Truly

'Truly' is one of the hard-to-find Mary Balogh romances but it's really worth getting hold of it if you can! It's one of her books set in the Welsh valleys, reminiscent in some ways of her other Welsh-set book, 'Longing'. Mary Balogh herself grew up in Wales and her love of the Welsh people, scenery and especially their singing comes through in this book, as with 'Longing'. Geraint Penderyn, the Earl of Wyvern, spent his first twelve years as an poor and outcast boy, his mother having been driven out of the village because she was bearing an illegitimate child. However, when it became clear that Geraint was actually legitimate, that his father had married his mother - a viscount marrying a girl from the valleys - Geraint's life was changed utterly as he was taken away to learn how to be the new Earl. He returned once, at age 18, for the funeral of his mother - and there made an error with his childhood sweetheart that turned her against him. Now, ten years on, Geraint is returning to Tegfan, his house in Wales. He expects a reasonably friendly welcome from those among whom he grew up, but finds the opposite. As landlord he has been harsh and the people don't see him as one of them any longer. Marged, his youthful love, is bitter and full of hatred because she believes Geraint bears some responsibility for the death of her husband. How can Geraint find a place in Tegfan. When a mysterious masked figure starts working with the locals to disrupt the turnpikes and to try to help the poor of the valleys, Marged is attracted to him. But the man who disguises himself as 'Rebecca' has secrets which he won't share with her. But can Marged overcome her confusion as she has feelings for two different men and can the Earl find a place in the valley as well as keeping his people safe? Mary Balogh is a wonderful writer of this sort of book, a romance with depth and with an excellent and interesting setting. This was an enjoyable read from the first page, there were moments of emotion when reading it, the cast of characters is well drawn with some very different people, and the underlying feeling of a man coming home and yet not really fitting in was well described. This is a book that may be hard to find but it certainly rewards those who have the chance to read it.

"Truly" is not the type of book to be gulped in one sitting, its a book that you have to read slowly, to savor the setting, the people, and the country. Wales, which I am reading here is Mary Balogh's native country, truly comes alive in "Truly". And better yet, I like all the people that I meet, and that's saying alot, because I usually don't like all the people in a romance novel - sometimes they're mean, silly, stupid, etc. But in "Truly" Mary Balogh shows us the "inside" of the Wale people of the last century, and, as in any country, there are good people and bad, but mostly you admire them for their grit, for their simple yet graceful way of life, and for their commitment to their land and to each other. The hero and heroine of "Truly" are probably the first h/h I have met that really fit the image presented by the words hero and heroine. We get to meet Marged and Geraint at their best, although the story narrates the part where they both make mistakes, when this books begins they are both mature and grown up, and therefore their romance has more depth than if they were two silly, immature youngsters. Not only are they grown-up, but by flashbacks, we get to see how they both got to that point. I particularly loved the character of Marged, to me she seemed the perfect embodiment of a true heroine, she's truly outspoken and brave, but not as foolishly so as some other "heroines" are wont to be. In other words, while she acts with spirit and courage, she does it not because she wants to make a dramatic statement, or to act more like a man, or out of spite; she's not really full of hate, but rather, in everything she does she acts with courage, fire, spirit - and also with forethought. A real heroine! "Truly" also has more of a plot, with real twists and turns, than some other Baloghs. Against the historical backdrop of the Rebecca Riots, complete with the masked "Rebecca", there is alot of tension as we wait to see what will happen with the riots? And will "Rebecca" be unmasked? How will everyone react? Definitely a page turner. I even loved the ending. It seemed to me to be exactly how a romance should end. Although Geraint is a little on the stiff side, it does fit in very well with his character - I wouldn't change a word if I could. Of course, there is always that question - what happens afterwards? How does everyone adjust to their new roles? Ah, but for that we have our own imaginations! All in all, if you like Mary Balogh, you will love "Truly"!

I love it when I can find my favourite authors' back catalogues! I picked this book up secondhand recently, and even with the transatlantic postage charges it was well worth the money. This is an example of the kind of story Balogh does best.Truly is one of her 'Welsh novels', and it follows a similar pattern, at least in terms of setting and 'A-plot', as Longing. (Incidentally, I think the reviewer who mentioned Tangled is confusing that book - another Balogh classic, by the way - with Longing). A theme of both of these books is that of a wealthy aristocratic landowner who is made aware - usually by the heroine - of how rents and tithes and other unfair policies are resulting in his tenants starving and being ground into poverty. In these books, in addition, the heroine is not of the hero's class; she's one of the villagers, perhaps a schoolteacher or the minister's daughter.The similarities of theme don't matter one bit to me; both stories are very different, and all unmissable, in my opinion.One of the big differences in Truly is that the Earl of Wyvern, Geraint Penderyn, actually grew up among the village people; he was the son of a governess, whom everyone thought was an unmarried mother. She'd been driven out of her home and lived in a hovel up in the hills. Geraint, until the age of twelve, was a village child, to some degree an outcast, but he was befriended by Margred and by Aled. Then papers were found which confirmed that Geraint's mother was married to his father, and Geraint - now the heir to the earldom - was taken away to London to be brought up in a manner befitting his status. He never saw his mother again; she died when he was 18.The book starts as he is returning to his Welsh estate after ten years away, now the owner of the area in which he grew up, and landlord of all his former friends and neighbours. On his last visit, things had been awkward between him and his childhood friends; he and Margred had begun to fall in love, but he'd handled it badly and she'd been hurt. Now, he's looking forward to seeing her again, although he is pretty sure that she'll be married.What he isn't prepared for is the hostile reaction he gets from all around, and the anger and bitterness Margred throws at him. What he soon finds out is that his agent, in his absence, has behaved like any other landlord and has raised rents year after year, and evicted those who couldn't pay. And changing matters isn't that simple; other landowners in the area are resistant, and he is viewed with suspicion.From Margred's perpective, Geraint is the man she used to love, but whom she now hates with all of her being. For her husband was arrested for trying to help their friends and neighbours, and sentenced to transportation. She wrote to Geraint to beg him to intercede, but he never responded. And since her husband died as a result of his treatment, she blames Geraint for his death.So Geraint has an impossible task in front of him: how to win back the trust of his

I have always loved Mary's Regencies, and even tho' this is not a Regency, I loved it. I loved it in part, because it takes place in Wales, the author's native country. She really made the story of the Rebecca Riots come alive.

I like Balogh's writing - I usually rate her historicals at 4 stars, but this one, to my mind, stands out. First off, it is a satisfyingly complex story of relationships and how they develop and change over time and with self-discovery. Secondly, it is a good adventure story that had me staying up WAY past my bedtime; I had to finish this book in two days, because I was curious as to how the tangled web of deceptions and danger would be resolved. Some people might find the ending not quite tempestuous enough, but I found it extremely realistic--as were Balogh's comments on love relationships, passion vs. marriage, and hatred. I would recommend this book to anyone--an excellent read, and definitely a keeper for me.