Pegasus

by Eleanor Anne Cox

224 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 12, 1981

Reviews

[Claire S · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is not truly a review but a big spoiler about the end of the novel and the reason I gave it one star. Up to that point, it would probably have been three stars. I read Regency romance for escapism. Had I know what was in store for me, I'd have never picked up this book. So this is just to warn others who might feel the same way as I do.


Spoiler Alert:

At the end of the book, the male protagonist is upset about something the heroine did that hurt his pride, so he wants to teach her a lesson/humiliate her. We're then told that the hero bought some powder and, when he encounters the heroine at a ball, takes her to a secluded spot and insists that she drinks champagne. Up to that point, the heroine had resisted his embraces even though she liked him, but this time she's unable to stop herself. He then stops the kissing and tells her he can have anyone that he wants including her (it goes back to a previous plot and the reason he was upset). He leaves her, and then she leaves the house where she was working that same night (or early morning). It's never stated that he drugs the heroine to lower her defenses since he knew she was able to resist him, but it was heavily implied. If that was not bad enough, once the hero regrets his actions and starts to try to win the heroine back, it's implied that she was attacked by the villain. At first, I had hopes that she had been able to fight him off since she was a strong heroine (mentally and physically). Eventually we learn that the villain did rape her, and it was a violent encounter. The rape happens off page (thank goodness for small favors), but the author does let us know that the villain very much enjoyed what he had done. We never really get the perspective of the heroine in all this. Eventually, the hero finds her and assures her he still wants her even after what happened to her (I suppose that was his redeeming quality). He briefly mentions to her that she would have been able to fight off the villain if he hadn't left her in a weakened state at their last encounter, but she brushes it off saying it was not his fault. He never comes out and says he drugged her, and this is not mentioned again.

I finished the book because, at the point I learned the heroine was raped, there were only a few pages left. There's also this morbid curiosity as to how the author will be able to undo all this damage even knowing that it's not possible. The book left me feeling worse than when I started reading it and, even now, after several days of finishing it, it still makes me super angry. I know these are not real people but, once again, I wanted an escape from reality, not to be reminded of horrible things. I can't even say that the author was giving us a true account of Regency times because the whole plot and even the (very likable) heroine were not believable at all before then. When a Regency romance leaves me upset and disgusted with the author, I cannot give it more than one star.