What I’m Reading: The Stolen Marriage

I just finished up the audio book The Stolen Marriage: A Novel by Diane Chamberlain.  I have read lots and lots of Diane Chamberlain books.  I could honestly say that she is one of my favorite authors.  She’s written many books and to date, I’ve never read any of them that I didn’t LOVE!  That makes it hard to pick up her next books as I am always a little scared that she might write a dud but so far so good…..

This book was great.  I think one of the main reasons I love her books so much is that I learn a little bit about life in the times that she is writing about.  In this book the story is told around the polio epidemic just as WWII is coming to an end.  I didn’t know a lot about polio and the great scare that it was.  The book was informative and told a great story at the same time.

Here’s what Amazon has to say:“One mistake, one fateful night, and Tess DeMello’s life is changed forever.

It is 1944. Pregnant, alone, and riddled with guilt, twenty-three-year-old Tess DeMello abruptly gives up her budding career as a nurse and ends her engagement to the love of her life, unable to live a lie. Instead, she turns to the baby’s father for help and agrees to marry him, moving to the small, rural town of Hickory, North Carolina. Tess’s new husband, Henry Kraft, is a secretive man who often stays out all night, hides money from his new wife, and shows her no affection. Tess quickly realizes she’s trapped in a strange and loveless marriage with no way out.

The people of Hickory love and respect Henry but see Tess as an outsider, treating her with suspicion and disdain. When one of the town’s golden girls dies in a terrible accident, everyone holds Tess responsible. But Henry keeps his secrets even closer now, though it seems that everyone knows something about him that Tess does not.

When a sudden polio epidemic strikes Hickory, the townspeople band together to build a polio hospital. Tess knows she is needed and defies Henry’s wishes to begin working at there. Through this work, she begins to find purpose and meaning. Yet at home, Henry’s actions grow more alarming by the day. As Tess works to save the lives of her patients, can she untangle the truth behind her husband’s mysterious behavior and find the love―and the life―she was meant to have?”

Amazon reader gave this book 4.7 stars.  I totally agree.  READ IT!  This one had me listening late…listening in the car…listening over nap time.  Any chance I got, I listened.