Customer Reviews

To Love and to Cherish

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book was a delight to read because of Patricia Gaffney's beautiful prose and the unusual story line. The hero in this story, Christy, is a not a typical historical romance rakehell but, in fact, a vicar in a small town. The heroine, Anne (Lady D'Aubrey) is Christy's childhood best friend's unhappy, cynical wife. The characters are amazingly well drawn and sympathetic even in their faults. The friendship that develops between Anne and Christy and their eventual mutual (and, of course, forbidden!) attraction is very believable. I *loved* the character of Christy, a truly honorable and good man, full of good humor and optimism. What a refreshing change from the the usual angst-ridden libertine nobleman hero of most historical romances (actually the sequel to this book, "To Have and To Hold", features such a hero and is also an excellent, but much darker, book)!
Bravo to Patricia Gaffney! This book is a real treasure and the memorable characters will stay with you long after those from other books have faded into oblivion.

"To Love and Cherish" is a lovely book - in the author's note, Gaffney says that she was using Thomas Hardy as a model and trying to capture a moment of rural prosperity and peace before the great upheavals of the industrial revolution. Both of these things really come through; the countryside, the changing of the seasons, the beauty of nature is so present, so lovingly described in the book that it's like a third major character, with Christy and Anne.

And it's a very sweet book, too. It would have to be - the hero, Christy, is a humble, intelligent, thoughtful, moral vicar. He's so lacking in guile and cynicism that he's almost simple, so honest and generous that he can be gullible.

Anne is, essentially - not as worldly as she thinks she is. She's lived an itinerant life, half-abandoned by an artist father who paid no attention to her and totally abandoned by a husband who really paid no attention to her. She's made do for herself and her bohemian upbringing has at least on the surface left her with a permissive, athiestic code of morals.

Much of the book takes place through Anne's diary entries (it switches between the diary and a straight omniscient narrative) and these are really beautiful - both Christy and Anne are amateur artists and so Anne's diary is vivid and colorful, with lovely allusions; it also sets a tone of keen self-reflection - she is brutally honest with herself, a little wry as well.

The novel is very character driven and the romance between Christy and Anne proceeds very slowly. Because Anne is married for much of the book, what you really read is the birth of a friendship; both of them finding, where they least expect it, a valuable and necessary companion. This slow, guarded approach, mixed with the lush and almost haunting description of the beauties of the countryside, gives the book a sort of dreamy and very idyllic feeling. It's like a song about a shephard and a shephardess, singing in the fields to one another - that kind of glittering pastoral innocence.

I'm not giving this book five stars for several reasons. I didn't really like Anne's conversion; it bothered me that while Christy is steady as a rock, the foundations of Anne's character shift a great deal over the course of the novel (the more superficial aspects of her personality remain intact). Second, I can believe that Anne will be happy in a little village, that she grew deeply invested in the people and activities that mark village life - but I was put off by the rejection of travel that comes at the end of the book. It sets up an either/or dichotomy that I found really disappointing. Finally, the last section of the book - which, unlike the rest, is full of typical-for-a-romance adventure and adrenaline - felt like a betrayal of the book that Gaffney had started out writing.

This is the first book I read authored by Patricia Gaffney. A few years back, a sales woman at a used book store recommended this and the other two books in the Wyckerley triology. She is now one of my favorite authors. Although I like her most recent contemporary books, her older books, including this which are set in the past are her best in my opinion. They are better because in spite of the historical setting, the characters in her older books have current sensibilities and face timeless problems. Also, because they are set in a previous era, her older books don't have the pop culture references that make any contempory romance not just her books seem dated as soon as they are published.

To Love and Cherish is about Christy and Anne. This book is a world apart from other books of this genre. Ms. Gaffney authors with such a light touch and uses a gentle sense of humour that time is suspended while you are reading her books. How Christy reconciles his vocation with his love for Anne, a childhood friend's wife makes for a great plot--hard to put down. The suspense of "will they or won't they" holds up until the last page. You don't want to leave Wyckerly when this book is over and surprise! you don't have to! She has two other books set in this English town. Some of the characters you've met and some are new. So you can enjoy your stay in Wyckerly for a good long time.

This book is delightful, beguiling and well written.
The romance is between a vicar and his childhood friend's wife (not as sordid as it sounds)! It is a gentle, sweet story that stays with you long after you read it. The author draws you into the story with believable and well written main and secondary characters centered on the little village. It is a refreshing story, no game playing between hero and heroine, and no torrid characters that hate each other at first. Just a mesmerizing story and wonderful read. This book is one in a trilogy of the village of Wyckerly. The next book To Have and Hold is much darker and different than this one but also worth the read.

Who needs legions of skanky rakes when you can have Christian Morrell? One of the most original, romantic, sexy heroes I've had the good fortune to read about. He's a country vicar of all things. Doesn't sound very sexy does it? He's practically a saint, but I don't resent him for it, because he's so very human at the same time, so very normal and ordinary in the best sense of the word, with his sense of humor, his foibles, doubts, fears, and inadequacies. He's not a lofty duke with the world at his fingertips, mountains of money, and hoards of women panting after him (though all the young things in the village do pine for him.) I should be embarrassed by how much I love this fictional character, but I'm not. He's such a good man. I'm especially impressed by how religion is woven throughout the story and the romance - it's the foundation of who Christy is, (obviously) directs the course of his relationship with the heroine, and raises a lot of the issues with which they have to grapple individually and as a couple. But never once does it seem heavy handed or preachy. Completely the opposite, it's all part and parcel of a beautiful story, a moving romance. It also makes the book seem that much more realistic, because Victorian England was very religious after all, and rarely is this addressed in romances.

Anne Verlaine is Christy's opposite in faith and temperament. Cynical, wounded, atheistic, she comes to his small country parish as the wife of Geoffrey Verlaine, Lord D'Aubrey, the local lord, who's recently inherited the estate and title upon the death of his father. Prior to their arrival, Geoffrey has been estranged from his disapproving father, living a life of dissipation and debauchery when he's not racing off to the far reaches of the empire to fight in whatever war that's at hand. We get snippets of Anne's diary interspersed with the third person narration - an interesting and engaging way to give us a more in depth view of her character. She's funny, irreverent, suffering and vulnerable, but strong. Despite the many obstacles standing between her and Christy - just imagine the torture, the forbidden nature of their love while she's married, not to mention all the baggage that she carries with her as well - they are perfect for each other. Life in the "provincial" parish and her friendship with Christy bring out the best in Anne, heal and strengthen her. Their love has such dramatic highs and lows, as well as the mellow, tender calmness in between. Added to which, Patricia Gaffney writes so beautifully - her style is rich, vivid, almost lyrical, and gets to the heart and soul of her characters. No one is painted in the broad, crude strokes of black or white. Not even Geoffrey, who commits some heinous acts and is very disturbing, can be called the villain. The sundry cast of village residents is also skillfully brought to life, so that there's a tangible sense of community that broadens the scope of Anne and Christy's romance. The prose is equally evocative when it comes to painting scene and atmosphere, to exploring and recreating the countryside, the pastoral idyll of Victorian England. Patricia Gaffney is definitely one of my favorite authors now. To Love and to Cherish, as a romance, is in a league of its own.

Anne and Christy are soooo wonderful. This is a book I read over and over. It's perfect, wonderful, deeply moving. The characters are so human, and their love story will stay with you forever. Don't miss!!!

I could not imagine that someone could write a vicar as the perfect hero of a wonderful romance but that is just what Patricia Gaffney has done. Christy is divine in more ways than one!! I'm not sure exactly how she does it but the character of Christy never sets a foot wrong and is funny, human, sexy, fallible and just plain georgeous all the way through. Anne is the more complex character in this story but they match each other very well. There are some great dark elements in the plot - mainly thanks to Anne's husband Geoffrey - and a few unexpected twists but this is a truly memorable love story, very moving and I highly recommend it.

Great value - good condition except for limited yellowing on the edges of some of the pages. Better World Books is the place to GO for a bargain!