~ Review: The Price of Passion ~

One of my favorite authors of mainstream woman’s fiction is Barbara Delinsky.  There are few writers who can reach her level of emotion, while providing a realistic look at the journey to self-discovery and acceptance, but Evelyn Palfrey is one of them.  THE PRICE OF PASSION is the story of one woman’s journey and how she is transformed from a weak insignificant mouse to a woman who is confident, strong, and learns the meaning of true love.

THE PRICE OF PASSION begins with one of the most original premises found in a romance novel in recent times.  When Vivian Carlson’s politician husband comes home one night during his campaign, drops his baby by his missing girlfriend and then states, “we’ll just have to deal with it”, Vivian is at a lost for words.  But I smiled in contentment.  I knew I was in for something very, very special.

While reading THE PRICE OF PASSION, I felt anger and disappointment and sadness, but most of all I felt proud of a heroine I’d come to admire and for whom I grew to care. By the end of the book, I’d laughed, and cried, and then laughed again.  Ms. Palfrey had done what very few writers can do.  She’s taken me through a tense roller coaster and a range of emotions that had left me literally drained…but joyful and contented.

Some may consider Vivian a wimp; a pathetic victim who had for years accepted her husband’s infidelities, and as a result deserved what was happening.  And yes, the Vivian we first see is a weak individual.  What we don’t see is that she is a woman who has been emotionally abused for years, and finally can’t take any more - a woman who finally takes control of who she is.

With the acceptance of Walter’s child comes the acceptance of her husband’s betrayal and indifference, and it is this knowledge that gives Vivian the strength to take that first step to freedom, and eventually to fight for the child she’d grown to love.  As her love for the child grows, her strength of character grows.

If caring for her husband's outside child while she attends law school isn't enough, Vivian's life is further complicated when she meets the handsome and talented Pulitzer Prize-winning journalism professor, Marc Kline.  Marc is writing a book on adoption and believes that the baby Vivian and Walter have is adopted.  He finds himself falling for Vivian and this troubles him. But he is unable to resist pursuing her, especially when he discovers the truth of the situation.  Marc’s tender courtship is one that will endear him to readers.  He is in every sense the true romance hero.  When the conflicts are resolved and Vivian and Marc are finally together, readers are sure to cheer.

THE PRICE OF PASSION is a major achievement by an author who literally self-published this book.  Her original version rose to #3 on the Blackboard Bestseller List. Pocket Books, the publisher of this reissue, must be complimented for recognizing Ms. Palfrey’s talent and giving this book a wider audience.

Ms. Palfrey is definitely an author to watch, and I look forward to reading DANGEROUS DILEMMAS, to be published by Pocket Books in June 2001.

18th November 2000