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Title: To Have and To Hold (Victorian Trilogy)
ISBN: 0451405358
Author:
Patricia Gaffney
Publicate Date: 1995-09-01
Publish: 1995-09-01
List Price: $5.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $10.99
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $0.01
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1: Heroine is inspirational but the hero not so much
Well, I'm glad I borrowed this book instead of shelling out money for it because although intriguing this book would not go on my keeper shelf, a one time read is enough. I had major problems with the hero of this book.
Titled, wealthy and jaded Sebastian saves Rachel Wade, a recently released convict from another stint in jail by offering her a position as his housekeeper. He is interested in this beaten down, tired, harassed woman who can find no gainful employment. She is shiftless and no one else is willing to hire her because she was convicted of murdering her husband ten years ago. Sebastian's interest is solely sexual and he really sees her as a challenge.
Rachel is truly a pathetic person at first. She had no personality because prison had robbed her of any spark of joy or creativity. It is almost painful to read how indecisive and vulnerable she is. Sebastian is the very worst type of employer. He forces himself on her and reading about it was depressing. Poor Rachel had no options because she feared she would lose her job and her stoicism of the act is heartbreaking. I absolutely hated Sebastian for being so terrible to her and using his position to undermine what little freedom and choice she had.
After he subjects Rachel to ridicule he comes to himself and decides to be kind to her and treat her as a human being with feelings and thoughts. Rachel is grateful for the change and slowly they begin a romance that somehow became believable. (I was shocked that Sebastian was able to somewhat redeem himself.) He still states offhanded hurtful things but also does some heartwarming acts too.
Rachel is considerate but still undeniably in a state of confusion about Sebastian's intentions. She cannot accurately gauge the depth of his feelings at all and Sebastian forgets that Rachel is really unschooled in the art of reading people's faces or intentions.
This book is memorable because Rachel is an inspiring heroine but the first half is incredibly disturbing and quite truthfully some revelations toward the end are disturbing too. Even though this is well written, I find that I cannot give this a four or five star rating due to the hero's actions.
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2: Characters from mental hospitals and prisons.
The author knows little of the human mind and behavior, especially in terms of minds of the sexually abused (Rachel) and minds of those capable of abusing them (Sebastian). Simply put, in real life, Rachel would be in a psychiatric hospital getting treatment and Sebastian would be in prison for multiple rape and battery counts.
The prognosis for either changing totally would be improbable. Any change would take lots of hard work on both sides by them wanting to get better for change AND requiring efforts from those knowing how to help both of them.
I'm not saying a story such as theirs could never happen, it could-- in fact, it does, it's just extremely ugly. Because Rachel's damage would feed Sebastian's sickness, spiraling into a more damaged Rachel and an even more twisted Sebastian. We've all seen it on the six O'clock news, just to have it romanticized in a book is disturbing. And wrong! And well, misleading in a damn near negligent way.
So no Virginia, a man capable of raping a woman in Chapter 3 does not develop a soul and be nice by Chapter 20, and a woman who's been sexually abused by more than one man does not develop normal sexual behaviors & orgasms in the presence of said man, much less him slapping on his own version of 'sexual healing'.
Again, this is NOT how human's work-- a damaged woman with a dark history can't be the savior of a selfish, mean spirited man.
For someone like Rachel to heal, she'd need time, autonomy and freedom. And bluntly, a decent amount of asexual time and total rescripting of her sexual memories. For someone like Sebastian to become human, he'd also need a crisis that would cause a need to change and a woman that he couldn't abuse. So, for their relationship to start with rape? And for her to 'heal' and him to become 'good' is just horsefeathers!
I guess for me, reading this was like reading how someone poured gasoline on a floor and put a match to it--- but instead of a conflagration, you get pixie dust. Or a book where someone climbs Mt. Everest in 3 days in a bikini. Insane, unresearched and total fantasy. And scary too that people would actually believe it would happen, just because it was written believably.
So for me,it was an extremely dark, unpleasant and problematic read requiring more suspension of disbelief than I am capable of providing.
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3: Truly Unforgettable Characters!
What an astonishing book this is. I read a lot of romance and mostly they are forgettable stock characters doing the same things over and over. Occasionally a book comes along that has such unique characters and riveting storyline that you will never forget it. These two characters have imprinted themselves on my mind forever.
I had no problem with the dark beginning, it was what made the book truly great. The risks Ms. Gaffney took in having Sebastian take advantage of Rachel drew criticism from some of the reviewers but I thought he was magnificent. Rachel was so withdrawn within herself and damaged by her years in prison that it would have taken someone as ruthless as Sebastian to draw her out. Did he take advantage of her precarious position in his household? Yes. Did he rape her? No. I don't think so. These two were bonded from the very start and Sebastian was probably the only man who was tough enough to reach her. Any man who came along too tenderhearted and afraid of pushing her was never going to overcome the wounds her abusive husband had left on her. She was never going to be coaxed out of the shell she'd built, she had to be bludgeoned out. And Sebastian was just the man for the job.
Rachel knew that too. That's why she didn't really fight him when he took her the first time. And Lord have mercy were those some sexy love scenes! Rachel's vulnerability coupled with strength made watching her slowly come back to life a joy to witness. Seeing her effect on the jaded, bored nobleman, knowing that she is saving him just as much as he is saving her was delicious reading at its finest.
This is a book not to be passed up. Buy it, read it, keep it forever because you'll want to read it again.
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4: Props to Gaffney for daring to be dark
Sometimes I think we allow our modern sensibilities overtake our abilities to see an unusual character study and appreciate it for what it is - an absorbing look at what motivates people and what changes them. Sebastian, at the start of this book, is very dark, indeed. He sees the heroine more as an object and a curious amusement than as a human being, and acts accordingly. That changes when he is afforded a chance to see himself in the odious behavior of others. The second half of this book is lushly romantic as a woman emerges from a dark cocoon, and a man too long comfortable in the dark comes into the light as well.
This is a marvelous book that moved me to tears several times. Patricia Gaffney is a very daring writer. She dared to write ugly, in order to write beauty. Adult readers should be able to take it, if they can suspend the playing of those social tapes we all have running through our heads.
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5: a book that nobody can like
Here's the problem with To Have and To Hold. If you like the first half, you won't like the second half. If you like the second half, you won't like the first half.
The first half has Sebastian as this self-indulgent aristocrat who happens to be amazingly lucid - the sections of the book written from his POV are just gripping. He's blithe and bitter and although he has a dark sense of humor, he's not a brooder.
During this time Rachel is a withdrawn, dead-in-spirit woman who has no pride and not much sense of self. She's been in a prison for ten years and whatever happens at Sebastian's house, it's better than prison.
So for the first half of the book, Sebastian is playing a cat-and-mouse game with Rachel. He pretty much rapes her; he certainly gets off on her fear of him. Gaffney does a really good job showing how his emotions are getting involved without his being aware of it, it's a very convincing transformation. On the other hand, any kind thoughts Rachel has about Sebastian make no sense at all and sound pretty awkward.
So that's the first half. And then, in order to make up for how bad Sebastian was, and give Rachel reason for fall for him, Sebastian has his awakening, he realizes what a jerk he's been, he decides to be better. From that point on he is a puppy dog. He does nothing but think of ever-more-sensitive gifts for Rachel; the sex is gentle, and then gentler; he's always having warm fuzzy thoughts and smiling.
Meanwhile, Rachel is reborn - comes to life again after her years in prison - and although I admit that she has plenty of reason to be wary around Sebastian, she does all the things that I can't stand it when heroines do: Sebastian says one dumb thing and she's going to storm out forever and apologies will never be enough; she refuses a marraige proposal because it's too late.
If you enjoyed the cat-and-mouse game, all the snoozy gushing at the end is a bore. But if you like tender meetings of the mind and heart, the mental and physical violence of the first half is offensive.
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