Review: The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain

Title: The Stolen Marriage
Author: Diane Chamberlain
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: October 3, 2017
Edition: Kindle Edition (384 pages)
Genres:

• Fiction
• Historical Fiction
• Mystery

The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Tess DeMello was about to begin the life she had dreamed of; completing her nursing degree, and merrying her childhood best friend. But one night, and one mistake changed all that. She is suddenly in a loveless marriage, faced with hostility from her new family and even some of the town's people of Hickory, North Carolina. Her new husband doesn't seem to want to touch her, and he spends many nights away from home using his work at the family's furniture factory as the reason.

In 1944, WWII is raging and so is a polio epidemic. The people of Hickory come together and build a polio hospital. Tess wants to work there, but faces strong opposition from her mother-in-law and husband. And then there is her discovery of secrets her husband seems to be keeping from nearly everyone.

This is a great story. Not only does it capture the time and the mood of the country, it also is replete with strong characters who embody both the good and the bad in human nature. You can count on a Diane Chamberlain book to do that. This is one of my best reads of 2017; one I shall revisit again and again.