Forbidden Places

Forbidden Places: A Novel - Penny Vincenzi

The title of this book sounds like it would be something of a Harlequin Romance with lots of lust and seduction. I suppose it contained a bit of that but this was just a good, engrossing novel. Taking place in England during the war, it is the story of three women and their struggle and survival during the war. While some might say it wasn't much struggle, since they all come from or married into privilege, it does portray well what life might have been like for women of their class during the era.

 

Grace finds it difficult to find her own voice with a demanding husband and overbearing mother-in-law. Florence's husband is abusive in a time where women don't talk and complain of such things. She tries to find the courage to make a different life for herself. Clarissa is the social butterfly, beautiful, charming without a care in the world.  She is faced with a tragedy that forces her to prove she is more than a pretty face.

 

Not friends at first, these women learn to depend and gain strength from each other as they discover independence and confidence during difficult times. Through this they find out the meaning of genuine friendship.