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A review by mxsallybend
The Secret Duchess by Jane Walsh
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
The Secret Duchess and I got off to a bit of a rough start because I didn’t initially care about either of the main characters. They seemed rather shallow, self-indulgent, entitled women, and while I felt bad for their rude awakenings, I wasn’t prepared to be particularly sympathetic to them. Had this not been a Jane Walsh novel, I’m not sure I would have kept reading.
Of course, I did keep reading, and I did soon come to understand the careful undressing of layers here, and how deftly Walsh built not just a romance, but the women within it. They start out seeming shallow and self-indulgent because they were raised to put social standing and appearances before all else. Neither Joan nor Maeve have ever had the opportunity to know themselves, much less be themselves, so being stripped bare of their social standing is indeed a rude awakening.
That rude awakening is a darkness that looms over much of the story, with sorrow, grief, uncertainty, and even horror that colors every moment. It’s heavy, but it’s also necessary for us to shift from understanding to accepting to empathizing with Joan and Maeve. Their struggles reveal the strength of the women inside, and an acquaintance forced upon them by circumstance slowly blooms into friendship before flowering into romance – which is where the book shines brightest. I loved getting to know these women, seeing how they treated others when there was no longer a social ladder between them, and witnessing how they became far more than the roles they’d cast aside.
I quickly came to adore Maeve, and to feel for Joan. I wanted them to be together for Joan’s sake, perhaps even more than Maeve’s, and I loved how Walsh navigated the first stirrings of love between them. Joan is so innocent, so naive when it comes to affairs of the body, and Maeve is the perfect woman to guide and instruct her. Their first fumblings are so sweet in the language and lessons learned, and it’s a delight to see passion and love develop almost simultaneously. As courtships go, this was one of my favorites in the genre!
The story does sort of race towards a climax in the final chapters, but it’s the perfect culmination of the entire story, with people coming together out of a sense of family and love, regardless of role or position, to see to it that the right thing is done – even if (or especially if) it’s not what we expected.
https://sallybend.wordpress.com/2024/01/07/book-review-the-secret-duchess-by-jane-walsh-romance/
Of course, I did keep reading, and I did soon come to understand the careful undressing of layers here, and how deftly Walsh built not just a romance, but the women within it. They start out seeming shallow and self-indulgent because they were raised to put social standing and appearances before all else. Neither Joan nor Maeve have ever had the opportunity to know themselves, much less be themselves, so being stripped bare of their social standing is indeed a rude awakening.
That rude awakening is a darkness that looms over much of the story, with sorrow, grief, uncertainty, and even horror that colors every moment. It’s heavy, but it’s also necessary for us to shift from understanding to accepting to empathizing with Joan and Maeve. Their struggles reveal the strength of the women inside, and an acquaintance forced upon them by circumstance slowly blooms into friendship before flowering into romance – which is where the book shines brightest. I loved getting to know these women, seeing how they treated others when there was no longer a social ladder between them, and witnessing how they became far more than the roles they’d cast aside.
I quickly came to adore Maeve, and to feel for Joan. I wanted them to be together for Joan’s sake, perhaps even more than Maeve’s, and I loved how Walsh navigated the first stirrings of love between them. Joan is so innocent, so naive when it comes to affairs of the body, and Maeve is the perfect woman to guide and instruct her. Their first fumblings are so sweet in the language and lessons learned, and it’s a delight to see passion and love develop almost simultaneously. As courtships go, this was one of my favorites in the genre!
The story does sort of race towards a climax in the final chapters, but it’s the perfect culmination of the entire story, with people coming together out of a sense of family and love, regardless of role or position, to see to it that the right thing is done – even if (or especially if) it’s not what we expected.
https://sallybend.wordpress.com/2024/01/07/book-review-the-secret-duchess-by-jane-walsh-romance/