The Secret by Julie Garwood

Copyright: 1992
Pages: 379

One of the main story lines in this book is the barbaric way in which the church was involved in childbirth. It was believed that if a woman didn't suffer during her labour that the baby was unclean. Eve was condemned to suffer through childbirth so all women must suffer. Also, a woman was not allowed to enter a church when she was pregnant, only once the baby was delivered and the cleansing ceremony had occurred was she allowed to enter the church. There were even horrific stories of the birth canal being stuffed with all manner of things including dirt. No wonder so many women died during or after childbirth. I love this sort of storyline so I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.

Of course, this book was still a love story and a beautiful one at that. In both the Julie Garwood novels I've read she has included strong and interesting secondary characters. At the heart of this story is a wonderful friendship between two women from very different backgrounds.

In a romance, as we all know, the course of true love never does run smooth, and, because of the title, we know there's a secret just waiting to ruin the good thing Judith and Iain have going. I won't give away the secret. Although the reader knows about it early on in the book, Iain doesn't discover it for quite awhile, and it's his discovery that could destroy his and Judith's happiness.

I know that this book is a little older being that it was written in the 90's, however, it is a great read and I highly recommend it. This book is definitely a keeper to reread every so often.

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