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A review by amandamant
Whitney, My Love by Judith McNaught
2.0
Okay, first off - this book was written in the 1980s and literally began the movement for popularity of historical romance. There is a serious time gap that many 21st century reviewers seem to ignore. In its time, this book was a well written stepping stone to romance as we know it today.
That said....it’s seriously problematic. Seriously. Big time.
I read this book for the first time when I was 14. I loved it. It was one of my favorite books. I, like the heroine, saw all of the good in Clayton. I, like the heroine, forgave all of his transgressions. As a preteen in the throes of hormonal craziness surrounded by scaredy-cat little boys who were either mean like the hero or too frightened to admit they liked me, I found the Duke’s willingness to do anything for his bride violently sexy.
Well, now I’m in my 30s and Clayton Westmoreland has lost his sex appeal. He’s horrible. Time and maturity and frankly, my own horrendous experiences have proven that to me.
I love an over-the-top hero who will go to any length to make his heroine love him. There are scores of recent books that play on this very theme. Many modern heroes are not always the kind of guys you’d like to hang with in real life. It’s fantasy. And I am not the only one who eats it up like the sweetest candy. Which may be why this book was so popular in its time. Where nearly all other romances featured heroes who were frankly just kind of there, the Duke took what he wanted. It’s a very hot idea. Even now, romance readers flock to it. Dark romance is an entire sub genre and some of those stories definitely feature worse heroes.
But when looked at against modern historical romances - or 90% of modern romances in general (dark romance being the only exception) - this book is just not okay. The hero’s treatment of Whitney is appalling. His blatant inability to just speak to the woman he wants to marry is insane. And her incredible potential as a strong heroine is stifled as she simpers and forgives every single heinous thing that Clayton does to her. The emotional and physical abuse, the bruising stealing or kisses, the painful grabs, his penchant for continuing these things while she cries, oh...and the whole raping a virgin thing are well, there frankly aren’t words. He’s abusive. Horribly so.
Each huge misunderstanding could have easily been avoided. I can understand his reasoning to a point. He wanted to make her want him. Fair. But seriously y’all - the letters? Both of the letters, the one he sent and the one he read, stupid. His reactions? Dangerous and uncomfortable.
I don’t need to continue with this books’ issues. In fact, I’m fairly certain my review will disappear in a see of of many vehement reviews that love or hate this book.
As a re-reader who has read this book enough that my hardback copy from a 1999 re-release has been glued together multiple times I finally have to rate this book the way it should have been from the start. In 2021, this is a one star read. My recent re-read has left a horrible taste in my mouth and made me wonder why I ever loved this book. But, because this story is nearly 40 years old and because it opened the door for much more acceptable historical romance, I must add a star.
That said....it’s seriously problematic. Seriously. Big time.
I read this book for the first time when I was 14. I loved it. It was one of my favorite books. I, like the heroine, saw all of the good in Clayton. I, like the heroine, forgave all of his transgressions. As a preteen in the throes of hormonal craziness surrounded by scaredy-cat little boys who were either mean like the hero or too frightened to admit they liked me, I found the Duke’s willingness to do anything for his bride violently sexy.
Well, now I’m in my 30s and Clayton Westmoreland has lost his sex appeal. He’s horrible. Time and maturity and frankly, my own horrendous experiences have proven that to me.
I love an over-the-top hero who will go to any length to make his heroine love him. There are scores of recent books that play on this very theme. Many modern heroes are not always the kind of guys you’d like to hang with in real life. It’s fantasy. And I am not the only one who eats it up like the sweetest candy. Which may be why this book was so popular in its time. Where nearly all other romances featured heroes who were frankly just kind of there, the Duke took what he wanted. It’s a very hot idea. Even now, romance readers flock to it. Dark romance is an entire sub genre and some of those stories definitely feature worse heroes.
But when looked at against modern historical romances - or 90% of modern romances in general (dark romance being the only exception) - this book is just not okay. The hero’s treatment of Whitney is appalling. His blatant inability to just speak to the woman he wants to marry is insane. And her incredible potential as a strong heroine is stifled as she simpers and forgives every single heinous thing that Clayton does to her. The emotional and physical abuse, the bruising stealing or kisses, the painful grabs, his penchant for continuing these things while she cries, oh...and the whole raping a virgin thing are well, there frankly aren’t words. He’s abusive. Horribly so.
Each huge misunderstanding could have easily been avoided. I can understand his reasoning to a point. He wanted to make her want him. Fair. But seriously y’all - the letters? Both of the letters, the one he sent and the one he read, stupid. His reactions? Dangerous and uncomfortable.
I don’t need to continue with this books’ issues. In fact, I’m fairly certain my review will disappear in a see of of many vehement reviews that love or hate this book.
As a re-reader who has read this book enough that my hardback copy from a 1999 re-release has been glued together multiple times I finally have to rate this book the way it should have been from the start. In 2021, this is a one star read. My recent re-read has left a horrible taste in my mouth and made me wonder why I ever loved this book. But, because this story is nearly 40 years old and because it opened the door for much more acceptable historical romance, I must add a star.