Clouded Veil

by Isobel Chace

Elinor had been virtually a widow for two years, her husband Zachary having disappeared somewhere in Morocco. Now, out of the blue, he had turned up again-but he now seemed like a stranger to her. Could they possible manage to save their marriage?

Genres: Harlequin Romance

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Elizabeth Mary Teresa de Guise, née Hunter on 24 October 1934 in Nairobi, Kenya. She spent much of her years in Kenya and South Africa, and studied at the Open University. Her brother Alexander also wrote Western novels. After their parents' divorce, she and her sister, decided change their surname by de Guise.

Elizabeth wrote under the pseudonym of Isobel Chace, and under her real names: Elizabeth Hunter and Elizabeth de Guise. She was a member of the Romantic Novelists' Association.

Elizabeth passed away in May 2005, at 70.

Reviews

[Naksed · Rating 1 out of 5]

Doctor hero and nurse heroine meet in Morocco and have a whirlwind courtship followed by a rushed wedding, much to the disapproval of her overbearing father. After only two weeks of marriage, Husband suddenly disappears out of the blue. He simply vanishes, no traces, no clues, nothing! Eventually, he is declared legally dead. His wife/widow is left disconsolate. She is still living with her father when the husband just as suddenly shows up out of the blue again, two whole years after his disappearance. Does he fall gratefully in his wife’s arms, gives her an emotional account of where he has been, why he disappeared, why he couldn’t send word to her, or how desperately he missed her? Nope. His first reaction is anger...at his wife! He is simply outraged that his wife has the nerve to be shocked at his reappearance and stand there staring at him in disbelief instead of welcoming him back with open arms.

As revenge, he refuses to answer any questions about where he has been and why he stayed away. To add insult to injury, he imports his Australian “cousin” and dangles her mercilessly in front of his wife. The two women fight like cats over him while he laughs and mocks them. In the end, the wife finds out her husband was kidnapped and held against his will by a desert tribe because he witnessed some unsavory business they were involved in. So she shows up at his door with her suitcase and grovels at his feet while he kinda shrugs his shoulders and does her the extreme honour of taking her back. He sends the OW on her way with a first class ticket and a fortune in travelers cheques. His parting shot to his wife: OW will probably return to Morocco at some point but not for a long time. Be still my heart. If that isn’t the loveliest ILY declaration in the history of Harlequinlandia! If I could have given minus a million stars, I would have. No idea why this author was driven to write this drivel.

[StMargarets · Rating 2 out of 5]

Premise was interesting, but the author chose to "treat" the reader to a travelogue and OM/OW shenanigans rather than a reunion story.

Set in Morocco, H/h had been married two weeks when doctor hero was kidnapped/spirited away in the middle of the night. It's been two years and he's been declared dead. The widowed heroine returned to England to finish her nurses training. Now she's back in Morocco, living with her father who is trying to marry her off to his business associate.

Enter hero who escaped his captors. He's thin and still has wounds from his beatings, but he's back and ready to doctor the poor of the city again. Heroine is shocked to see him and is hesitant to have a reunion until he tells her everything and doesn't seem like such a stranger.

Hero is angry she doesn't trust him. Heroine is being pressured by her father to divorce the hero and to marry the OM. Also, hero's glamourous cousin shows up to act the part of the OW. It's just a stupid series of events.

The H/h finally get together when the kidnapper offers hero valuables as compensation for the two missing years of his life. Now that heroine knows what happened she's willing to live with him again. They'll work together and maybe think about children when hero recovers fully from his ordeal.

This one was short of romance, but it did keep me reading.

[Andi]

The h is a dimwit surrounded by a bunch of a-holes, including the H, and so much of the plot made little sense. The H is supposed to be declared officially dead, yet has his own place and is in contact with his Australian cousin? DNF.