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The Beggar Bride
Ange, Billy and baby Jacob live in a council flat, and eventually, after persuading Billy, Ange marries Sir Fabian, for his money despite the fact that she is already married. The scam is working perfectly, until their game turns into a living nightmare made up of dark and evil secrets.
- GenresFictionMystery Thriller
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
7 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Gillian White
20 books34 followersGillian White (b. 1945) grew up in Liverpool, England. She has written sixteen novels under her own name, which are known for suspense, Gothic thrills, and satiric views of contemporary society. She also writes historical romance under the name Georgina Fleming. She lives in Devon, England.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
April 28, 2017
What does one do when money is tight and living conditions are icky? Marry rich if you can. The strange thing about this engrossing story is that you are actually rooting for the villians. It's quite nice actually.
April 15, 2013
Rich bride, poor bride, beggar bride, thief…
Ange Harper loves her husband and young son but she doesn’t love living in poverty. And since Billy can’t get work, Ange hatches a plan to make their fortunes. She will use her beauty to catch a rich man and find a way to divert some of his money to her own family. Cue entry of Sir Fabian Ormerod, born to money and busy making more. Sir Fabian is a sucker for unsuitable women as his previous two marriages have shown – and he is flattered and fooled by the attentions of this young, beautiful woman. So much so, he doesn’t enquire much into her background. But once Ange has caught her rich man, things start to get more complicated…
White’s strength is in building characters who are fun to spend time with despite their flaws and in this book she again succeeds in that. Ange’s scheming and deception of Sir Fabian is mitigated by her love for her son and her desire to give him a better start in life than she had. Sir Fabian is outwardly cold and snobbish, but at heart all he wants is a son to carry on his family name and business. There is a huge cast of quirky support characters and White gives each a distinct personality. The book takes a fairly light-hearted look at the class and wealth divides in Britain in the 1990s and pokes fun at the question of bloodlines and male primogeniture.
Some of the characters are a bit caricatured, especially the rich ones, and the plot requires the reader to suspend a lot of disbelief, especially over the major issue of Sir Fabian’s acceptance into his family of this mysterious woman with no apparent background. I also found that the ending stretched credulity to near breaking point, relying far too heavily on the thriller writer’s friend, coincidence, while some strands were left dangling. Originally published in 1997, I feel White wasn’t yet quite showing the level of sure-footedness she achieved in her later novel Copycat but nonetheless this is an enjoyable read, well written and with a good deal of humour. Recommended.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher.
Ange Harper loves her husband and young son but she doesn’t love living in poverty. And since Billy can’t get work, Ange hatches a plan to make their fortunes. She will use her beauty to catch a rich man and find a way to divert some of his money to her own family. Cue entry of Sir Fabian Ormerod, born to money and busy making more. Sir Fabian is a sucker for unsuitable women as his previous two marriages have shown – and he is flattered and fooled by the attentions of this young, beautiful woman. So much so, he doesn’t enquire much into her background. But once Ange has caught her rich man, things start to get more complicated…
White’s strength is in building characters who are fun to spend time with despite their flaws and in this book she again succeeds in that. Ange’s scheming and deception of Sir Fabian is mitigated by her love for her son and her desire to give him a better start in life than she had. Sir Fabian is outwardly cold and snobbish, but at heart all he wants is a son to carry on his family name and business. There is a huge cast of quirky support characters and White gives each a distinct personality. The book takes a fairly light-hearted look at the class and wealth divides in Britain in the 1990s and pokes fun at the question of bloodlines and male primogeniture.
Some of the characters are a bit caricatured, especially the rich ones, and the plot requires the reader to suspend a lot of disbelief, especially over the major issue of Sir Fabian’s acceptance into his family of this mysterious woman with no apparent background. I also found that the ending stretched credulity to near breaking point, relying far too heavily on the thriller writer’s friend, coincidence, while some strands were left dangling. Originally published in 1997, I feel White wasn’t yet quite showing the level of sure-footedness she achieved in her later novel Copycat but nonetheless this is an enjoyable read, well written and with a good deal of humour. Recommended.
NB This book was provided for review by the publisher.
February 15, 2018
I have read and enjoyed many of Gilliam White’s novels. She is a skilled novelist. She writes very well. Sadly this was not one of my favourites. The story is just too far fetched and totally unbelievable for me. The characters are well developed it’s a really easy read but it has left me feeling unsatisfied, especially with the ending which is really poor and feels almost rushed. It is easy to predict who the anonymous letter write is, in fact the whole thing is just way too silly and obvious. Have only given 3 stars because it is well written and I couldn’t give 2 1/2 stars which would be more accurate.
July 11, 2018
Did take a while to get going properly and not her best work. A few unexpected twits but not one I would read again
June 11, 2022
I absolutely love this book. There is just something about the characters and the plot, that takes you deep into it. A read til the end and can't put it down book.
November 11, 2015
Reading a novel often requires a certain degree of suspension of reality. I recognize that, and in general, am ok with it. But Gillian White really asked her readers to suspend it too much, particularly considering that this was a story that didn't have any supernatural or other types of other-wordly elements.
To start, Fabian is an immensely important, powerful man. Are we really expected to believe that an uneducated 19-year old girl who is ridiculously vague about her background and upbringing is able to convince this man to propose within two months of meeting her? Would he honestly marry this girl without a background check? Or more importantly, a prenup? Is Fabian really so naive as to believe that a 19-year old young woman has a highly successful, high paying job? At 19 she wouldn't have even completed her college education, making this successful career highly unlikely.
And how stupid is Ange? She hired Tina and Billy to move into the family estate with the child she had with Billy before she married Fabian? And Fabian truly believes that he knocked Ange up the very first time they had sex? The baby was a large baby, and given that she had to fudge her due date given the gap between the time she got pregnant and the first time they had sex, Fabian should have believed that the baby was premature, and therefore much smaller than a full-term baby.
Lastly, although I had other issues with this book, the Fabian/Sheila baby swap plot line was entirely unnecessary and didn't add anything to the story. Sheila could have sent her letters without that motive; she could have simply sent them because she was angry about all of the efforts she made on Ange's behalf that weren't necessary because Ange was deceiving her.
To start, Fabian is an immensely important, powerful man. Are we really expected to believe that an uneducated 19-year old girl who is ridiculously vague about her background and upbringing is able to convince this man to propose within two months of meeting her? Would he honestly marry this girl without a background check? Or more importantly, a prenup? Is Fabian really so naive as to believe that a 19-year old young woman has a highly successful, high paying job? At 19 she wouldn't have even completed her college education, making this successful career highly unlikely.
And how stupid is Ange? She hired Tina and Billy to move into the family estate with the child she had with Billy before she married Fabian? And Fabian truly believes that he knocked Ange up the very first time they had sex? The baby was a large baby, and given that she had to fudge her due date given the gap between the time she got pregnant and the first time they had sex, Fabian should have believed that the baby was premature, and therefore much smaller than a full-term baby.
Lastly, although I had other issues with this book, the Fabian/Sheila baby swap plot line was entirely unnecessary and didn't add anything to the story. Sheila could have sent her letters without that motive; she could have simply sent them because she was angry about all of the efforts she made on Ange's behalf that weren't necessary because Ange was deceiving her.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 26, 2013
This had a more romantic feel to it, and I vacillated between wanting Ange to stay with Billy, whom she was crazy in love with, but at the same time hoping that poor unlucky-in-love Fabian could also win her heart. I was happy with how White addressed the feelings at the conclusion, and really saw no other way for everyone's happiness. Still...I felt a little pang for the "one-not-chosen."
From nearly the first page, my heart pounded throughout the entire book. From feeling the desperation of Ange and Billy, urging them on in their very deceitful quest, through the fear and anguish of discovery and concluding with the worry and hopelessness of potentially losing a child, I could not turn the pages fast enough. The prevailing thought throughout this entire book - who do you trust when you are also a great deceiver? My stomach was in knots!!
Aside from it being a great thriller, it is also extremely thought provoking. I struggled with wanting Ange to succeed, while all the while feeling horrible for the family being deceived. It made me wonder how far I would go to improve my life, and the lives of my family, and at what point does the justification no longer outweigh the cost to the ones being conned.
The wrap-up was a bit rushed, and seemed expected; however, I liked it and felt that it was the only way for it to end. I also loved that there were loose ends...poor old Helena, and those mysterious twins! Sequel??
From nearly the first page, my heart pounded throughout the entire book. From feeling the desperation of Ange and Billy, urging them on in their very deceitful quest, through the fear and anguish of discovery and concluding with the worry and hopelessness of potentially losing a child, I could not turn the pages fast enough. The prevailing thought throughout this entire book - who do you trust when you are also a great deceiver? My stomach was in knots!!
Aside from it being a great thriller, it is also extremely thought provoking. I struggled with wanting Ange to succeed, while all the while feeling horrible for the family being deceived. It made me wonder how far I would go to improve my life, and the lives of my family, and at what point does the justification no longer outweigh the cost to the ones being conned.
The wrap-up was a bit rushed, and seemed expected; however, I liked it and felt that it was the only way for it to end. I also loved that there were loose ends...poor old Helena, and those mysterious twins! Sequel??
September 24, 2013
Unfortunately this one was not my taste and I ended up skimming much of the book to get to the end. I just found the characters all around sad. However it is well written and well developed and just because it was not to my taste certainly does not mean others wouldn't enjoy it.
June 30, 2017
Like Gillian White's previous novels (Rich Deceiver, Mothertime, Grandfather's Footsteps) it's farfetched but well written and entertaining so you're able to suspend disbelief and have fun while reading. Gripping, beautifully written with great characters
December 7, 2013
I liked the premise of this story and thought it was well-written, but was very disappointed in the ending.
July 15, 2015
Pretty good
Slow to start and kind of silly. Lol
Slow to start and kind of silly. Lol
January 23, 2016
Very good story. Gillian White.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews