Compare Emilie’s marriages. How much control do you think she had over either?
Her first marriage, Keller McCain, was a disaster, he was skum, an a**hole and used Emilie for her money and possessions. I hated him for the rape incidence and the after sex to say the baby was his. Her second marriage to Walker Wilson was a little better, but again, he wanted what she had. Glad she had great sex with him! Yet, another “user” to get what he wanted. Loved the Prenup!
Each of the men were looking for a woman who could give him what he wanted without having to work for it. Each were addicts: Keller to gambling, Walker to sex. Other than family pressures for Keller to move along, Emilie had very little power in her first marriage. The pre-nup was her saving grace in her second marriage. In both instances, she had to endure the men until THEY made the decision to leave.
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For such a smart and unconventional woman, Emilie made poor choices in husbands. She had no power in her first marriage and was left destitute and physically abused. Walker wasn’t much better, but she thankfully waited until her property was hers under the law. She was still poorly treated by someone after her money.
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I agree with you Donna_M, I too was surprised of the choices she made in husbands for a smart and unconventional woman.
Yes, the term poor choices did come to mind. However, she did cover herself financially the second time around and seem to have a grip on handling disappointment and being able to move on successfully. I think if she had not gotten pregnant by Walker she would not have married him. But she did want a child so she was willing to take the ‘plunge’ again to give her child legitamacy.
Donna, you read my mind. All through the book I kept wondering why did she make such poor choices? She had smart women in her life, Susanna and her grandmother as well Madeline who demonstrated what good love looks like. Walker was a better choice, but I think Emilie was swayed by their physical relationship.
Both of these men were so evil. There was no love on their part. They only wanted to use her for her money and property, including her horses. I was sorry and surprised that fell for both of them. She did not really have much control.
I agree with Donna_M. I think she was starved for attention and these sorry men decided to prey on her. There were probably few choices in the area. I wondered why Emilie’s father did not visit her at her home when she was married to Keller so that he could witness her situation. That left me puzzled.
I loved this book, but this part didn’t make sense to me. Neither of Emilie’s husbands could be considered “good men” by any measurement, but she didn’t see it and she didn’t seek counsel from any of the people in her life either - although she had such good sense in so many other areas of her life. Something about that did not ring true to me.
Also, in my experience, men like these two do not seek out strong, capable women - they seek out weak ones that they can manipulate readily. Maybe they were confident enough to believe that their brute force would get them what they wanted, but more likely, they saw vulnerability in Emilie that I didn’t choose to see.
As a reader, I was very disappointed that she didn’t accept Caleb’s proposal. Maybe that was an indication that she really did not want a good man.
I have read that the emotion of love that we feel is nothing more than the right chemical reactions. I don’t know if that is true but maybe for Emilie it was. I think she could have chosen not to marry either of them had she not “fallen” for them. She didn’t need to marry either of them for money or safety (and they surely didn’t supply either).
I wanted to tell her to not marry both times. What pitiful assholes they both were. I guess it made for a good story but she certainly seemed to be too smart to fall for either of them. I think she secured a path to control over Walker even before the marriage and he was not able to get what he wanted. He also had no real loyalty to her either.