The Marriage Contract by Sasha Butler

Summer in Worcestershire, 1577. Eliza Litton, a talented artist, is in love with childhood friend, Francis. But her tyrannical father, who rules the household with insults and fists, has other ideas. As summer comes to an end, Francis vanishes after a drunken night at the inn and Eliza’s father forces her to marry a gentleman, Edmund.

Thrown into a new, unfamiliar life with her husband who appears distant and cold, Eliza cannot tear herself from the memory of Francis. Yet her feelings for Edmund soften with time; he presents a life to her better than she ever dreamed. He provides her a safety she never had beneath her father’s roof and encourages her to paint, to pursue the things she loves.

As she begins to fall for Edmund, Francis is adrift on his own voyage, doing all he can to survive, fixated on returning to Eliza.

But as Eliza grows closer to Edmund, she uncovers a deceit she never imagined, causing her to question her own loyalties and commit her own betrayals. After everything, who will Eliza be? And what choices will she make?

The Marriage Contract vividly portrays life in the precarious and unforgiving Elizabethan era, exploring love’s many forms; how we can betray the ones we love, and how we can find forgiveness; and explores a woman’s fight to follow her desires and find her autonomy.

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I’m not sure where I first came across The Marriage Contract, but my interest was immediately piqued.  Set when it is, the idea of a father choosing a husband for his daughter is nothing unusual, however unpleasant I find the idea, but the additional element of Francis’s disappearance intrigued me and I had to find out more. 

I adored Eliza immediately. Her early years were unpleasant at times, having been brought up in a house where everyone walks on eggshells to avoid upsetting her volatile and violent father, although she loves her mother and brother dearly.  She first meets Francis in a half-hearted and vaguely thought-out plan to run away from home as a child.  They became friends and are soon inseparable, developing feelings for each other as they grow into adulthood.  Eliza’s father won’t even consider the match, however – he sees Francis as beneath his daughter and fully intends to achieve a match that will better his own position.  And he is that ruthless – he cares little for what Eliza’s life will be like, so long as his own status improves.

Thanks to some subtle manipulation on behalf of Eliza’s mother, the match he makes for Eliza is better than you might expect.  Edmund is a distant man, yet he respects his wife even if he doesn’t initially love her, and he encourages her independence and artistic pursuits.  She has as much freedom as she could hope for, and she doesn’t need to fear her husband as she did her father.  It’s a better situation than many found themselves in, particularly as Eliza begins to let go of Francis and as she and Edmund start to warm to each other.  

I think it’s interesting that Butler chooses to reveal to the reader exactly what happens to Francis.  Many novels would incorporate this as an element of mystery, leaving the reader in the same situation as Eliza – with no idea where he is or if he’s even alive.  I liked Butler’s approach though.  I liked the poignancy as we see Eliza trying to adapt to the life chosen for her, having no idea if she’ll ever see Francis again and worrying what he will think of her should he return.  At the same time, we know that Francis is alive and doing everything he can to get back to her. 

And Francis’s journey is harrowing, particularly as the reader can contrast his situation to the comfort in which Eliza finds herself.  Beaten and kidnapped, he’s put to work aboard a ship, becoming part of Francis Drake’s crew in his attempt to circumnavigate the globe. He has no idea if he’ll survive and make it back home, but his every waking thought is to get back to Eliza as soon as he can. Given we know what he’s coming back to, it’s heartbreaking.  We see enough to know how difficult and brutal a journey that was, but I personally would have liked to have seen a little more of that voyage and Francis’s experiences as part of that expedition.

The Marriage Contract is a brilliant novel and I raced through it wanting to know the outcome for Eliza and Francis whilst not being sure what I wanted that outcome to be.  I won’t spoil it for you, but I was pleased with the ending.  Recommended for fans of historical fiction even if, like me, you’re not too bothered by novels exploring romantic entanglements.