The Chocolate Maker’s Wife
Fate literally smacks pretty Rosamund Tomkins in the head as she flees her abusive stepfamily and drab life as a tavern wench in Restoration England, but luckily, the horses that knock her down belong to a respectable man who is captivated by her laughter in the face of the unexpected, and sees her potential as a partner in his new business. He pays her bride price, marries her, and whisks her to London, where it appears a fairytale life awaits her. She is installed in an elegant manor and introduced to her new career as manager of one of England’s first chocolate houses. Initially charmed by the celestial New World beverage, the kindly Spaniard who teaches her its secrets, and the loyal Moorish servants who are given charge of her, she quickly discovers that a worm lurks in the apple of her success. Her new husband has plenty to hide and a rather unpleasant disregard for anyone’s feelings, and soon a series of disasters make her dependent on his secretive son-in-law, whom she has been taught to see as the devil himself. But the devil has fascinating indigo eyes…
“Rollicking” is the word for this good-humored romance-thriller-culinary adventure. Brooks’ heroine is a flashing-eyed, overconfident minx in the Scarlett O’Hara tradition, and a bit too good at everything she does—including the frequent references to and unlikely power of her mesmerizing laughter—to be believable. The main characters are also a trifle “woke” for their time, and the author relies a little too heavily on the convenient appearance of a sympathetic version of Samuel Pepys at crucial moments to explain what’s going on outside the chocolate house. However, Brooks’ witty, lavish descriptions of clothing, food, and the sights and sounds of Restoration London make this an enjoyable vacation read.
