A Regency Charade by Elizabeth Mansfield

I have a bunch of Elizabeth Mansfield Regencies in my TBR pile, and I'm really hoping that at least a few of them are decent! (I enjoyed The Phantom Lover, the first one of her books that I read, but since then, not so much...)

A Regency Charade by Elizabeth Mansfield
(1981, Regency) 4/15/08
Grade: 3

After an arranged marriage and a short time as man and wife, Alec Tyrell discovers that his wife is in love with someone else! He demands a divorce, or an annulment, and then heads off to the army. Six years later, he’s shocked to discover he’s still married, and his wife is determined to stay that way - but was her infidelity real, or just in his imagination?

An almost painful reading experience, at the same time it was oddly fascinating. The whole book is premised on a misunderstanding that goes on and on and on - Alec was so obtuse that it made you wonder about his intelligence and sanity, while Priss was incredibly passive. But the Regency setting is well done, the secondary characters are lively (although paired off a little too conveniently at the end) and for some reason, I kept reading even though I wanted to smack the both of them.

I debated about how to grade this one... it was painful to read but I did finish it, which says something!