I’m not sure “The Stolen Marriage” is an accurate title. It should be called, “The Discarded Marriage” because it was the shame and weakness of the protagonist that caused the destruction of her hoped-for future. If only she had trusted that even her worst transgressions could be forgiven by loved ones, she could have prevented all this trouble.

Baltimore, Maryland in the 1940s. Women were expected to “save themselves for marriage” and the repercussions of not doing so, or at least being caught not doing so, were severe. Still, I found it hard to believe that a mother who previously had a close relationship with her daughter would react so cruelly.

Rural South Carolina in the 1940s. Not a comfortable place to be unless you’re white, well off, male, Christian, straight and detest interracial mingling. This story depicts the lives of people not in this privileged category, and some of the problems they faced.
However, compared to the historical facts, it seemed a bit sugarcoated. In many ways, life was actually much worse in that time and place for many people. The terrible consequences of being caught breaking social rules were hinted at, and the desperate attempts to hide these secrets were depicted, but the brutal realities of the possible consequences were not adequately portrayed.
There was one exception. The heartbreaking toll of the polio epidemic was fairly well described. This is the part of the book that I liked the most. The author seems to have researched this historic event well and includes many interesting facts.
Although I enjoyed reading this, it never seemed realistic to me. It was fun to read but gave me the impression of a Disney version of the truth. I prefer more realism even if it is disturbing. I also have mixed feelings about books that combine historical facts with fantasy, unless the author makes clear which is which. That said, it was an enjoyable read, and kept my attention throughout, and the descriptions of the polio epidemic were enlightening.

Note: I received an advance copy of the ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I absolutely love Diane Chamberlain's books and this one, of course, did not fail me!!!

I felt so many emotions while reading this book. Tess who breaks off her engagement with the love of her life to marry Henry. Tess who I felt so sorry for and Henry who is hiding something (and all of my guesses were wrong - Ha!!) I only felt contempt. He stayed out all night, was hiding money and never touched his wife. Tess's mother-in-law is a contemptible, meddling old woman still stuck in the ideas of the old south and her sister-in-law dislikes her because Henry was supposed to marry her best friend.

When Henry's secrets did come to light, the story floored me as, of course, I was definitely not expecting that.

A wonderfully great story that I thoroughly enjoyed and was sad to leave.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for providing me with a free e-galley in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

I loved this book. The story keeps your attention and is hard to put down. There was love, heartache, betrayals, surprises. The story was well written and the characters were fully developed. A definite must read. This was my first book from Diane Chamberlain but not my last.

I would like to thank NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for supplying a copy of Diane Chamberlain's "The Stolen Marriage" in exchange for a honest review.

I have always enjoyed Diane Chamberlain's writing and this book did not disappoint me. From beginning to end I was totally involed with the story. Such magic when a book pulls me in like this!

ARC from St. Martin's Press, via Netgalley.

In today's world a child conceived by an unmarried mother is not unusual, but in 1940 a child born out of wedlock was an unbelievable disgrace. Tess is a lovely but naive and sheltered young woman who is following her dream. She plans to marry her handsome fiancé, a young doctor, as soon as she finishes nursing school. The time setting is the 1940s and WWII is in full swing overseas. Tess’s best friend convinces her to take a little trip to Washington DC to see the sights and to stay with her aunt. What happens on that fateful weekend changes the entire course of Tess’s future. One bad choice has produced a total upheaval in not only Tess’s life but also in those of all she loves. Tess gives up her dreams and enters a loveless marriage. She is determined to do what is right for her unborn child but at what cost to herself? The novel also addresses the polio epidemic that swept through the country during this time period.
Diane Chamberlain has a style of writing that keeps the readers interested and longing for more. Tess is a wonderful character and her decisions and her life after that weekend were filled with strength, grace and also heartache and despair . There is also a bit of mystery and intrigue, which only made the story more interesting. I highly recommend this to all historical fiction fans.
I received an invitation from the publishing company, St. Martin’s Press via Netgalley to read this book and this is my honest review

Diane Chamberlain is one of my favorite authors, she has not written a book, to date, that I haven’t enjoyed. When I saw that she came out with a book called The Stolen Marriage, I was intrigued, but also a little wary because the book is set in 1944, and that’s not really a time frame I am interested in reading about. My fears were soon demolished when I opened the book and started reading the story of Tess DeMello, a 23 year old Italian girl from Maryland, whose one mistake costs her so much in her life.

Tess has her life all planned out, she’s going to marry Vincent, they are going to have four babies, and she is going to be a nurse. Eventually, her and Vincent will work side by side, because he’s going to be a doctor. As the couple plans their wedding, Vincent decides to head to Chicago to help at one of the hospitals there as the polio epidemic is under way. He claims he won’t be gone for long, but when weeks turn into months, Tess starts to get restless.

Soon, she finds herself heading to Washington D.C. with her best friend, just to kick back, relax, and try to keep her mind off of Vincent being gone so long. That’s when she meets Henry, a southern man from Hickory, North Carolina, he’s charming, and that night the two end up in bed together. It was Tess’ first time, and she can’t believe she wasted it on a stranger.

When she heads back home, things start to get even more complicated when Tess finds out she’s pregnant. She doesn’t know what to do, because she can’t tell Vincent of her mistake, and her family will shun her no matter what. She decides the best idea is to run away, find Henry, and make him do his fatherly duty and supply their baby with the things that it needs. Henry takes it one step further, and asks for Tess’ hand in marriage. He knows that she was already engaged to another man, but he wants to do right by his child, and this woman that he doesn’t even know. Tess sees no way out, and accepts his proposal.

As time goes on the marriage isn’t at all what Tess thought, and Henry won’t allow Tess to have the life that she had dreamed of her entire life. She wants to be a nurse, but Henry feels that it’s her duty to stay home, but she will fight him tooth and nail until he gives in, but when tragedy strikes on more than one occasion, it may be the only way Tess can survive the life that she so abruptly chose for herself.

When the polio epidemic strikes Hickory, Tess does what she set out to do and becomes a nurse, her life seems to be getting better, even though her marriage is loveless. When she finds out a secret about Henry, she may be able to turn her luck around on it’s heels, and get back the life that was taken from her.

There were so many facets to this book, there was a paranormal subplot that caught my interest, and there were all these extra little tidbits that just thrust the story forward in incredible ways. I was rooting for Tess the entire time, and I was hoping she would get what she deserved. The ending made my jaw drop, I loved every aspect of this book. I give this one 5 out of 5 stars, thank you Diane for writing another masterpiece, and thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book.

I loved this book! Diane Chamberlain is one of my favorite authors and her stories just keep getting better and better! When faced with an unwanted pregnancy, Tess DeMello gives up the love of her life and marries the father of the baby. Soon, Tess realizes she is trapped in a loveless marriage. This story involves so many important human themes-premarital sex, unwanted pregnancy, discrimination. The polio epidemic is also a major theme in the second half of the book. There is so much to keep the reader's attention in this story-I just recommend you read it!

I loved this book, set in the 1940s. We meet Tess who is engaged to her childhood sweetheart Vincent but circumstances change their life plan when Tess finds herself pregnant after a drunken night out. The father of her baby Hank agrees to marry her and Tess moves to a small town in North Carolina. Things are not happy ever after and there are a few twists in the tale.
Another great book by Diane I can’t wait for the next one.

Despite a rather slow beginning and a few flaws, this book, full of history from the 1944 era, eventually had my attention as the characters grew into themselves. Set mostly in Hickory, NC, we are aware that there are men from town who have gone off to war, that this is a time when women and blacks were to know their places, and that polio was becoming a force to be reckoned with. While Tess' fiancé is in Chicago treating polio, she makes an irreversible error in judgment and marries a virtual stranger with an unwelcoming matriarch of a mother and sister. Soon she discovers that her new husband has many odd behaviors and secrets. Some of the reveals I saw coming, but only to a degree.

As a little girl growing up in a small town in the 50's, I knew a few people with polio (a friend's cousin two years older who was beautiful but nevertheless taunted by school children for her limp, a boy two blocks away who was my oldest brother's age, my 7th grade math teacher), and we knew how lucky my family was to have been untouched. We experienced the polio vaccines administered by shots and then on sugar cubes (Blech! I actually spit mine out when no one was looking, which then worried me for years to come). Diane Chamberlain is a fine teller of real historical events with her own twists added, and the makeshift polio hospital they built in Hickory in a fifty-four hour time period was fascinating to read about, enough so that Life magazine visited soon after its opening. The author's version of the story teaches how we adapt to our circumstances and overcome adversity. I thought she did an admirable job, and I thank the publisher and NetGalley for my advance copy.

Some readers are likely to be drawn into the mystery of Tess's new husband, and others may appreciate the World War 2 setting and the simple values exuded in the early chapters of the novel: loyalty to friends, the closeness of the community, and the straightforward religious routines. I was not one of those readers, however; the cardboard characters and flimsy plot development irritated me. The message nor characters who lent support to Tess in North Carolina did show more depth, and the factually-based development of the polio hospital provided interest. Those who have likedprevious Diane Chamberlain novels will find a familiar pattern here.

Thanks to NetGalley, St Martin's Press, and Diane Chamberlain for the opportunity to read and review this great book!

Set in the 1940s, with war and racial tensions on everyone's minds, Tess is a Catholic girl from Baltimore's Little Italy, engaged to a doctor who is her childhood best friend. A weekend away in Washington with her girlfriend changes her life, and Tess finds herself in a strange marriage to Henry, a wealthy furniture factory owner, and living in Hickory, NC. Tess isn't accepted by Henry's family or the community, and finds herself constantly bewildered by Henry's strange behavior. She finds that she is losing the part of her that made her who she always believed she was. When the polio epidemic hits Hickory, a hospital was quickly set up to deal with it. Desperate for nurses, Tess finds herself in the middle of caring for the afflicted. And maybe starting to find that part of herself.

This is a great read that truly transports you to a different time and place. Lots of twists that you'll have to discover on your own but it is a great ride. Highly recommended!

I received a pre approved digital copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher. I've previously read several books by Diane Chamberlain and loved them so I was eager to download this copy.

The book starts with Tess DeMello in Baltimore, Maryland. She's engaged to Vincent Russo, who she's been in love with since childhood. She is studying to be a nurse and he has just become a doctor but is volunteering his time at the moment in Chicago. Therefore they are living a long distance relationship for a little while. They have hopes to one day have their own office, working side by side, as well as raising a family. It all sounds like the perfect life...then things take a turn for Tess after repercussions of a weekend away with her best friend, Gina come to light. All of a sudden she's called off her wedding and is now married to Henry (Hank) Kraft and living in Hickory, NC. You'll have to read the book to see how this change came about.

I will say the beginning had me dragging a bit but I totally loved the second half of the story. The historical part of the story sucked me in. It's mid 1940's and there's a Polio outbreak. We hear of the story of how this town pulled together and built a polio hospital in just a few days. There's a lot that goes on in the lives of Tess and Henry and the folks of Hickory. Lots of tension. Tess doesn't seem to be wanted there by many. Tess volunteers her time and services as a nurse to work at the hospital helping the polio infected children. And low and behold, who shows up to help as well? Why yes, it's her ex-fiance Vincent. So what will happen now? Does she come clean with Vincent about why she's there? Does she tell Henry about Vincent? And what will happen?

There are a lot of other story lines mixed throughout the book.

4.5 stars for me. A must read!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this opportunity.

What can I say! Diane Chamberlain has again written another very engaging story with The Stolen Marriage. I was soon transported off into story land and really enjoyed the read.

Tess is a beautifully compassionate heroine who finds her self in a spot of bother. We are talking back in the 1940's when to become pregnant outside marriage was something to be hidden. When she tells the man who was responsible alongside herself he does the decent thing and offers marriage to which she agrees. And leaves behind the love of her life, Vincent.

Does she really know her husband Henry (Hank)? Lucy his sister would say no. And she doesn't. But as time goes by she learns more and finally learns the truth. I saw part of it coming, but oh no, I did not see the totality of it, so the final reveals were full of thrills.

The polio epidemic was fascinating as I am old enough (sigh) to remember those fearful times, and can remember being made to rest as a young child after lunch to stay in good health. Then of course came the wonderful medicine we swallowed and were given immunity. I can also remember devouring the book Over My Dead Body by June Opie as a young teen, so this aspect of the story really engaged me.

The minor characters added to the flavour of the book, the township of Hickory in North Carolina, the issues of racism, and the part of Reverend Sam all added the the mix to make this book such a wonderful story. I liked the growth of Tess and applauded every stand she took to choose her own life. I liked Vincent and his approach and yes really liked Henry too.

Diane Chamberlain has again spun an engaging tail that had me springing up off my chair and shouting "Yes"! at one point.

A poor decision and a tragic accident derail Tess DeMello’s life in ways she never imagined. A good Catholic girl from Baltimore’s Little Italy, she is ready to graduate from nursing school and marry her childhood sweetheart. Instead, she ends up trapped in a loveless marriage with hateful in-laws. Adding to her misfortune, she has become the social pariah of the small town, Hickory, North Carolina.

It seems as if not only Tess’s world but the whole world is falling apart. While World War II rages over seas, a war rages in communities across America, against the mysterious and deadly infant paralysis, better known as Polio. Best selling author, Diane Chamberlain, sets her story against the backdrop of the historical “Miracle of Hickory”. As the country struggles with loss of life both at home and abroad, can Tess find a way to help those around her and herself?

The Stolen Marriage is part romance, part medical drama and part history lesson. Not only was I drawn into Tess’s search for happiness, but realized the full extent of an epidemic that had parents living in fear and isolating their children during the summer months of the 40’s and 50’s. The Polio vaccine has made this outbreak a footnote in history to Gen Xers and Millennials, but my parents sure remember. I just hadn’t thought to ask. Buy it.

A very good novel steeped in history and filled with mystery. Tess makes one big mistake in her life, will she end up paying for that mistake for the rest of her life, or will she get a second chance at the life she had planned. Once again Chamberlain writes a book rich with emotion. Her characters are spot on and her story moves along at a quick pace and ends perfectly!

Title: The Stolen Marriage
Author: Diane Chamberlain
Publisher: Martin's Press
Reviewed By: Arlena Dean
Rating: Four
Review:

"The Stolen Marriage" by Diane Chamberlain

My Thoughts....

Indeed this was quite a interesting gripping historical romance story that this author gives the reader. We find Tess DeMello from Baltimore, Maryland around 1943 was once engaged to Vincent Russo [M.D.] but breaks off that engagement and marries a complete stranger named Henry Kraft who was from Hickory, North Carolina. Now, why did she choose a loveless marriage? Whose marriage was stolen? I liked how this author was able to weave the polio epidemic which was first being treated around that time into this story even making it even more interesting to read and in doing so bringing Tess's former fiance back into the picture. This was quite a compelling historical fiction that you will have to pick up and see for yourself how well this author brings it all out to the reader. Will this medical doctor and registered nurse be able to get back together again? The story offers 'love, loss, race, marriage, secrets, tragedy and redemption.' This author does a wonderful job with the main character Tess giving the reader a roller coaster ride full with her emotions and thoughts along with her husband, Henry who was a well respected businessman but very secretive. I don't want to leave out Henry's mother Ruth and his sister Lucy who both had their own agendas in this well told story. The story even had a little paranormal [conversing with the dead] with the Reverend Sam along with some other host of characters...Hattie, Honor, Adora, Zeke and Jilly and a host of other people in the town. Be ready for some twist and turns that you may not see coming along with a epilogue of ten years later. I was still left with a few questions however it was a enjoyable read, for it was also a long captivating read that you will have to stay on top of it because there will be so much going on. to see if there will be a HEA.

The Stolen Marriage is a fitting name for Diane Chamberlain’s new novel. However, for reasons that at first remain hidden, it’s hard to discern why this particular marriage is considered stolen.

Right away, the fact that something is wrong with Tess DeMello’s marriage to her new husband Henry Kraft is glaringly obvious. Their interactions are so loveless and cold that it’s not a stretch to imagine this has been a tragically arranged union which the couple is firmly against. Soon we discover that it’s Tess who is the true catalyst, ending an engagement to the man she had loved all her life in order to marry a man she knows nothing about and loves even less.

Diane Chamberlain, author of ‘The Stolen Marriage.’ Photo: John Pagliuca
Chamberlain doesn’t make us suffer through half the novel to find out the reason behind Tess’s abrupt decision, which is in itself a relief. As it happens, Tess committed an indiscretion with businessman Henry Kraft as a result of a drunken night in a Washington D.C. hotel. The fact that Tess is borderline unconscious, and in no shape to give consent when she sleeps with Henry, would make the act be judged by today’s standards as non-consensual. Perhaps if the novel were set in 2017, it would perhaps be a different story. But it’s 1944, and Tess doesn’t see the painful decision to end her engagement as anything other than her own fault, and her subsequent pregnancy by Henry, a result of her mindless one-night debauchery.
Tess is of course shocked when Henry steps up and offers to marry her, since she only expects to be brushed off with enough money to make her and her baby disappear. But Henry admits his own responsibility, and after the wedding, takes Tess to his hometown of Hickory, North Carolina to introduce her as his new wife.

To say that Tess is shocked by all the changes that are abruptly forced on her, is a mirror image of the equal shock experienced by Henry’s relatives and the people of Hickory. Chamberlain’s fast-paced narrative leaves enough room for the suspense that surrounds Henry’s life, leaving clues for us to play detectives along with the young and naive Tess, who slowly learns that there’s too many secrets about her new husband that she’s not privy to.

Henry’s mother Ruth and his sister Lucy prove to be instant forces of hostility. Tess is trapped between a husband she doesn’t want, a life she feels suffocated by, and a town that judges her for who and what she is, with perhaps the exception of a curious reverend who seems to be the only one prone to show her any kindness.

Tess is ultimately somewhat freed by a polio epidemic that spreads through Hickory, forcing her husband and mother-in-law to allow her work as a nurse in the new community hospital. Can tragedy be sometimes a cover for salvation? Chamberlain drags Tess and her innocence through the mud, but she does so with a purpose.

A heroine can only be one if she frees herself of past restrictions and erroneous judgement so her fortitude can emerge. Tess DeMello becomes not so much a phoenix but the backbone of a modern-day feminist who struggles through her choices, limitations and mistakes to become a woman.

In a telephone conversation, Diane Chamberlain reveals the true story behind the polio hospital in The Stolen Marriage and her unusual encounter with an unconventional medium who inspired one of the characters in the novel.

What books are you currently reading and do you have any preferred genres?

For the last two or three weeks, all I’ve been working on are revisions for my new novel that will be published next year, so I haven’t cracked somebody else’s book in a while. Generally though, I like women’s fiction that have a good deal of mystery and suspense, something that doesn’t shortchange on relationships. You still get a lot of who these characters are, their worries and strengths. You know them as real people not just psychopaths (laughs). You care about them but there’s also a strong element of “what the heck is really going on here?”

You’ve written over twenty novels now, most of them bestsellers. How disciplined are you when it comes to your writing?

I am not at all disciplined! It takes me a long, long time to figure out what I want to write next and I usually have just a year to do that. I spend the first few months just thinking and talking with my writer friends, brainstorming. When it comes down to the real writing, there’s two ways I like to do it: one is at Starbucks, with a lot of noise, and another one is at home where I have to have complete silence. I can’t explain that, but that’s the way I am. If the weather is nice, I like to work on the porch with a nice view.

What is different between Tess DeMello, your character in The Stolen Marriage, compared to your previous female protagonists?

I think that just by virtue of the novel taking place in 1944 it makes her quite different. She’s a devout Catholic, grew up in Little Italy in Baltimore, so she has a very isolated existence in terms of not having much exposure to different kinds of people. When she’s suddenly thrown into the South, particularly in Hickory, North Carolina, suddenly she’s meeting black people, encountering no other Catholics and is actually looked down on for being Catholic. Everything that has been her world is now turned upside down.

The choices Tess makes, beginning with the end of her engagement, are rooted in a deep sense of guilt. Would you say this guilt is the reason behind all the decisions that ultimately bring her to Hickory and to be Henry’s wife?

Yes. I think that leaving Vincent (her fiancée) and not telling him about this thing she did is in fact rooted in guilt. But also, she imagines that Vincent wouldn’t want anything to do with her because of what she’s done, so it’s both guilt and fear. And when it comes to Henry, she’s thinking that she ultimately needs to provide for the child she’s going to have, and marrying him is the best way that she can do that. Otherwise, she probably would have been forced to live a lie, make up a husband who was killed overseas. She would have that hanging over her head for all time.

Tess grows quite a lot as a character, and as the novel progresses, not only is she exposed to a completely different social climate than the one she’s used to, but she also learns to be a stronger person and speak up for herself.

Yes, this is absolutely true. To me, that’s the whole point of this sort of fiction. Wherever my character starts, they’re going to change and grow for the better. That’s particularly true in this case.

The Stolen Marriage is set for the most part in Hickory, NC and you based the polio hospital in the novel with the actual hospital that Hickory residents founded in the 1940s. Why did this topic appeal to you?

It appealed to me for a few reasons. I had a great-aunt who had polio when she was young. I didn’t know her very well, but my memory of her and whenever I would see her, she was in a wheelchair with a full brace on her leg that kept it perpendicular to her body. Also, I had a very close writer friend, a woman who had polio as a child and had to spend almost a year in an iron lung and she was such an amazing person.

So polio was always in the back of my mind, and growing up in an era when the doctor always checked you for polio during your yearly examination, the topic wasn’t really that alien to me. I think what really moved me as I read about Hickory and the polio hospital was the community response, and how they built it in only fifty-four hours. People left their jobs to do this, and I think that’s incredible.

Do you have a favorite (and conversely) least favorite character?

I really have an affection for the character of Reverend Sam, who I based on a medium I met that was also a reverend. A friend of mine had told me about this guy who was allegedly able to get in touch with her deceased father. My reaction was: “Oh, this is so ridiculous!”

The very next night, I had a date with this guy whom I met thought Match.com so of course I didn’t really know him very well. I told him the story about my friend seeing this medium and he said to me, “That’s Reverend Brown. He gets in touch with my brother who was killed in Vietnam.” I thought the coincidence was just crazy, so I figured I would go see this man and debunk him.

This is how it went: The first thing that happens when you go see him, is you have to write down the name of the person you want to contact on a card. I took mine outside, where he couldn’t see me, and I wrote the name of my mother and grandmother. I then folded up the card and went into his office. He rested his hand on top of mine while I was holding the card, and started talking to me about all kinds of other stuff. I immediately thought, “Aha, he couldn’t see my card!” But then, all of a sudden he says, “Susan is here.” Susan was my mother’s name. Then he says, “Nan is here too,” who was my grandmother, and the other name I had written on the card.

That was mind-blowing for me. I’ve wanted to put that character in a book for a long time, and it seemed this was the best place for him.

My least favorite character was definitely Ruth. I should have made her a little more well-rounded, but she really was just an awful person with no redeeming features.

Can you tell me a little bit about the novel you’re working on now?

Its crazy! It’s involves some time travel which is really unusual for me. Essentially, it’s about a young woman in 1970 whose husband is killed in Vietnam and she is pregnant with his child. She learns her baby is going to die, and her brother-in-law happens reveals that he is from the future and tells her that in the year 2001, she can have fetal surgery to save her baby. He ends up talking her into traveling to the future, and everything ends up going wrong. How’s that? (laughs).

Can I just say how much I love Diane Chamberlain?! She is by far one of the best authors that I read and I look forward to every book release that she has. This story, just like all the others, does not disappoint. I feel like Diane does an excellent job of staying true to the time period and all the inequalities that existed. She also never fails to have believable and likeable characters.

One of my favorite books of the year, this story caught my attention and my heart and I loved every moment of it. Tess was a fabulous heroine, trying to make the most of the choice that she made. My heart ached for her, caught in a loveless marriage in a town where she wasn’t welcome.

This book just came alive, Hickory NC in the 1940’s was described to perfection and I felt like I was right there living the polio epidemic right along with Tess and the rest of the town. The characters were brilliantly written. I felt like Tess was my friend and I wept for her. The secondary characters were also well written and I loved some and disliked others just as the author intended I’m sure.

I love when a book captures me like this one did, and the characters and story go on to live in your mind and heart for years to come. This one has done that for me.

I highly recommend this book to lovers of historical fiction, who enjoy watching the outcome of tough choices unfold and who enjoy a fabulous, strong heroine. This was such a lovely read.

I enjoyed The Stolen Marriage and love Diane Chamberlain's writing!