Customer Reviews

The First Snowdrop

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Mary Balogh writes another wonderful Signet Regency winner. On a bitter December night, in weather not fit for man nor beast, Alexander Stewart, Viscount Merrick seeks shelter. Desperately, he hunts for protection from the wind, the cold, and the blowing snow. Spotting a glowing candle, Merrick's hunt is over - as are his bachelor days. For the burning candle belongs to plain, mousy, drably-dressed Miss Anne Parrish, the lone occupant of the manor. Forced into a duty-bound marriage, Merrick expels Anne to his country estate. Completely, satisfied with his actions, the viscount returns to London to resume his carefree life.

The author now begins to unfold her painful love story. Balogh's hero is heartless, his domineering control and treatment of Anne are agonizing. She grows to hate him, realizing he is not worthy of love or respect. Grateful to escape his oppression, Anne willingly remains on the country estate, away from her husband's conceit and selfish opinions.

Nevertheless, this is a romance novel. Balogh coerces our opponents into discovering their love. It is Balogh's skill that creates this irresistible story, and what joy for the reader when the little ugly duckling turns into the beautiful swan.

Grace Atkinson, Ontario - Canada.

I'm a big fan of Mary Balogh's regency romance novels. In fact, I can say without a doubt that she's currently my favourite author of the genre, and so every time I open a book that she wrote, I expect to be swept off my feet by the story I'm reading. And so it's always an extreme disappointment to discover that even your favourite author isn't perfect and can write books that leave you cold.

It was the case with The First Snowdrop.

Alexander Stewart, Viscount Merrick, was riding back to London, ready to take the beautiful Lorraine as his wife, when a snowstorm forces him to take shelter in a country house. The woman who opens the door to him is plain and dressed like a servant, but she behaves so strangely that he has to remind her that he wants her to give him something to eat. He treats her in a rather despising manner, but when she walks him to his bedchamber, he decides to push his luck and try to bed her. She pushes him away, and he lets her go. Shrugging off the event, Alexander goes to sleep, fully intent on hitting the road back to London in the morning.

When he wakes up, he doesn't expect to be told that Anne Parrish, the woman he almost seduced the night before, is no servant, but the granddaughter of a baron. Honour forces him to offer his hand in marriage, which Anne, although stunned by the proposal, accepts. And so Alexander brings his new wife to Redlands, his country estate, quickly consummates the marriage, then leaves her alone, intending never to come back.

Anne is devastated by Alexander's disdain for her, and even more so when he tells her he's going back to London and leaving her behind. Left alone in a big and soulless estate, she decides to take care of the house, the garden, and finally her own appearance. When, a few months later, she's invited to a family gathering by Alexander's grandmother, her husband barely recognises her.

I had many problems with the premise itself, which made it very difficult for me to get into the story. First, I do not believe that Alexander, a cultivated nobleman, would fail to notice the strangeness of Anne's behaviour on the night they meet, or, as he mentions the next morning, her genteel speech. I do not believe either that Anne would make no effort to correct him when he calls her by her given name and orders her around. And when he tries to seduce her, she barely resists, as if she had no knowledge at all of the consequences - yet we learn later in the book that she's got the education of a lady.

My other problem with The First Snowdrop is that I didn't manage to like Alexander. In the beginning, his behaviour is distasteful, but anger could indeed have driven him to be so cold with Anne, and for a good part of the book I kept hoping that he was a tortured hero hiding dark secrets that would be healed by love. It got worse when he met Anne again; she's gone thin, dressed her hair, and he's attracted to her beauty, until he discovers who she really is. He desires her physically, and acts upon this desire, but he still treats her with contempt the rest of the time. Yet it seems that they do feel something for each other; when they failed to admit it before they parted again, it was one misunderstanding too much for me, and I almost gave up on the book; only Balogh's style kept me reading till the end, in vain hope that something would bring light on those characters and make me feel some kind of sympathy for them. I did like Anne some of the time, although her extreme naivete at the beginning of the story, followed by a lot more intelligence afterwards, made her characterisation inconsistent. And I simply couldn't find anything loveable about Alexander. It seemed to me that he cared only for appearances, and his coldness made it difficult for me to believe that Anne could feel any kind of love for him.

In fact, I had to check the cover several times to make sure I was reading a book by Mary Balogh! The First Snowdrop is absolutely not representative of her talent!

This first book I read by Mary Balogh introduced me to a wonderful author. Balogh's heroines are strong women. While the lead in this book may have childishly given her heart away to an undeserving lout, she learned from it. She grew up and became her own person. Balogh gives proper justice to this time of growth. And when that lout wants a second chance... he has to earn it. I have often been upset when the waring leads of a book suddenly learn of each others love, thus making everything okay, wrapping stories up in neat little bows. The Frist Snow Drop doesn't come together so easy - which makes it all the more wonderful when it does.

Anne Parrish is compromised by Alexander Stewart, Viscount Merrick when he is stranded at her house in a snowstorm. He is handsome and charming and Anne, who has led a very sheltered existence, seems to fall in love at first sight. Merrick seems to fall in lust at first sight! She accepts his offer of marriage. Merrick, a rather selfish person as we come to know him, really is charming enough to make Anne think he wishes the marriage! But inside he is seething and throughout the book blames her for all the events that affect his well ordered life.

After a passionate wedding night, Merrick leaves Anne on his remote estate to continue his life of pleasure in London. You get hints that his conscience bothers him as he agrees to all the improvements she requests on the house and grounds but he keeps her a virtual prisoner on his estate. He is ashamed because Anne is not attractive. She is plump and drab. She will never fit into his lifestyle in London. Before leaving her behind, Merrick spews venom to Anne about how she is manipulative, etc... and Anne tries to hate him but her resentment is always short lived.

Later, Merrick's grandparents invite Anne to a house party. I really enjoyed the Duke and Duchess! They were wonderful characters. Anne is much changed and Merrick hardly recognizes her after her year in the country. The Duchess conspires to make them spend time together and they do enjoy passionate nights but Merrick is fairly miserable to her during the day.

I never warmed to Merrick. He was so cruel in many ways and never really redeemed himself in my book. Even at the end, he was going to take their two month old daughter away to live with him in the city. "She is to young to be weaned?" - what a jerk! Even if he realized he was in love with Anne, he never really showed her respect. Anne was a little too accepting even with an occasional spark of anger. I never like when the drab woman becomes beautiful and desirable in the typical Cinderella way. But the book is written very well as Balogh always does. She was always just outside a true Regency format by her introduction of physical love which is why her longer historical books are so great to read also. This book is just not one of my favorite plots or contains any unforgettable characters.

This book was a so-so read for me. It wasn't one of Baloigh's best but I liked the way the two main characters came together in the end despite many misunderstandings along the way. Not a keeper for me.