and Jessie finds herself behind prison walls with a roguish priest unlike any man of the cloth she has known.
In reality, Gregor Ramsay is as far from holy as the devil himself, but his promise of freedom in return for her services may be her salvation. Locked into a dubious agreement, Jessie resents his plan to have her seduce and ruin his lifelong enemy. But toying with Gregor’s lust for her is enjoyable, and she agrees to be his pawn while secretly intending to use him just as he is using her.
Set in a very turbulent time in Scotland’s political history, this romance is an unlikely encounter with a woman known as The Harlot of Dundee and a man bent on revenge stemming from an old anger over the destruction of his family’s heritage and the subsequent suicide of his father. The prostitute in question was a charismatic individual who was in great demand and who was saving every penny she earned in order to return to the Highlands, her home territory, in order to find her twin sister and her brother, both of whom had been taken in to a kind of foster care when their mother was hanged for being a witch. Now Jessie is being accused of the same crime and has been thrown into jail awaiting a trial before the local magistrate. Gregor sees in her the kind of enthusiasm and intelligence he needs to complete his plan to thwart the ambitions and plans of his enemy, the man who stole his family’s land for no other reason than he could.
Gregor now embarks on a program of “training” to make sure that Jessie can appear to be a “good girl” from the local village and who will seduce her master–the man Gregor hates and would ruin. Over the course of a couple of weeks, Gregor not only takes advantage of Jessie’s availability as a bed partner but also begins to see below the surface and realizes that this is a woman of deep emotion and is totally committed to finding her family and returning to her home territory where she can establish herself as an ordinary citizen. He does not realize yet that she has “The Gift” which she seldom uses but which, because of their growing emotional involvement, is becoming more powerful in her. By the time Gregor puts his plan into action and Jessie manages to get hired as a serving wench, he is quite attached to her but still believes that it is best that she fulfill her contract with him and then go North.
This novel is, at its core, a deeply emotional tale and the story is driven by Gregor’s obsession to retaliate for his father’s suicide and to once again restore the land taken from his family, not even planning to live there, but to know that he has restored what was once lost. He has the where-withal to do so as he is now a prosperous ship owner and knows that his enemy is having to sell land to pay his son’s gambling debts. Yet he cannot seem to find a way to really keep his eye on his vengence–wavering from time to time as his involvement with Jessie becomes increasingly important.
This story is about the lessons all must learn about the futility of vengence, the emptiness that persists even when one successfully reaches that goal fully, and how the greater gain is knowing the security emotionally that one can love and be loved. Gregor is compelling in his intensity while Jessie’s engaging and whimsical personality comes through in the telling. She is aware that Gregor is opening to her, yet when she seems to get too close to the sensitive memories that drive him, he pulls away reminding her she is just a whore. One can almost feel her hurt as a human being, even though she has become emotionally tough when that term is hurled at her. Yet as her attachment to Gregor grows, her vulnerability also grows in direct proportion.
Ms Walker’s writing skill is so evident as this story unfolds. She woos the reader into the inner thoughts and feelings of the character without overwhelming with inner dialogue or introspection that goes on for pages and pages. The supporting characters are vivid and well-crafted, and it all comes together in such a way that it just works. The fear and suspicion that is attached to the term “witch” is palpable and while to 21st century readers this may be so foreign, living as we are in the scientifically enlightened age, yet Jessie knew that deep, gut curdling fear for her life and which caused her to fear that Gregor would turn from her in disgust.
This novel is one more delightful addition to Ms Walker’s literary portfolio and is one of those books that entertains as it educates. A reader cannot help but be better aware of the culture of those bygone days, yet the timelessness of the power of love to overcome the greatest of prejudices stands tall. I liked this novel a lot and wholeheartedly recommend it for the lovers of historical romance fiction.
I give it a rating of 4.25 out of 5.
You can read more from Judith at Dr. J’s Book Place.
This book is available from Harlequin Spice. You can buy it here
