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There’s a period of mourning that goes along with finishing a Mary Jo Putney book. She’s one of the few authors whom I wish would write longer stories. The China Bride is no exception to this and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The prologue of The China Bride opens with the arrival of a strange Anglo-Asian woman, Troth Mei-Lian Mongomery, at the home of Lord Grahame and his wife Meriel (hero and heroine of The Wild Child). Troth has come to tell Lord Grahame that his twin brother Kyle is dead. She is his widow.
Chapter One takes us back earlier in the year. Kyle Renbourne, tenth Viscount Maxwell arrives in the Portuguese settlement on Macao, China. He is soon given a young Chinese man to serve as his guide in the exotic port. The two set off, with Kyle an avid learner of all things Chinese. As the two get to know each other, Kyle is a bit startled at his attraction to this man. He is, therefore quite relieved when the “male” guide, reveals herself to be Troth Montgomery, an Anglo-Asian woman, the child of a Chinese woman and a Scottish merchant. Since her father’s death, Troth has lived in the home of her father’s Chinese friend, working with Europeans, and always posing as a man.
Kyle tells Troth that he desperately wishes to travel and to see some of China. This is a dangerous thing, but Troth volunteers to help Kyle on the condition that he pay for her passage to Scotland when they have finished their journey, since she has always wanted to see the home of her father.
Once the trip starts with Kyle and Troth in disguise, The China Bride becomes a road romance. The two become friends and finally lovers. Troth, who has always been told that her body is ugly, is unbelieving when Kyle tells her how lovely she is. She desperately wants to make love because, in thinking that she is ugly, she believes that she would never have the opportunity to make love with any man. Troth falls in love immediately. Kyle guards his feelings more closely. He had been deeply in love with his late mistress, and he has never really gotten over the hurt of her loss.
What happens next, an event that results in Kyle’s “death” cannot be revealed here. Suffice to say that Kyle is in terrible danger. To protect Troth and keep his promise to send her to England, he marries her. The love scene that follows is one of the most erotic and moving that I have ever read. It’s really something. Let’s just say that Troth is a bit more dominant that your average heroine.
When a devastated Troth arrives in England, she is comforted greatly by his brother and sister. Then, to everyone’s surprise Kyle reappears. Unfortunately almost the first thing he does is tell this woman, who has risked her life for him, that the two must find an acceptable way to end the marriage.
Talk about heart breaking! I love heartbreaking. Books that make me cry are my favorites and The China Bride tapped into that. Kyle is not cruel. He just doesn’t understand what it means to Troth to be rejected in this way. I wanted to scream at the man, “Hey buddy, were you there during that love scene? Don’t you know what it means to a woman to give that much of herself?”
But Mary Jo Putney knows this and she has Troth show Kyle in as obvious a way as possible how much he has hurt her. Well done, I thought, now he’s going to get it. But he doesn’t get it and that, I think is the one flaw in this otherwise very, very good book. When Kyle finally does come to his senses he does so because he begins to realize that he is in love. But Kyle never really understands what Troth sacrificed for him emotionally when the two were in China.
Another small thing that bothered me about this story was Troth’s romanticism. The idea of being in love is a western concept. It seemed to me that Troth, who was brought up in a Chinese culture, would not have had the dreams of romance that she harbors in the beginning of the book. Troth’s father was Scottish, but she came of age in a Chinese world. Her thoughts throughout the book struck me as far more European than Chinese.
Nevertheless, those are very minor complaints. The China Bride will undoubtedly be one of my favorite books this year. It’s got wonderful settings, romance and one of the sexiest love scenes I’ve read in ages. Now, if only it had been longer.
Grade: B+
Book Type: Historical Romance
Sensuality: Warm
Review Date: 02/07/00
Publication Date: 2001
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Recent Comments …
Yep
This sounds delightful! I’m grabbing it, thanks
excellent book: interesting, funny dialogs, deep understanding of each character, interesting secondary characters, and also sexy.
I don’t think anyone expects you to post UK prices – it’s just a shame that such a great sale…
I’m sorry about that. We don’t have any way to post British prices as an American based site.
I have several of her books on my TBR and after reading this am moving them up the pile.