Sunday, August 20, 2017

The Stolen Marriage: the twists and turns of a sudden detour in life's plan

The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain is the story of Teresa “Tess” DeMello and how one night’s mistakes leads her life on a different plan than the one she had planned. The story opens in June 1944 where Tess is married to Henry and his mother, Ruth, his sister, Lucy, and most of the town of Hickory dislike her. Lucy asks her for a favor, suspicious but wanting to connect with her sister-in-law, Tess agrees. It ends in a horrific event where the reader is left wondering their fate as the story rewinds to August 1943. Tess is a nursing student and engaged to Vincent Russo, a childhood sweetheart and doctor. While Vincent is in Chicago helping with a polio epidemic, Tess and her best friend, Gina, take a trip to Washington DC. There Tess meets Henry Kraft, a businessman from Hickory, North Carolina. After dinner with too many drinks, the two have a sex which leads to a pregnancy and a dilemma for Tess. She finds Henry and he suggests marriage. She agrees, leaving everyone behind with a false story for her sudden marriage. Once in Hickory, she is met with hostility and strange events. Once a polio epidemic occurs in Hickory, Tess is able to throw herself into helping the sick while she discovers her husband has terrible secrets. Will she be able to leave her marriage and this town?


The Stolen Marriage is a fast paced story with the backbone of a real life polio epidemic in Hickory, North Carolina and the amazing efforts the community took to help the sick. The story was wonderful with heartache and tears. There was one chapter that had me in tears. I was able to read this book in a few hours as I could not put it down. There were twists and turns, questions that I asked myself as I read. I highly recommend The Stolen Marriage. It is a story of secrets, betrayals, prejudices and the power of forgiveness.

The Stolen Marriage
will be available October 3, 2017

in hardcover and eBook

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