Books like Murmur of Rain by Patricia Vaughn are why I adore the romance genre. Published by Pocket Books in 1996, this novel fascinated me with its mBooks like Murmur of Rain by Patricia Vaughn are why I adore the romance genre. Published by Pocket Books in 1996, this novel fascinated me with its mesmerizing storytelling. From the first page, the exquisite prose of this Gothic/Bodice Ripper/ historical romance seized my attention.
Lauren Dufort, a black French woman in Paris in 1891, captures the heart of the cultured and wealthy Roget de Martier with her beauty and talent for music. She is introduced to an exotic world across the sea at Roget’s plantation home, Villa de Martier. Lauren will be caught in an evil web of familial entanglements where darkness rules the day.
MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD
The Setup
Murmur of Rain has a rich cast of characters whose lives we encounter throughout Lauren and Roget’s love story. When the book opens, an awful tragedy will impact the heroine’s life.
A run-away trolley roars down the street and crashes into a group of pedestrians. One unfortunate woman is crushed under the wheels and horses’ hooves. The woman had been carrying a babe in her arms, and before the trolley ran her over, she instinctively threw her child into the crowd. As if guided by Providence, an onlooker was able to catch the child.
A boy watching the horrible events recognizes the dying African woman as the wife of a local French clerk.
The clerk, Jean Dufort, arrives too late and sobs as he sees his wife’s broken body. The woman who saved his daughter passes the infant into her father’s arms. As the weeping Jean embraces his child, he realizes he must do all that’s possible for his daughter to prosper now that her mother, Ndate, is dead.
The babe is Lauren Dufort, who grows to be a stunning young lady.
The Plot
Lauren Dufort, Our Heroine
After the opening, Lauren stands on the docks of Le Havre, about to set sail to the Caribbean with her new husband, Roget. Patricia Vaughn weaves in and out of the “present” and the past with flashbacks for the reader to relive Lauren’s and Roget’s whirlwind romance.
Lauren’s father was not wealthy, but he worked hard to send her to a fine boarding school. There, Lauren feels like an outsider due to her poor station. Although she has a friend or two, her only joy is learning to play the piano, and she becomes an accomplished performer.
Soon after Lauren leaves school, her father passes away. She goes to live with his sister, Claude, who runs a popular hôtel. Claude throws lavish parties that attract an eclectic array of customers.
The older woman loves her niece dearly but knows Lauren’s future holds few possibilities for happiness. As mulâtresse with soft seal-brown curls, honey-gold skin, and hazel eyes, Lauren is stunning. Nevertheless, her racial heritage precludes her from meeting a marriageable man of quality.
So Lauren uses her talent as a pianist to support herself in her aunt’s hôtel. It is only during those moments that Lauren does find that elusive happiness.
An Unlikely Proposal of Love
While alive, Jean Dufort bemoaned the unfairness that his daughter had few opportunities in life--despite her beauty, excellent manners, and good education. If Lauren had been male, more avenues would have been open to her in French Society (as there had been for the biracial grandson of a slave, Alexandre Dumas, author of The Three Musketeers, and for his Alexandre Dumas fils as well).
But as a mixed-race black woman, much of polite society was closed to her.
One night a handsome, elegant man dressed in finery and accompanied by gentlemanly friends comes to the hôtel. Transfixed, he watches Lauren perform. She, too, is immediately enchanted by this glorious male and hopes he returns to see her perform again.
The gentleman does just that and introduces himself to Lauren as Roget de Martier of Haiti.
Roget and Lauren cannot deny their attraction to one another. He sweeps her off her feet in a whirlwind courtship, and they hastily marry. Lauren is on cloud nine, ecstatic and in love, thinking little of the world she leaves behind as she and Roget set sail for his plantation home.
Arrival in The Land of High Mountains
At first, Lauren is excited to see Villa de Martier and only dreams of the pleasure she and her husband will share there.
However, beneath the affluent exterior of the plantation lies a troubled family history. Roget has two brothers, the older and menacing Gaston–who is married to the well-pedigreed Reinette–and the younger, effete, and very unmarried Antoine. Also residing at Villa de Martier is their mother, Madame de Martier, a widow of eleven years, whose secret drinking habit is perhaps the worst-kept of the family’s many secrets.
As the second son of one of Haiti’s most prominent families, Roget shocks everyone when he introduces his bride–a mulatto with no name or fortune–to Haitian Society. Due to her origins as a daughter of an African slave and a French nobody, Lauren finds herself ostracized by the class-conscious elite.
Moreover, she struggles against Roget’s overbearing relatives. Lauren is used as a pawn in the games of familial strife. Far from finding a loving home, evil lurks everywhere at Villa de Martier. There is hostility from all corners, although she finds an ally in Antoine, who has his own secrets.
And then there is Lucienne, Roget’s erstwhile lover. Or is she still his current mistress?
The Specter of le Diable
Within the Haitian nights’ darkness is the creeping specter of demonic elements. Is someone using "voodoo" to harm the family? When unpredictable deaths hit close to home, the danger must be rooted in occult forces!
As troubles set in, a divide grows between Lauren and the husband she desperately adores. She experiences Roget’s cold neglect even as she carries out her assigned duties at the plantation. This estrangement allows for lust-crazed Gaston to do his worst to Lauren.
Yes, the heroine is raped in this book–not just by her lecherous brother-in-law. Later, a furious Roget brutally forces himself upon his adoring wife, proving that he, too, is as monstrous as dark creatures that dwell within the jungle depths.
Lauren’s determination and faith in what is right keep her motivated. She can forgive her husband’s ill-use of her; she can overlook his infidelities. However, she cannot live with his contempt and lack of love for her. She vows to conquer the demons that haunt him and reclaim their passion.
Can she uncover the heart of the mysteries that haunt the Villa de Martier? And can she make her marriage a lasting, happy one, despite all the obstacles they face?
A devastating force of nature eventually drives home the reality of life: that all things must come to their eventual end.
Heat Level
Steam Factor: not steaming hot like Haitian tropical Summers, but warm like French Mediterranean Springs.
Final Analysis of Murmur of Rain
Vaughn’s attention to detail brings the exotic and lush world of Haiti and France to life. She delves deep into cultural nuances, political systems, economy, and Society while also exploring the disparities between wealthy sectors and those with fewer means.
Readers learn about other important aspects of Haitian society, such as slavery practices and how men of European heritage had mistresses and “wives” through the Plaçage system. We see the destruction of Haiti’s rainforests to sell lumber, leaving the land vulnerable to floods and depleted of essential nutrients for farming.
The plot is full of mystery, causing one to wonder why Roget behaves as he does. Only little by little is the truth revealed. This is an exciting and unputdownable read. I loved Lauren, who was a gentle soul, but also a resilient one.
For those readers who love epic historical novels that feature twists and turns, plus themes that examine the darker aspects of human relationships, I heartily recommend Murmur of Rain.
The Gothic tone, the bodice-ripper elements, the delicate yet resilient heroine, the vivid characterization, the attention to historical attitudes and details, and the intense love story combine to make a remarkable and compelling tale—a powerful testament to Patricia Vaughn’s skills as a novice author.
Simply put, Murmur of Rain is a must-read for anyone who loves a captivating and emotionally charged romance.
“You make love like a demimondaine, fall on your face like a schoolgirl, and still manage to behave like a lady in the salon. My ancestors will probably rise from their graves…but ma chérie, I would not trade you for all the black gold in Haiti. I want to live with you, make love with you, fight with you, and die with you…if our Father in heaven so desires.”
Lauren’s graceful fingers closed around his, and as their hands clung to each other in an embrace, Lauren knew heaven had granted him that wish.
WARNING: THIS REVIEW AND/OR THIS BOOK MIGHT OFFEND YOU. (MAYBE.)
Passion's Wicked Torment is a balls-to-wall 20th-century bodice ripper set in the gan WARNING: THIS REVIEW AND/OR THIS BOOK MIGHT OFFEND YOU. (MAYBE.)
Passion's Wicked Torment is a balls-to-wall 20th-century bodice ripper set in the gangster era during American Prohibition. From New York to Chicago, from Alaska to Europe, this book hops around the globe and features lots of mutually lusty sex scenes, rapes, and gangbangs. It stars a heroine so stupid and dumb, she could only have been written by Mr. Melissa Hepburne himself, the author of the blockbuster bestseller (I'm not kidding, it sold over a million copies!) Passion's Proud Captive.
Our heroine, Kristin, is perhaps an IQ point or two higher than Passion's Proud Captive's brainless Jenny-fair, whose stupidity made that book a hilarious blast. Now, I am not insulting our resilient sisters and aunts and mothers and grandmothers of the past when I refer to Hepburne's heroines as too-stupid-to-live. This so-called historical fictional romance plays fast and loose with history, waffles around on the romance, and is HEAVY on the fiction. I doubt many women in reality who were capable of dressing themselves or had the mental know-how to expel their body wastes in a bowl of some sort ever inserted themselves into the moronic situations these caricatures of female protagonists did.
Here the heroine's so dumb, and the action so predictable, yet somehow compelling, it's like watching multiple gory car-wrecks in slow-mo, one after another, after another.
Kristin's brother gets kidnapped by a bunch of mafiosos. She has the brilliant idea to infiltrate a mobster's club to find out where he is. Of course, Kristin has to get a makeover and change her persona. She's a long-haired, virginal good girl, and that won't do as she plans to sink her hooks into the head Capo, become his moll, and use her wiles to find her brother.
So she enters the club with her new fake identity & cozies up to the owner of a club, this hood, Hunter What's-his-name, to find who kidnapped her brother. With her gorgeous blonde looks, it's as easy as cream pie to get into his bed. But Hunter gets angry with her when Kristin asks too many questions about his illegal biz while in bed. Newbie mistake; pillow talk is for AFTER sex, not during!
Hunter is a real Eye-talian with a dash of British panache. The next morning at breakfast "Hunter ordered for both of them: scrambled eggs, spaghetti, sausage and buttered rolls. He also ordered kippers for himself, a smoked fish that was an English specialty."
Kristen sort of becomes Hunter's gal, but she's looking for bigger fish because she needs to get to the ultimate leader to find out what happened to her brother. Ironman is the top cat, and if anyone knows where bro-bro is, it would be he. So despite her burgeoning feelings for Hunter, she pursues Ironman, and that plan falls apart in spectacular fashion.
For you see, our hero Hunter is really a Fed, working undercover to infiltrate the mob. He, like Kristin, wants to find her brother, who is being held prisoner for reasons I forget but don't really matter as this plot is (I'm not sorry to use this word) retarted (the misspelling is intentional).
Ironman finds out Kristin is not who she says she is, so he does some pretty nasty things to her. He has her drugged, up, chained to a bed, and forced into a vile porno with a sadistic creep. Things go from worse to worst for our heroine with a plan that's not a plan.
Kristen gets kidnapped, Hunter has to save her.
Kristen gets kidnapped, Hunter has to save her.
Kristen gets kidnapped, Hunter has to save her.
Oh, did I repeat myself? Well, that's what this story does, too.
Through various convoluted contrivances, Kristin finds herself in Alaska, where she meets a great bear of a man, McShane, a former Canadian Mountie. She and McShane enter a partnership to start a gambling house. They also get involved in a love affair with each other. McShane was the most decent character in this alleged romance novel and should have been the hero. This was the third Hepburne book I've read, so going by pattern, it seems s/he was setting McShane up to be the hero for a next book that never materialized (Hunter, this book's male protagonist, and had been the "other" guy in a previous novel).
Really, in this brief portion of the book, Hepburne shows s/he's capable of writing decent characters and a somewhat believable romance. "This was incredible. [Kristin] was surprising herself as well as McShane. Not only by her professions of caring for him deeply, but also by her strength and refusal to submit quietly. She felt more like a real woman now than she ever had before, a strong-willed woman who knew what she wanted and went after it."
Ah, if only. Kristen should have stayed in Alaska. But remember, she has to find her brother, Mr. MacGuffin. So she returns to the mobsters' world, and she and McShane buy a ship to use for illegal gambling and drinking off the coast of Long Island.
Alas, those plans fall apart, as the mob doesn't like competition, and Hunter again comes to the rescue. More plot shit is flung at the proverbial walls.
Kristin sells her share of the casino ship to McShane and flees to Europe to party her sorrows away.
An unusual aspect of this book is that the author Melissa Hepburne, whose real name is Craig Broude, literally self-inserts himself into the story to have a gang-bang sex scene with the heroine. It's tongue-in-cheek but also rather sad, as Kristin drinks, parties, and sleeps with various men in an attempt to forget all the hurts committed upon her body and spirit.
When Kristin finds out that Hunter is looking for her, she asks Broude, or Brady, as he's called in the story, to make him scarce: "Would Brady succeed in throwing him off her trail? Probably, she thought. Her American friend was a very smart man and could be extremely cunning and crafty when he put his mind to it. The reward she promised him would certainly motivate him to do his devious best, that she was sure of."
Eventually, Kristin finds her way back to the States, sober and resolved. Hunter is there for her, and the two rekindle their romance (What romance, you might ask? Don't. Just roll with it.).
But uh-uh-uh, there are still evil goons after them. Fortunately, the true hero of this book, McShane, who truly loves that silly do-do bird, shows up in his boat and saves the day, allowing for Hunter and Kristin to live their lives happily ever after.
Oh, and as for the brother Kristin was searching for, and the whole reason she was embroiled in this ridiculous mess? Ignominously killed off partway through the book and long-forgotten by the end.
Melissa Hepburne only published four romances, but they were successful enough to put some serious cash into Craig Broude's pockets. Good for him, I say. For despite being lackluster love stories, they were some seriously whacktastic reads I was glad to experience. Passion's Wicked Torment, his final bodice ripper, wasn't as fun or shocking as Passion's Proud Captive, his first, so that it might have been a case of diminishing returns. Still, for the not-easily offended reader, these books made for wild rides.
Wendy, Lady Evelyn Quince
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