The Lily Brand
Sandra Schwab
ISBN# 0-8439-5552-X
Leisure, 2005, 310 pages
Regency
$5.99 US, $7.99 CAN
Reviewed by Dorie
August 2005
A prisoner of war held captive in France, Troy Sacheverell, is in for a much more disturbing outcome. He is purchased by a sick and twisted widow, Camille, for her stepdaughter, so that she can turn him into a slave. After surviving through war and imprisonment, Troy should have been weak, but he still had fight in him and would not submit easily, least of all to a young girl who was to make him hers.
Lillian would like nothing more than to leave her stepmother, Camille, and all the sick and repulsive things that she has had to witness and be made part of. Camille would like to mold Lillian into someone just like her, someone who uses men as sex slaves, dominates and humiliates them. Having lost both of her parents, Lillian is all alone in the world, except for her beloved nanny, Nanette. She is forced into taking charge of Troy, and by branding him with the mark of a lily, she is irrevocably linked to him. She does not want to, but she feels responsible for him, and being taught to heal instead of hurt by her nanny, she tries to help him, in what little way she can while under the eye of her stepmother. She has been planning, for some time, to escape and when the day arrives, she finds she cannot just leave Troy to his fate. So, she takes him with her, setting him free and hoping that he will make his way home alive.
Troy does make it home, a changed man. The war and captivity by the hands of Camille, has made him a much more serious and emotionally distant man. When he learns that his cousin is in love and has been wooing a lady, his cousin arranges for Troy to meet her, little does he know that the woman he wants to marry is none other than Lillian. He is shocked and livid with his cousin and immediately wants him to call it off with her. His cousin, however, does not listen and is angered by Troy's attitude. But Troy is determined to stop his cousin from marrying her at any cost.
When Lillian sees Troy for the first time, at a ball, and is so shocked that she falls to the floor unconcious. When she sees him next, it is at Almack's, where Troy tells her he wants to talk to her. They have a moment alone and Troy cannot help but remember his humiliation at her hands and reacts violently, kissing and manhandling her, ripping her clothes. And it is in this state that they are spied together, and a scandal erupts. Lillian's family cannot understand why she vehemently refuses to marry Troy. No one could understand her deep feelings of guilt and responsibility. But fate is determined to bring them together, for Troy's grandmother, will not hear of her family name being ruined, and forces Troy to marry Lillian.
Lillian reluctantly accepts, guilt and responsibility again surfacing, forcing her to say yes. She knows she and Troy can never be happy, for he will never get over the hatred and humiliation he has suffered at her hands. And she feels there is little that she can do about it. They make their way to Bair Hall, Troy's country home and Lillian is soon used to a routine, of spending days in the gardens, and mostly avoiding Troy. Which isn't hard because Troy is all too happy to forget he has a wife.
This book was a character study of three very abused people, one of whom is incredibly strong. Camille, as evil as she was, had also suffered abuse as a child and young adult. Which I think was a driving factor in her need to dominate and crush men in such a cruel fashion. Troy was a victim of Camille and to a lesser extent, in his mind, of Lillian. Yet, as you read the book, you discover that he was also a victim of his family and a rather distant upbringing. Lillian was a victim of Camille also, even though Lillian was mentally and physically abused, she managed to keep a strong core, with a sense of responsibility and the need to heal those around her.
I especially liked the way that a brand that Lillian did not want to give became a chain and a nightmare for her and at first a hated burning thing for Troy and later a badge that he wore with honor as he came to understand this woman child and all that she had done for him and those around her to protect them from evil. This book went beyond a romance. Even the celebration of the love of two of the male characters for each other. When Lillian sees a touching moment between two of Troy's male friends. You can feel her sense of wonder at the beauty of true love. She, who had never witnessed love, who had seen only the deviant behavior of her stepmother and her pets and slaves, to see it and appreciate and even long for it. I thought this was an unexpected twist, but one that was refreshing and new, her coming to the realization that love does exist.
The Lily Brand is a most unexpected read. While I was disinterested in all the Regencys that have been coming out lately, I was pleasantly surprised to find that The Lily Brand stands out among them. From the moment we meet Troy in the prison, to the process of healing that both Lillian and Troy had to go through and what they had to overcome, this novel left its mark upon me.