Circle In The Water
- Renamed: At The King's Command
- Author: Susan Wiggs
- Publisher: Harper
- Year: 1994
- Editor: Carolyn Marino
- Setting: England
- Amazon Listing/ISBN: 0061081396
- Heroine: Juliana
- Hero: Stephen de Lacey
Book Description
Stephen is given a choice: marry Juliana or watch her die. Now he's stuck with a bride that he doesn’t want - a bride who's actually a princess from a far-off land. Her past is making life dangerous, and Stephen has to guard both bride and heart.
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Circle in the Water was a such a great read that I immediately went out and bought all the Susan Wiggs titles that were available (including the follow-up to this title: Vows Made In Wine). In Circle, Wiggs has created a magical tale that teeters on the edge of unbelievable, yet always maintains its balance.
Wiggs' book is the story of the marriage of convenience engineered by Henry VIII after Baron Stephen De Lacey angers his king. Stephen is ordered to marry the young gypsy woman who has stolen his horse. Henry finds his punishment especially amusing light of the gypsy's insistence that she's really a Russian princess. Juliana, who barely escaped being murdered alongside the rest of her family, has lived among the gypsies until such time as she can return home and avenge her family. The king's decree is inconvenient, but not a sufficient barrier to stop Juliana from pursuing her goal.
Wiggs has created Stephen as a nicely brooding hero. While his behavior toward Juliana is sometimes less-than-heroic, he exhibits sufficient redeeming characteristics to carry him through. Wiggs has given given him clearly defined motivation. She unfolds his secrets and reasons for keeping them in a manner that makes his actions entirely plausible.
Juliana is a delightful blend of wild gypsy and well-bred royalty. Years of living a nomadic lifestyle have not eliminated her mother's training, and Wiggs has fun, mostly at Stephen's expense, as Juliana takes up the running of the baron's home. Juliana effectively draws on her disparate experiences as she stumbles through the early period of her marriage to a complete stranger.
The plot is well-planned and well-executed, however, Wiggs keeps the focus of her book on her characters. She gives her secondary characters more than cookie-cutter roles, thereby making them interesting rather than annoying.
Circle in the Water is a wonderful book that will naturally lead toward reading more books by Susan Wiggs.
