The Diamond Waterfall

Lily Greene, beautiful star of the musical comedy theatre in the late 19th century, marries extremely wealthy Sir Robert Firth, thinking that she was marrying a man who was not only generous, but who matched her passionate nature. He'd respected her virtue before marriage, saying that he wanted to keep her until they were legally wed, but on the wedding night, and on all the nights that followed, he showed himself to be a warped man who could only perform sexually if the woman was humiliated in front of him by being stripped naked and bedecked with his famous Diamond Waterfall necklace and dozens of other pieces of jewellery. He then proceeded to rape, using the metal and stones of the settings to cut and bruise the flesh. Their marriage was regarded publicly as successful but, as with other women of this era, Lily had no option but to keep up a good front and to pretend that nothing was wrong. This story spans three generations of the Firth family from late in the 19th century and through two world wars, ending in 1947. It's a fascinating glimpse into the morals and mores of these eras, with the odd illegitimate child, brutal husbands, less than perfect wives and travels from England to Rumania, France and Italy. The horrors of war and its aftermaths are well covered and make for graphic if not pleasant reading. It's a meaty read, not brain taxing but full of good, gossipy bits.