Marriages of Convenience

Anne here, and today I'm musing once more on tropes in romance novels. I say "once more", because some years ago I blogged about tropes here, and some years before that the wenches answered a reader question about the "chick in pants" trope, and had so much to say we had to split the post into two. Part 1 is here and part 2 is here.

But today I'm talking about the marriage of convenience (MoC) trope. The first convenient marriage story I ever read was Georgette Heyer's The Convenient Marriage, and I loved it to bits — and it started a lifetime fascination.

I've practically made a career out of it, though not all my book marriages were convenient: some were forced marriages, and others were . . . shall we say unexpected marriages. But what they almost all have in common is that the hero and heroine marry first as virtual strangers, and then get to know each other.

This situation fascinates me. For centuries, women were married off for a wide range of reasons, very few of them for love. They were married for their dowries — from farm girls to titled ladies, if a woman had no dowry the likelihood of her marrying was slim. Even women entering a convent were asked to provide a dowry.

These days divorce is easily obtained and if a marriage isn't working out, both parties are free to leave. But in the past, people had no choice, they had to make it work or be forever miserable. And in general, it was the women had to do the bending and compromising. 

They were married for political reasons, for land, to make peace between feuding families or factions. Saxon ladies could be handed over to conquering Norman males as part of a land grab, "legitimizing" the claim, they could be kidnapped by marauding Vikings  there were all sorts of reasons. They had no choice — it was often a forced marriage in the very worst sense. Women in the past were a commodity.

A close cousin to the convenient marriage trope is the mail-order bride. I confess, I cannot resist a mail-order bride story. I would happily write one, but alas, they're pretty much restricted to Western Historical romance. 

So whenever I think of a convenient marriage story, I wonder how the relationship developed, and of course, being a romantic, I always want it to work out well for the couple concerned. But every relationship is different and that, for me, is why this trope is endlessly fascinating.

My first convenient marriage story was my second book, Tallie's Knight. In it, Tallie, a poor relation, is simply picked as a convenient bride by Magnus, the Earl of D'Arenville, a complete stranger. Her choice is to accept him or be thrown out of the home she's been given by her dreadful cousin. The story then became the journey they take, not just as they make the Grand Tour, but the journey from strangers to married couple to lovers.

Since then I have written a number of convenient marriage stories — I even wrote a whole series that my publisher named "The Marriage of Convenience" series. 

One of my favorite Marriage of Convenience stories — though it was very much a marriage of inconvenience — was Bride By Mistake, where the hero, a young soldier at war in Spain, rescues a young girl from rape. Learning she was fleeing from a forced marriage to a hated relative who wanted her inheritance and land, he marries her himself, assuming the marriage could be annulled at a later date. He delivers her safely to her aunt in a convent.

Eight years later, when the war is over and Napoleon defeated, he discovers that no annulment is possible. He goes to Spain to fetch his bride, expecting to find a nice, meek, convent-trained bride. It's not what he gets.

Do you have favorite tropes that you love to read? Do you have a favorite marriage of convenience or mail-order-bride story? And do you think there is any way I could slide a mail-order bride into a regency? 

Comments

[theo]

Oh, Anne, you of all people should be able to come up with some kind of mail order bride for the Regency era story! ;) (Loved Tallie's Knight) I do love a marriage of convenience. I love the journey. And, at least in romance novels, they always have a happy ending.

[Mary T]

I had an aunt and uncle who "met" by mail during WWII. I don't remember exactly how they came to be writing to each other. I think my aunt just wrote letters to soldiers (in general) just to cheer them up. My uncle ended up with one of those letters, and they corresponded for the rest of the war. I'm not sure how long it was that they married after they met face to face, but they were well suited and had a nice long happy marriage.

But I'm guessing the gals in Regency England DID NOT write letters to anonymous soldiers back then (smile). But the marriage of convenience is one of my favorite tropes.

[Mary Jo Putney]

Anne--as Mary T said, you can make this work! Girl writes to favorite cousin fighting on the Peninsula. He shares with his friend. With permission, he writes back. You can take it fromr there, I know.

I wrote my whole Bride trilogy without realizing until years later that they were all Marriages of Convenience!

[Kareni]

Thanks for a fun post, Anne!

I very much like books with an epistolary component, so I will be all ears if you decide to write a regency/mail order bride romance. Mary Jo mentioned a Peninsula possibility; I could also imagine a soldier or officer stationed in India who might be desirous of a wife.

[Beverly Abney]

The first Regency I ever read was this one and I was HOOKED. I gobbled up Heyer and searched for more. I was lucky and Signet was publishing them and Zebra too. I once had three boxes full of them under a a bed and recently sent them off to someone in West Virginia who wanted them. Convenient marriages are great fun for me.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Theo, I'll give it some thought. Maybe a novella...
And those happy endings are why I love romance novels so much — there is enough gloom and doom and misery and hate in the world, isn't there. Romance novels help to balance that out a little.

[Anne Gracie]

Mary, that's exactly how my favorite aunt and uncle met — she was a teenager writing to her big brother away at war, and his friend saw a photo of her (she was gorgeous) and said, "She's a bit of all right. I might write to her." And Dad said "No you will not — she's not even 16 yet."
"Oh," said the man who was to become my uncle Stan, "When's her birthday?"
"9th November," said Dad and seing that was months away, he thought nothing more of it.
Unbeknownst to him, come 9th November, Stan started writing to Auntie Jean, and . . . you know the rest. And they, too had a long and very happy marriage. Sadly they didn't keep the letters.

Oh dear, you've got me thinking now. . .

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Mary Jo — yes, that's almost exactly what happened with my aunt and uncle — see my reply to Mary, above.

As for writing without knowing the trope, I did that for years. Were we better of knowing about tropes or not? I wonder.

[Anne Gracie]

Thank you, Kareni — India would be a distinct possibility, as the English men stationed there were often in want of a wife, and some did send for genteel Englishwomen, I believe. It's certainly food for thought.

[Anne Gracie]

Beverley, Heyer's Convenient Marriage is a wonderful book, I agree. I still have all my Heyers, a collection gradually made while I was a schoolgirl, and mostly made up of used copies I found in an antique shop that had all the books from deceased clearances on tables down the back. 20 cents per book — it was a treasure trove.

Some years after I was published, my aunt told me that my paternal grandmother also loved Heyer, and had a full collection of first editions. But when she moved into an aged care home in her late 80's all her books were given to the church bazaar. I was still a child at the time, so nobody thought of me for them, even though I was a bookworm. And they lived in a different state. But I think of those first editions, and mentally weep.

[theo]

See??? ;)

[Binnie Syril Braunstein]

Anne-I love certain tropes and marriage of convenience is certainly one if them . The time period is immaterial. I also love mail-order bride stories. Yes, many of them in the American West and are historical, but I seem remember a mail-order directory by Linda Howard, which was a contemporary. I will try to dig up the title. As for you writing a mail-order recency - why not? England is a big country. She lives at one end if the country; he's in the opposite direction. Something motivates him to need a wife - siblings or children to care for. He's clueless - except to know he needs a bride. Make that mail-order theme work, Anne. I have full confidence in you. You can do it!

[Binnie Syril Braunstein]

Anne-The contemporary mail-order bride story by Linda Howard is Duncan's Bride. He's an embittered Montana rancher who wants a family and children, but has no need for live in his life. The bride is a New Yorker. The twins meet. I love that book!

[Constance]

Bride by Mistake was the first one of your books I read, Anne. It was passed along to me by a work colleague, and for years, when I travelled regularly for business, it lived in my briefcase - a comfort read on delayed flights or after a tiring day. Still have that copy, taped along the binding and dog eared on every corner! I think my favorite trope is the couple who don’t know each other but find themselves stranded by weather or other unforeseen circumstances, and have to overcome their differences to survive or escape. Snow near Christmas always sets one of those up well!

As for Regency mail order brides, I like the India idea, but what about Canada! English officer, worried about his men, writes his sister/aunt/mother for suggestions about women who’d make good brides in the colony. Letter falls into the hands of secretary/governess/housekeeper who has 2 younger sisters, as well as her own lovely self, none of whom have dowries, and she begins a correspondence. I’d read that!

[nancy]

I like Tallie's story. As to mail order brides-- though not exactly the same thing, remember the women who went out to India to find a husband? George Austen's ( Jane's father) sister went out there and married. She had a daughter Eliza whom many thought had been fathered by Warren Hastings. So there are probably many stories of women being sent to India to find husbands or just to get them out of the way at home. My only complaint about the marriage of convenience is that some authors and readers seem to think that it was a marriage that was never consummated and that the couple never lived as man and wife. Though there were marriages like that, most husbands would find such marriages anything but convenient.

[Annette N]

During the Viet Nam war, I started writing to a sailor because he was training a friend of mine. We married. Alas, in the real world I did not have one of you writing my happily ever after.
For awhile it was a wonderful story.
So, yes, Anne, you could write a happily ever after with someone writing to a military man in the Napoleonic war.
It is a sort of mail order bride story.
Hope everyone is smiling.

[Karin]

love any kind of marriage between strangers trope-marriage of convenience, forced marriage, accidental marriage, mail-order bride, whatever! Mimi Matthews "The Matrimonial Advertisement" is a British variation on a mail-order bride. The hero has his solicitor advertise for a wife in the newspaper, the solicitor meets and interviews the heroine, and off she goes to the north of England to marry a stranger. Anne, I'm sure you can come up with something! There are lots of possible motivations. Maybe the bride needs to escape her current unhappy situation, or she is pregnant. The groom's motivation is he needs a wife to get an heir, or to care for children he already has. Or either may have to marry because of the terms of a will. I look forward to reading whatever you write.

[Meg]

Anne, Were there not British male newcomers (voluntary or not) to Australia who sent away for a version of a mail order bride after they were settled? I bet you could cook up something wonderful.

[Jeanne Behnke]

Great reading (as usual) although this isn't my favorite trope. I'm with Constance - I think my favorite trope is the couple who don’t know each other but find themselves stranded by weather or other unforeseen circumstances, and have to overcome their differences to survive or escape. Snow near Christmas always sets one of those up well! (Yes, perfect)
It's not a book but one of my favorite TV movies starring Julie Andrews and James Garner was just such a story and I loved that they were older, finding love again. Usually it gets re-aired around Christmas time every year.

[Teresa Broderick]

Oh wow! That is a wonderful story Anne. So glad they made it!

[Teresa Broderick]

I LOVE Georgette Heyer's books. I have them all and I've started collecting them on kindle too when they're on special, just in case anything happens to my paperbacks. Some of mine are old too and my brother bought me a beautiful Folio edition with a slip case of Venetia for my birthday.
He also bought me first editions of three of her crime novels for another birthday.
I might be in the minority here in never having read a mail order bride story. My daughter loves them though.
Great post!

[Constance]

Ooo, Jeanne - Julie Andrews & James Garner! I have to see if I can find that one! I think they’d make a great couple!

[Vicki L]

Love that idea - Canada one....

[Vicki L]

I love convenient marriage, mail order bride, and trapped stories.

Anna Jacobs has a series of books (set in Australia) where all 5 books were those kinds of marriages. One of which was a mail order bride marriage. The first book in the series is called The Trader's Wife. Though the time frame for the books was 1865 - 1871.

It would be trickier to do a mail order bride in Regency times if you want to set it in England but ....the H could be in navy, Canada, India but has found out the will requires he be married by X date. He won't be back until after X time. Immediately writes his lawyer asking him to find a wife and marries her by proxy. Without even exchanging letters...

[Anne Gracie]

Actually, Binnie Syril, you've reminded me that I did write a story a bit like that. It was for the first Wench anthology — Mischief and Mistletoe. In order to gain access to his inheritance, my hero had contracted a marriage with a dying woman. Only she died making the journey up to Scotland and another woman took her place. . .

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Binnie Syril — I have read Duncan's Bride, but it was quite a few years ago. Might dig it out for a reread — if only I can find the box it is in.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Constance. I do love the "stranded" forced proximity romance as well.
Canada is an interesting idea. I have traveled in Canada a fair bit, but not in winter. But you seem to have thought out a pretty good story set up already — why don't you write it yourself?

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Nancy. Yes, India is a definitely possibility — as you say, quite a few brides were sent out from the UK.

And yes, I, too, have come across those books where the author has mixed up a marriage of convenience with a "white" marriage, where no consummation will take place.

[Anne Gracie]

I'm sorry your story didn't end happily, Annette. Thank goodness for romance novels, eh?
And thanks for the encouragement. I can see I'm going to have to write a bunch of mail-order stories now.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Karin. Yes, my story in "Mischief and Mistletoe" was much the same as the Mimi Matthews basic set-up. — the hero's solicitor found a woman in London for him to marry — only in my story, the solicitor had suggested a dying woman so the hero wouldn't have to make it a long term thing — but she died on the way to Scotland, and another woman took her place.

Thanks for the encouragement to write a mail order bride story.

[Anne Gracie]

There probably were, Meg, though I don't know of many stories of that sort in our history.

A more modern romance writer, Lucy Walker, who wrote in the 50's and 60's, made a career out of stories that weren't so much mail order brides or convenient marriages, but her heroines were almost always young English girls or sheltered city girls sent out to be governesses or companions on some enormous outback sheep or cattle stations. And there was always a brooding, enigmatic hero . . .

My oldest sister loved those books and when I was posted up in school holidays to help her with her babies, I read and enjoyed them too.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Jeanne — I don't recall that movie with Julie Andrews and James Garner. Might see if it's available on some streaming site. I too enjoy the "stranded and stuck together" trope too.

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks, Teresa. What lovely, thoughtful gifts from your brother.

I'm another one who has started collecting and rereading old favourite books on kindle, in case something happens to my books. And I keep the books in case something happens to amazon.,

[Anne Gracie]

Thanks for those suggestions, Vicki. I know Anna Jacobs and her books, but yes, they're set in the Victorian era, and not the Regency. Of course there's no reason why I couldn't set a story in the Victorian era.

[Joan Wolf]

I love love love marriage of convenience stories myself. I've even written a few of them. So much fun to weave a love story out of what is simple 'convenience.' Georgette's Marriage of Convenience is one of my absolute favorites . So so so funny. And endearing. That plot line will never die.

[Anne Gracie]

Lovely to see you here, Joan. Indeed you have written some wonderful MoC stories — and you have plenty of fans here among the word wench readers. Thanks for dropping by.

[Barbara Rogers]

I read a sort of 'mail order bride' book set in England a few years ago. Forgive me, I'm old :) and don't remember either the name of the book or the author. When I first read the synopsis I remember thinking - Mail Order Bride. The gist was - there was this aristocrat (Regency I think) who needed to marry. He was unsociable, unbending, emotionless, etc. and didn't really care who he married. So, he had his solicitor place an ad in the London papers with his specific criteria - and he was pretty specific about there would be no possibility of a love match. I think the marriage even took place by proxy before the woman left wherever she was in England. The two never met, never corresponded - nothing - until the day she arrived as his bride. I loved it! Of course, I loved it even more because there was a 'mystery' to it. She was fleeing something or someone - I forget what. Anyway - this long post is to say - you CAN do Mail Order Bride in England and I'd love to read one of yours.

[Anne Gracie]

Thank you, Barbara. Don't worry about forgetting the title or author — I forgot that I'd written a mail-order bride story — sorta. In the WordWench anthology "Mischief and Mistletoe" I wrote about a man whose lawyer had found him a bride — a dying bride, who he could marry, (and thus have access to his inheritance) but have no long-term relationship with. Of course it didn't work out quite like that.