Kestrel

This was a nice surprise, sort of a palette cleanser that had been sitting in my reader for longer than I care to admit.

In any case it is a story of two people who got married young for quite different reasons & different objectives and how time, separation, war & life change them. Diana is the young and dowered bride that young and careless Joshua agrees to marry as per his uncle's arrangement to fatten the family coffers but has all intention of leaving in the country while he continues to live in Town with his mistress Amanda. And so he does ... until she leaves him and with a baby to boot. With his pride more than wounded he sends the baby to the country for Diana to see to while he flees to the army and war in the Peninsula and so an education begins for both he and Diana. Joshua learns what is important in life and to cherish the good he failed to value at home and Diana learns that she is more than the expected society wife. She is competent & decisive and knows her own worth.

After seven years away at war Joshua returns and the author does a wonderful job of economically showing us how he has changed and how Diana has fared and grown. What I loved best is how they were people truly of their time and station. We too frequently lay modern mores & morals into Hisoricals just to appease our current sensibilities. I also liked very much that Diana was no prim Miss when it came to admitting to herself and soon to Joshua that she enjoyed their marital bed. And the forgiveness that Joshua needed wasn't belabored but at the same time earned.

Again a nice surprise.