Robin Schone is an author I’ve been avoiding for a while. I don’t fancy myself masochistic, which is what I’ve ended up feeling like after reading some of her recent books. Fortunately, Cry for Passion is actually pretty good. Granted, it is deeply depressing and didn’t leave me in a particularly happy mood, but the story is intelligent and insightful, and definitely left me with food for thought.

Rose Clarring and her husband Jonathon have been married for twelve years. Theirs is originally a love match, but two months into their marriage Jonathon contracted mumps and was left sterile. Rose soon realizes that Jonathon married her for her fertile genes (she has many siblings), and now that he is unable to procreate, can no longer bear to be in her presence. They have not shared a bed for many years now, and she has finally decided to try to get a divorce and free herself from their torturous life.

Jack Loudoun is the barrister Rose calls upon to help her; he knows that it will be almost impossible to grant her a divorce, but he has a personal stake in her case. He once had an affair with a married woman who later died in a tragic accident. Her death haunts him to this day, and he wonders: if he had asked his lover to get a divorce, if he had asked his lover’s husband to let her go, would she still be alive today? However, before Jack agrees to take on Rose’s case, he asks her to prove that they share a passion that supplants both moral obligation and ambition.

I couldn’t truly enjoy this book for a number of reasons. The parasitic nature of the sexual union between the main characters was not very pleasant for me. Yes, they gained self-awareness and maturity, they overcame their guilt concerning their pasts, and eventually fell in love. But the pain and darkness that these characters carried was so great that it was difficult for me to believe that the ending could be resolved the way it was. The book sometimes seemed to be an exercise in how much sadness one can inflict on a reader, and the tenuous happiness they achieved at the end was unsettling and doubtful. Given their sexual dependence on each other, we were somehow led to assume that a romantic connection must follow. I never really felt this connection. Jack’s motivations to protect Rose and free her from her husband seemed to stem largely from his past failure to protect his dead lover. Rose’s dependence on Jack seemed to be formed solely by the knowledge that he understands her forbidden pain and desires. At the end of the book, Jack and Rose have finally just come to accept themselves for who they are, but I could not believe that their relationship in its present state was really forged in love.

This isn’t to say that the characters aren’t fascinating. Whether you’re a fan of Ms. Schone’s distinct writing style or not, you must admit that she definitely has a way with words. I was very interested in all the characters, and they seemed more real to me than many characters I’ve come across in a long time. I was touched by a scene between Jack and the husband of his lover. The relationship between Rose and her husband was heartbreaking. I did think Rose was too similar to all of the author’s previous heroines: sexually unfulfilled, scarred from a past relationship, makes a drastic break from “good” society, et cetera. I felt Jack was more complicated than Rose, and I would definitely enjoy getting him on a psychiatrist’s couch and prying into his mind.

On a side note, I was unamused to find that Jack’s testicles are always throbbing. When he gets a headache, a bolt of pain strikes all the way down there. When he gets cold, his testicles get a shock. His every mood and emotion is reflected by his genitals. This is the same for Rose and her vagina. Her vagina is always empty, always leaking. I never find Robin Schone’s sex scenes very hot – they’re always a little too painful, always trying a little too hard to have a mind-blowing impact on the reader. And I’ve never read a book that describes urinating so often.

However, on the whole, I can recommend Cry For Passion. I loved the historical aspect of this – the women’s rights arguments are very appealing, and the well-integrated facts brought a much appreciated sense of realism to the story. This is a good story with an original, solid plot and detailed characters, if just a little too self-indulgent in its tendency to wallow in melancholy.