When He Was Wicked

She had a good marriage, a great one even and then when she was all alone, her love match came along.

Francesca’s story is one that I feel mirrors Daphne’s in a lot of ways. I liked Francesca a lot. There was so much heartbreak in her story, but also so much love. In many ways, Francesca is the unluckiest girl, but also a blessed one. 

The Story in Short
In every life, there is a turning point. A moment so tremendous, so sharp and breathtaking, that one knows one’s life will never be the same. For Michael Stirling, London’s most infamous rake, that moment came the first time he laid eyes on Francesca Bridgerton.

After a lifetime of chasing women, of smiling slyly as they chased him, of allowing himself to be caught but never permitting his heart to become engaged, he took one look at Francesca Bridgerton and fell so fast and hard into love it was a wonder he managed to remain standing. Unfortunately for Michael, however, Francesca’s surname was to remain Bridgerton for only a mere thirty-six hours longer—the occasion of their meeting was, lamentably, a supper celebrating her imminent wedding to his cousin.

But that was then… Now, Michael is the earl, and Francesca is free, but still she thinks of him as nothing other than her dear friend and confidant. Michael dares not speak to her of his love… until one dangerous night, when she steps innocently into his arms, and passion proves stronger than even the most wicked of secrets…
I got this information here. 

My Thoughts
I liked it, it was very cute. I think this is one of those stories that reach people quite deeply. It contains a second marriage and fertility problems, something a lot of women struggle with. I think Francesca’s story is so powerful. In a lot of romance books, fertility does not seem to be an issue at all, and if it is, it’s the man or within the relationship, as it’s not ‘quite right’. Which is not how it works, and can be very harmful messaging. 

It’s not that Francesca has a bad marriage; that’s not her story. She had a good marriage, a happy one, and if her husband had not died, she would have been with him till the end. But he didn’t, and she fell in love once more, and that journey was difficult for her. It felt (for both of them) unfair and not the right thing, and that journey was so powerful to read about.

Michael has been in love with Francesca from the very beginning, from their first meeting, but he tries to be respectful towards his cousin and his cousin’s wife. But Francesca was not in love with him, making eyes at him while she was married to her husband. She liked Michael; she thought Michael was fun. She might have even thought Michael was attractive, but she didn’t look at Michael like that cause she was a married woman and happily so, because it’s not in her character to go cheat on her husband.

In the series, they chose to make the relationship different, although I see no problem with this. I understand the frustration some women are feeling, as I said, fertility isn’t talked about well in fiction, and I think a lot of people thought they would finally see their struggle on the big screen, but that is now not the arc of the story anymore. It’s a strange choice to me as Francesca’s whole reason for marrying again is because she wants children; otherwise, she wouldn’t have married again. This is an important part of her story.

She doesn’t actually, at first, want another husband, and she surely does not think she will find something as great as what she had. I think a queer storyarc would make more sense for someone like Eloise as she could easily been queer due to her partner already having kids (As this still seemes to be a trope they are going for throughout the series). But alas, they are going further away from he source material, and that is fine, it’s something you can keep in mind if you don’t like that divergence much. If you thought you would finally see a fertility struggle on the big screen shown in a respectful way, this will not be the case. Overall, the book was great and I recommend it, but it’s not going to be the same story as the series will show, and maybe that is for the better.

Details
Page count: 368
The rest of the series: Book 1, Book 1 part 2, Book 2, Book 3, Book 4
The show: Season 1, Season 2, Season 3

Read more: Books // Films // Travel // Personal // Reviews
Socials: Instagram // Tiktok // Pinterest // Goodreads