The Phoenix Bride
Set against two major, historical disasters, The Great Fire of London and the Bubonic Plague, The Phoenix Bride, a new novel, exquisitely penned by author Natasha Siegel, recounts the interfaith romance between an aristocratic, gentile widow “bewitched” by her Jewish doctor.
Blissfully happy, consumed with love for her new husband, Will, Cecilia Thorowgood was “sick with contentment.” Deliriously anticipating a happily- ever –after, the new bride couldn’t imagine the heartbreak that would render her a widow losing her beloved husband to the Plague in 1666. Having buried her beloved husband, Cecilia leaves her idyllic country home a brokenhearted widow, “burdened by survival”. She moves into her sister’s London townhouse, located in a wealthy neighborhood, close to St. James’s Park never anticipating her destiny with a “foreigner,” David Mendes.
Dr. Mendes was not always welcome in London. Now, three hundred years since Jews had been expelled from England, Mendes must flee Portugal where the Inquisition renders it illegal to practice Judaism. He makes his home in the less restrictive city of London. Mendes lives cautiously as a Jew. A mezuzah openly “affixed to his doorframe” he practices his family profession as a physician.
Cecilia detests London. She “hates hates hates” the city’s crowds, its “muck” it’s stifling stale air, a prisoner cloistered inside the pretentious home of her sister, Lady Eden. After months of mourning nothing brings Cecilia solace from her grief, nor release from the fond memories of her husband. Sinking deeper and deeper into depression, London’s top doctors offer state- of- the- art cures--- bloodletting, or leeches. But Celia’s condition remains unchanged.
Lady Eden becomes distressed over Cecilia’s compromised health. How would she ever secure a suitor for her melancholy sister? Certainly no one with wealth, title or “aligned with the court” would offer Cecilia a hand in marriage. Much against her better judgement Lady Eden reluctantly invites a “foreigner,“ a Jew, into her home hoping he could relieve Cecilia of her persistent despair.
Dr. Mendes immediately diagnoses Cecelia’s ailment and prescribes the only elixir to heal Cecilia’s “wounded heart.” But the prescription, has complicated side effects when she develops a romantic passion for the handsome doctor. Frantic to prevent a taint on the family name Lady Eden must torpedo the developing liaison between Cecilia and a Jew. As luck would have it Lady Eden finds the perfect match for her newly-recovered sister. An old nobleman named Sam. Incredibly Cecilia eagerly consents to marry Sam though she has absolutely no romantic feelings for him.
A quixotic love story that breaks every rule of convention The Phoenix Bride resonates with hope and restoration. Based on the 17th century poem by John Donne, the historical novel opens a window into the reign of ‘the merry King,’ Charles ll.