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92 of 94 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of Balogh's very best; poignant and heartwrenching, August 26, 2002
There aren't many writers of historical romances - especially set in the English Regency period - who can make their heroine a prostitute, have the reader know about it right from the start of the book, and not only get away with it, but have the readers on the heroine's side from the beginning. But Balogh's done it, and more than once too. The Secret Pearl opens with Adam, Duke of Raybourne, emerging from the Drury Lane Theatre, parting from his friends, and seeing a sad-looking prostitute standing in the shadows. Something makes him approach her; despite the fact that she isn't throwing out any lures to him at all, he hires her. And, despite the fact that sleeping with prostitutes isn't something he makes a habit of, he takes her to a room in a run-down inn to use her. This, we find, is Fleur's first night as a prostitute; having gone two days without food and unable to get a job, she has decided to sell the only remaining asset she has: herself. Her client, though, makes the experience almost as bad as it could possibly be: he is clinical and direct about what he wants, and - not knowing that Fleur is a virgin - he hurts her. Afterwards, Adam does feel some guilt, and he feeds Fleur as well as giving her three times as much money as she asked for. And then he sends his secretary to ensure that she is offered a job - as governess to his daughter. His motives, he assumes, are simply philanthropic: he hates the thought of a gentlewoman down on her luck having to survive on the streets, and he feels guilty for not having realised before it was too late that she wasn't accustomed to her trade. So Fleur takes up residence in the Duke of Raybourne's estate, delighted to have found a refuge both from her life in London and from the horrors from which she ran in the first place. Until the Duke of Raybourne comes home, and she discovers that he is the same man who fills her nightmares, the man who hurt her, the man who, in her dreams, rapes her nightly. And yet, as the days go by, he is also the man who comforts her, who protects her and who offers her a safe refuge. And there are many more complications in what is already a complex story: Adam, of course, is married, and he is an honourable man who will not betray his marriage vows, despite his lapse in London - the only time he has ever been unfaithful. And Fleur is running from a murder charge. And her tormentor is even closer than she imagines. Balogh creates a wonderful, believable portrait of what seems to be an impossible relationship. Adam, appallingly scarred both internally and externally as a result of Waterloo plus private torments, and who was cruelly rough with Fleur when he hired her as a prostitute, does not seem to be the ideal romantic hero - and yet he is, in every way. Fleur, a possible murderer, a prostitute, does not seem to be the ideal heroine, either - and yet she isn't at all what she seems, although she did certainly sell herself on the streets. But how is it possible that she could fall in love with the man who haunts her nightmares? How could a decent, married man fall in love with another woman? But Balogh pulls it off so convincingly that I could barely put the book down. The Secret Pearl is a classic which will have you reading breathlessly, eager to find out what happens next. It's poignant, heartwrenching and utterly romantic, and it's a classic. I can't for the life of me imagine why Balogh's current publisher hasn't tried to reissue this; it would be yet another best-seller for her. As it is, the best you can do is to buy it second-hand, if you can get hold of it - and that's not easy, because those of us who do have it will NOT let go of it!
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56 of 58 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I know why this book won for best regency romance that year, December 3, 2001
The Secret Pearl is Mary Balogh at her best. The Secret Pearl is romance at it's best! I finished this book last night hours after I should have been asleep. When I can't put the book down like this, I know it's a 5 star read. Adam is scarred from his battle in Waterloo but he is scarred on the inside too. When this Duke sees a quiet unassuming prostitute standing in the shadows of a theatre, he is drawn to her although he has remained faithful to his marriage vows since he married the current duchess 5 years before. He doesn't know why the prostitute stays on his mind after their fateful night but we find out as he eventually does that he was meant for her and she for him. The prostitute is Fleur, a lady down on her luck or so it would seem. Fate, it seems had let Adam and Fleur down for many years but smiles on Adam and Fleur on this fateful night. Of course Adam and Fleur would disagree then that fate was smiling on them. For that is the night that Fleur decided she was not going to go without food for the 3rd day in a row. She can live or die and she makes her choice to live knowing that the only thing she had to sell at that point was her body. The employment agency had all but laughed in her face when she sought employment without references. She tells Adam that she had been standing there for a day or so but noone else had wanted her. Adam doesn't wonder why as he looks Fleur over and notices her dull scraggly hair, her thin and drawn body, and her dried cracked lips. Adam and Fleur are complex characters, much more than the usual two dimensional characters we get from your average romance that is churned out every month. Even the villians aren't just evil for the sake of being evil. They are also complex and most have their reasons for their weaknesses. Adam is not a martyre. Nor is he perfect. He is simply an honorable man. (I don't want to spoil anything for those about to read the book but I don't like men who cheat so don't think you'll have to accept any less in this book if you're of the same nature. When I say honorable, I mean it in every way) Fleur has every reason to believe Adam is a monster based on her first impression of him. The romance is about how Fleur gets to know Adam and he her. But more than anything it's about two people who should have nothing in common but has one main thing in common: Neither have been loved nor cared for in a very long time although they are themselves loving and caring people. I love it when the man shares his feelings with the love of his life. And I love the way the story is told. You get her side and then his side but it's done so smoothly you don't feel any inturruptions or jerks in the telling of the love story. When he declared his feelings to Fleur and her vision became blurred, so did mine. I'll admit it. I cried. But I cried because it was such a well written book. But Mary always draws me in emotionally like that. And it's not the heavy drepressing felt emotions, the kind that I can only handle now & then. (this is a true romance, not a tear-jerker docu-drama) This is light enough for a warm all over kind of feeling. But don't be misled about this being a complex book as far as reading it goes. There are no prerequisite readings, you don't have to recall your history lessons, you do not have to read the first 100 pages before you get to the real story. This book allows one to escape to a different world that Mary is so good at delivering and as usual, you're already involved in the story from Chapter one. If you're a Mary addict like I am, then this is a must read for you. This book is definitely one of my top 5 Mary Balogh books from a list of 43 books I've already read of hers. If you're new to Mary, I urge you to get this book and catch up on your sleeping and chores before you start THE SECRET PEARL because you won't be able to put the book down once you start!
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23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful!, April 17, 2006
This review is from: The Secret Pearl (Mass Market Paperback)
Last spring, I read Mary Balogh's More Than a Mistress and loved it, but was disappointed with No Man's Mistress and decided not to bother with Balogh again. However, someone told me about The Secret Pearl and how I should read it because it is a beautiful story that is also quite historically accurate to boot. I couldn't find this so-called gem for a while and gave up. But I bought it the second I heard that the book had been reprinted. My friend had been right! This is one beautiful, tragic, heartbreaking love story of star-crossed lovers and unrequited love with an amazing eye on historical detail. Isabella Fleur Bradshaw has reached her last resort. Having escaped from her home after tragedy strikes, she is starving and penniless and has resorted to the last and most unwanted option: to become a whore. She meets a dark, brooding, scarred gentleman one evening outside a theater. She sells her body for the first and only time. The experience is dark and sordid and one she doesn't wish to repeat again. She especially doesn't want to see the scary scarred man again. But when she accepts the position as a five-year-old girl's governess one week later, she discovers that not only is the scarred man her new employer, but that he is also Adam Kent, the Duke of Ridgeway, husband and father. Seeing him awakens her nightmares from that terrible night and she fears him and is repulsed by him. Slowly, however, she discovers a different side of the duke. Reluctant, these two tortured souls find themselves becoming closer to one another, but they both have secrets, secrets that are worse than breaking the rules of propriety. There are many twists throughout the novel.
As I read this novel, I remembered the reason why I enjoyed More than a Mistress so much -- Balogh's beautiful, fluid prose. She makes you feel the time period and the emotions the characters go through. This is Regency England through and through and at times I felt as though I was reading Jane Eyre. Rules of propriety are brought up a lot in this novel, and some people may find it overwrought, but those were the ways of the time and I for one am glad that Balogh hadn't ignored them. Some authors choose style over substance when it comes time to writing a historical romance novel, and that is why most of said novels only succeed in pulling the reader out of the story. Fleur is kind of frustrating at times. For a large portion of the book, you will read about her fear of Adam and how she thinks that all of his selfless acts are attempts to turn her into his mistress, though that is not the case, for Adam is an honorable man who, aside from that one night, has been faithful to his selfish wife. I understood Fleur's fear and wariness of the duke, for their first encounter is quite dark and awful. In fact, that opening chapter sets quite a dark tone for the novel and that scene of them together at the inn was, as said earlier, sordid (to put some potential readers at ease, Adam does not rape Fleur). But I forgave Adam for his behavior quite soon. Yes, what he does at the inn is hurtful and wrong, but he had his own personal reasons for behaving the way he did. Adam becomes almost a saint in his efforts to make up for his mistake, and his efforts go a long way towards endearing him to the reader, but when you get right down to it, he's too good to be true. Men like that don't really exist. (If only!) But that is what makes him appealing. I wish he had more backbone when it came to handling his wife though. All in all, he is a redeemed hero in more ways than one. The secondary characters -- namely Lady Pamela (Adam's daughter), Sybil (the duchess), and Thomas Kent (Adam's brother) and Matthew (Fleur's obsessed guardian) -- are well-drawn and have many layers and nuances. Matthew, Sybil and Thomas aren't sympathetic characters by a long shot, but they aren't cardboard cutout villains either, not in the slightest. I think readers will love this heart wrenching romance of two star-crossed lovers who fall in love despite numerous obstacles, but readers will also be drawn to the historical aspect of the novel. Mary Balogh is a master storyteller that pulls you into the story and doesn't let go until its final pages. The Secret Pearl is a memorable gem and I look forward to reading more of the author's books. I cannot recommend this book enough!
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