The Gilded Web [Mass Market Paperback]

I was confused by the ratings from readers for this book - they were all over the map- so I decided to give it a go. And I loved it! The story unfolds slowly, but I never got impatient or skipped ahead. It's about two very introverted people who are trying to resolve a misunderstanding within the societal rules of their class and to come to terms with their own feelings. It all made perfect sense to me. The secondary love stories were also well done - nicely balanced throughout the book. I look forward to the rerelease of the next book in this series in July 2007, Web of Love, about Dominic. Mary Balogh is among my top five historical romance writers, and The Gilded Web and Simply Love are my two favorites. Damaged characters are so much more interesting to me, and I never felt that this story was written "by the numbers." I would definitely read this one again. I hope it comes out in an audio, unabridged version.

The Gilded Web is a reissue of a 1989 book by Mary Balogh, the first in a series of three (with "Web" in the titles of all three). The author comments in a preface to the re-publishing that her writing style has changed in her more recent books, although I didn't particularly notice this. However I have often found, when reading older books by popular authors, that they can seem very dated indeed. Not so with The Gilded Web.

Alexandra Purnell is a 21 year old girl whose betrothal to a much older man (who happens to be a Duke) is to be shortly formalised. Her father who has brought her up in a very strict Christian manner has allowed her one season in London to give her some polish before her marriage. It's at a party that Alex's life is turned upside down as she is mistaken for someone else, kidnapped and tied to the bed in the home of the Earl of Amberley. The bed is actually that of Madeleine, the earl's sister and twin of Lord Eden the Earl's younger brother and it is Lord Eden who planned the kidnapping to prevent his sister eloping. However, when Lord Eden discovers Madeleine isn't going to elope at the party he assumes the two friends he has persuaded to kidnap his sister will go home empty-handed. Alex's untimely wander in the garden and initial visual similarity with Madeleine causes her to be kidnapped instead.

When Alex is discovered by the Earl the next morning in his sister's bedchamber he has to do the gentlemanly thing and offer for her. However, Alex doesn't want to marry him - she is shortly to be betrothed to a Duke. It's only as the story of her escapade gets around and she realises she is being shunned by the ton that things appear differently to her and she ends up engaged to the Earl although his brother tries to get her to marry him instead. Her repressive upbringing has left her apparently cold and unfeeling and so the betrothal is difficult. Much of the book centres on the time at Amberley where the Earl introduces his betrothed to his friends and family and they try to get to know each other despite the problem of their betrothal being neither's choice.

Mary Balogh excels at writing stories where characters grow and change and this happens significantly in this book. There is a strong undercurrent of religious situations reflecting the way the characters behave - Alex has been brought up with a "fire and brimstone" God and Lord Amberley tries to show her the "God of Love". I personally thought this was done really well and not too preachy but it would probably put some people off. It's a story about a woman leaving behind oppression and trying to live for herself, but at the same time discovering that self-determination means little if it's separated from those who you love. There are a lot of scenes that set up the next two books in this series, and in a lot of cases the editing could be tighter, but I still think it's a good book. Those who enjoyed "A Summer To Remember" would find this a book on a similar theme and would probably enjoy it very much.

While reading the story of Alex and Edmund, I fought to keep myself from screaming at Alex to take her happiness in Edmund and stop her tedious search to find her "freedom", if, in actuality such a thing exists for any of us. Mary Balogh used the "insect caught in a web" analogy to good effect, however and I was too caught in the story myself to stop. A gilded web is as much a trap as any other web and one is caught just as fast. Over the course of the story, the reader learns that truth along with the heroine. And heroine she is. Such bravery took my breath away. The book took me to a place within myself where I've never been. I can think of no higher praise. That may be spreading it on a bit thick, but there you are.

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