"The Gilded Web" by Mary Balogh

The Gilded Web by Mary Balogh 1989

"The Gilded Web" is one of Mary Balogh's enormous backlist of books (many of which are out of print) which has been recently republished. It is the first book in a series which also includes "Web of Love" and "The Devil's Web."

"The Gilded Web" is, primarily, the story of Alexandra Purnell and Edmund Raine, the Earl of Amberly. The story begins when Dominic Raine, Lord Eden, Edmund's younger brother, hires two thugs to kidnap his twin sister Madeleine, who he believes is about to elope. Dominic does not approve of the man and wants her kidnapped so that the elopement does not occur. The men hired to do the job, however, get the wrong girl. Instead of kidnapping Madeleine, they kidnap Miss Alexandra Purnell, the straight-laced and very repressed daughter of Lord Beckworth - an abusive and horrible religious zealot. When Edmund finds her in his house, tied to a bed and gagged, the next morning, she is, of course, horribly compromised. Edmund offers her marriage, and she is forced to accept.

From this point on, the story takes a different turn. "The Gilded Web" is not your typical romance novel. It is not a bodice-ripper (in fact, there is only one sex scene, and it is tame). Rather, it is more of an academic exercise on the incarnations of love, religion and freedom. It's a beautiful book. It's a thoughtful book, a book of many ideas. It really gets the reader thinking about love in its many incarnations - the love between Dom and Madeleine, the love between James and Alex, the love between Lady Amberly and her children, the "love" Dom feels for all his flirts, the love that for Madeline always seems slightly out of reach, the "love" between Edmund and his mistress, and of course the love between Edmund and Alex, just to name a few. In addition, the idea that love is unconditional (as is stated by Lady Amberly) is contrasted to the feeling you get from Alex's father that love must be earned...In addition to the themes of love, are the themes of faith within this book. Edmund's idea that God is love is contrasted with the harsh old-testament reading to which Alex's father subscribes. And, of course, the idea of freedom is paramount - Alex is robbed of it in a very literal sense at the very beginning, and more
abstractly throughout - by her father and through Edmund, showing that the idea of being caged can come from good intentions or bad. The book then leaves you wondering at the end what freedom actually is, and what it actually means to be caged.

This is not the book for readers who want a light read and good sex scenes. It is not light-hearted and flirtatious, but rather dark and mystical. It is a beautiful book, but certainly not for everyone.

RATING: 1/2

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