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I have a great passion for London and its magnificent noble houses, where I have met many gentlemen from Court circles. My ambition is set on making a good marriage, and I intend to have a great household of my own, where you can come to stay. I wish with all my heart that you could visit these grand places with me, to see the Tudor courtiers bedecked in velvets and jewels, to listen to the music as it floats down from the minstrels' galleries and be waited upon by the liveried footmen. For me, it is like a dream come true. I long to share with you all the wonders of this glorious city, and vow that someday I shall!
Yours alone,
Mistress Elizabeth Hardwick (Bess)
From New York Times bestselling author Virginia Henley, whose novels have enchanted readers worldwide, comes a stunningly romantic new novel brimming with the sensual tension, humor, and narrative verve that have become her trademarks.
Set amid the glittering, bawdy, and intrigue-riddled society of Elizabethan England and based on the real-life heroine Elizabeth Hardwick, A Woman of Passion tells the story of a beautiful, ambitious commoner who rises to the position of lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I and loves four very different husbands along the way.
Vowing to put poverty and powerlessness behind her, fifteen-year-old Bess Hardwick takes a suitable position at the London home of a wealthy noblewoman. There she is plunged into an exciting new world of riches and privilege, and makes the acquaintance of friends, potential enemies, and powerful men who will change the course of her life. Among them are Elizabeth, an uncommonly shrewd yet lonely princess who would become an indomitable queen; charming and dangerously seductive William Cavendish, the king's ambitious financial adviser, who is determined to have Bess at any cost save marriage; the adoring, tenderhearted Robert Barlow; the proper and dutiful aristocrat Sir William St. Loe; and George Talbot, the devilishly handsome heir to the earldom of Shrewsbury, whose wicked daring ignites in Bess the passion of a lifetime.
With the fast-paced storytelling style, historical sweep, and insight into a woman's heart that have made her one of the most popular writers of historical romance, Virginia Henley takes readers on a breathless journey through the adventure-filled prime of life of A Woman of Passion.
Hardcover, 464 pages
Published July 13th 1999 by Delacorte Press (first published January 2nd 1985)
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Re: A Woman of Passion
警告:本書不是玫瑰花床般的羅曼史，心臟不大顆者不要閱讀。
我真不敢相信我的第一本荷莉嫂的原文居然是這本!!本來想先看Ravished的。但在好奇心氾濫下還是忍不住偷看了A Woman of Passion和Undone，一開始只是很好奇本書女主角是不是真的梅開四度!!!!這種四嫁的劇情真的可以嗎
????而且居然可以在GOODREADS還有四星的評價!!!!!!別說高於一半其他已出版的中文版，連作者後期出版的原文書也沒有一本高過於它!!!!!!!!!，讓我好奇的本來只打算確認一下劇情就好，沒想到一開始就停不下來了T_T，最後居然把整本都速讀完了，你問我會不會再重讀一次，我想應該不會，這本根本不是我的菜，但是荷莉嫂的故事的確有魔力，讓我一頁翻過一頁。
女主角是個身分低下的農家女，在墮落的都鐸王朝憑藉著自己的美貌與智慧
踩著三個男人的屍體上位(第四個在故事結束前還沒死XD，我也不想去查歷史他是不是也很早掛伊莉莎白女王繼位後，
命令建議女主角嫁給Sir William St. Loe以解決女主角的債務，Sir William家有恆產，可以幫她還債並好好的扶養她的"六個"小孩長大，可是這第三位男主角年事已高又是處男(好像)身體力行的調教下勉強堪用，可總比不上她的第二任丈夫，後來也漸漸不行了而我們年輕美麗的女主角怎耐得住猛男的撩撥呢!!在第四位男主角 George Talbot, the devastating Earl of Shrewsbury持續不斷的追求之下還是淪陷了，其實第四位男主角在故事裡一直出現跟女主角交手過，但是當時的貴族都很早婚，尤其是這位家族勢力掌握半個英格蘭的男主角也是在12歲時就結婚了，兩人初見面的時候女主角才剛進宮，之間當然有激．烈．衝．突，男主角覺得女主角是為錢勾搭男人，還開她胸部的玩笑(我猜他是胸奴，當初一定超哈女主角的)，女主角受他吸引又被他氣得牙癢癢的。
作者把女主角塑造的不會讓人我討厭，在書裡沒有亂搞男女關係，前三段婚姻都是規規矩矩的先結婚後上床(第二段應該也是吧!看太快有點混亂，至少抵抗了很久
)，最後第四段也是在老公不行了才失守，這個理由還可以讓人接受，至少我心裡是希望女主角放棄抵抗快點從了吧
。
，四個男的都是配角
兩人各自有婚姻的婚外情怎麼解?果然戲棚下站久就是你的，活得最久的人就可以笑到最後，兩個人最後在各自的配偶亡故之下才能有HEA，期間看兩個兒女都成年的人在談戀愛真是微妙。(我沒計算年齡但以當初的早婚應該都還三十多吧，但他們的人生經歷讓人覺得他們很老了)
這本書由於是奠基於真實的歷史人物與歷史事件，書的主線就是女主角的
奮鬥上位史，聽說還有和女王的友情啦，但是女王的戲份我都跳過沒看，出場就是來滾床的(誤)，其實愛情戲份還滿重的，但是就是分給了四個男人，推薦給喜歡看以真實歷史人物為主角，比較"不一般向"羅曼史的同學，雖然書很精采沒有冷場，但這種劇情我還是沒看法給5葉，也許等我看盡滄桑之後才能體會箇中滋味。補充:其實我也不能確定女主角跟男四發生關係前第三任老公死了沒，我記得我看到第三任老公把財產全部留給女主之後，兩人就被毒害了，只有女主角活下來，但是女主角和男四講說彼此都對不起婚姻感覺又好像第三任還沒死，不過我也不想再回去翻書確認了(不負責任之評論
)。