Simply Love by Mary Balogh

Narrated by Rosalyn Landor

Simply Love is the second book of the four that make up the Simply quartet of stories about a group of young women who teach at a girls’ school in Bath. We met Anne Jewell in the previous book (Simply Unforgettable) and learned that she has a young son, David, who lives with her at the school. Anne is an unmarried mother whose family turned their backs on her after her ‘disgrace’, and it is made clear quite early on in the book that David is the result of a rape that took place when Anne was around nineteen. David’s father is long-since dead, but his relation, Joshua Moore has been a good friend to Anne over the years, and it is thanks to him that Anne and David find themselves spending the summer at the Welsh estate of the Duke of Bewcastle.

Anne expects – and wants – to simply fade into the background and so is very surprised to find herself treated as a guest and invited to dine of an evening with the Duke and Duchess and their very extensive family. She tries to make herself scarce to start with, and it’s during an evening walk that she has taken in order to avoid making an appearance at the dinner table, that she encounters a stranger, a man whose profile is one of incredible beauty. When he turns to face her, however, she sees that the other side of his face is horribly scarred and that he is missing an eye and an arm. She is shocked into running away – only to feel so dreadfully ashamed that she decides she must return to the same spot to apologise. But the man is no longer there.

The last thing Anne expects is to encounter him again in the duke’s drawing room, so when he is introduced to her as Sydnam Butler, the duke’s steward, her composure is somewhat rattled. But she finds the opportunity to apologise for her behaviour on the night they first saw each other, and discovers that she enjoys talking to Mr. Butler, who immediately shows himself to be a kind, generous and very down-to-earth person in his speech and manner. Over the coming days and weeks, Anne and Sydnam are able to spend time walking about the estate talking and getting to know each other, becoming friends even as their growing awareness of one another develops into an intense attraction.

Both characters bear the scars of their respective pasts. Sydham was an officer in the army and was captured and tortured during the recent war, but when he returned home, he was determined not to be an object of pity and worked hard to adjust to his new circumstances. He can do almost everything someone with two arms and two eyes can do, and while he can never forget his injuries or how they were incurred, he is not given to fits of brooding and faces life and its challenges head on and with an outlook of general optimism. That’s not to say that he doesn’t have his own inner demons to face, though. Knowing how badly disfigured he is, he has resigned himself to a life alone, not wanting to ‘subject’ any woman to the sight or touch of his maimed body. And before he went to war, he wanted to be an artist, but now he can no longer paint. Even though he has learned to use his left hand to write, he refuses to try to paint again, afraid that the results will be horrible and that he will fail.

Anne has great strength of character and has made a good life for herself and her son, but she is still haunted by the rape and finds it difficult to contemplate the idea of physical intimacy. She also refuses to reconcile with her family; they disowned her and she wants nothing to do with them now, even though David is of an age to have started to ask questions about his relations, and why he doesn’t have a papa and cousins and grandparents like the Bedwyn children do.

As Anne and Sydnam become closer, they open up to each other as they have never done with anyone, and the depth of the understanding between them is so clearly conveyed as to be almost palpable. The way they work their way through each other’s barriers and help one another to overcome the things that are holding them back from real happiness is superbly written and there are moments – such as when Sydnam finally breaks down and confesses the truth to Anne about his reluctance to paint – which are profoundly moving. This ability to convey emotion, even about what can seem to be the smallest things, is one of Mary Balogh’s real strengths and is something I have latched on to in all the books of hers I have read or listened to. She has the ability to ground her characters and their emotional lives in reality in a way that not many romantic novelists do; she shows that families are not always easy and that relationships are messy, and that aspect of her writing is particularly apparent in Simply Love in the section towards the end. It’s difficult to write much without spoilers, but I’ve seen many reviews that criticise the way in which Anne finally comes to terms with her parents and siblings and say that things are settled too easily. I can agree with that to an extent, but mostly, it feels completely right. It’s NOT easy for Anne to do what she does, and things are not tied up in a neat bow. But that’s life – and I applaud the author for taking that stance, even though, yes, I couldn’t help being a little bit annoyed at the way Anne seems to accept her father’s explanation for what happened. But that’s the only thing I can find to criticise about this beautifully written and gently moving tale of two wounded souls finding each other and finding love.

Although this is not a brand new recording, the sound quality is absolutely fine and Rosalyn Landor shows yet again why she’s the narrator of choice for so many people when it comes to historical romance. Her mellifluous, contralto voice, her perfect enunciation and pacing, her ability to so clearly illuminate the inner lives and emotions of the characters… it all combines to make up yet another outstanding performance and a supremely ‘listenable’ addition to the growing catalogue of Mary Balogh audiobooks. There is a large secondary cast, principally consisting of the numerous members of the Bedwyn family (the author’s Slightly series is going to be re-released in audio from the end of September, I believe), and Ms. Landor differentiates between all of them very clearly, so that all the various ladies are distinguishable from each other, as are the gentlemen. From his lofty drawl, I could absolutely picture the auspicious Duke of Bewcastle and his infamous quizzing glass – but also glimpse the man beneath in the softer tones he adopts with his wife. Anne and Sydnam are perfectly portrayed, with Anne’s determination clearly audible beneath her softly-spoken dialogue, and Sydnam’s essential goodness – his gentleness and his humour – is clearly conveyed.

Simply Love is a deeply emotional romance that tugs at the heartstrings, brought to vibrant life by one of the best narrators around. Fans of historical romance shouldn’t miss it.

Caz

Narration: A

Book Content: A-

Steam Factor: Glad I had my earbuds in, but at the tame end

Violence Rating: None

Genre: Historical Romance

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Simply Love was provided to AudioGals by Tantor Audio for a review.