The Phoenix Bride

Last year, Natasha Siegel released her debut novel, Solomon’s Crown. While I haven’t yet gotten to read that, I was excited to dive into her newest book, The Phoenix Bride. Set in the seventeenth century amidst plague and fires, it follows two grieving people and their impossible fight for love.

Special thanks to the publicists at Penguin Random House and to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book!

Summary

It is 1666 in London, and Cecilia Thorowgood has been grieving the loss of her young husband to the plague the year prior. Her symptoms are so bad (inability to eat, desire to follow her husband into the grave) that her sister hires countless physicians to help her, all to no avail… until she hires David Mendes. He fled Portugal a decade earlier so he could live openly as a Jew. His treatments for Cecilia seem to work, but moreover, the two have developing romantic feelings for each other. But she’s a Christian and he a Jew, and a relationship between them would thus be impossible. As Cecilia is pushed to marry another man and London suffers new tragedies, how will she and David find a way together?

Review

I love when novels whisk me back in time to another era, when things were so similar yet so different. The Phoenix Bride is set in 1666 in the aftermath of a plague, one that stole loved ones from both of our main characters. Cecilia Thorowgood lost her husband after a short but happy marriage; she’s been unable to move on from her grief, physically or emotionally. This is why her sister brings in a physician named David Mendes. He’s not the first doctor to see Cecilia, but he is her last hope at this point. David, too, understands grief all too well, and he takes an alternative approach to healing Cecilia.

Although there is a strong element of romance here, the novel really does start off with both characters in a bad place, perhaps more obviously so with Cecilia. The Phoenix Bride doesn’t shy away from showing grief and how that can impact a person. From Cecilia’s inability to eat to her suicidal ideation, it can be pretty dark. Emotionally, she’s chaotic and at times reckless, but it’s largely meant to cover up her intense melancholy.

Both Cecilia and David face significant limitations, if for different reasons. Cecilia is a woman in the 17th century, dependent on her married sister and on the financial stability that marrying again would provide her. David is a Jew from Portugal, facing discrimination both for his religion and for his nation of origin. And given their differences, it would be nearly impossibly for David and Cecilia to give in to their mutual attraction and develop a life together.

Many obstacles are in the way of a romantic relationship for the two. First of all, Cecilia is being pushed to marry another man, mainly to provide security to herself and to her sister. Family gets in the way, including more loss, only compounding the uphill battle they already face. But could a devastating fire in London push them together or drive them further apart?

There are many things I enjoyed about The Phoenix Bride, from its lyrical writing and historical setting to the way both main characters are shown. There is some LGBTQ representation, discussions around differing religions, and insight into 17th century medical practices. I also appreciated several of the supporting cast, especially one person I didn’t think I’d like at all. The book sometimes felt too detached or like it wasn’t moving forward the way I’d hoped, but it was still a thoughtful and interesting read.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I liked The Phoenix Bride for its characters and many themes, even if it left me wanting a bit more by the end. This is Natasha Siegel’s second novel, and I am eager to go back and read her previous book, Solomon’s Crown, which I have on my bookshelf now.

Get the Book

You can buy The Phoenix Bride here – it’s available as a paperback, ebook, and audiobook.

The Phoenix Bride by Natasha Siegel
Audience	Adult
Genre	Historical Fiction; Historical Romance
Setting	London, England
Number of Pages	336
Format I Read	Ebook (NetGalley ARC)
Original Publication Date	March 12, 2024
Publisher	Dell

Official Summary

“Poetic, romantic, and steeped in seventeenth-century London, The Phoenix Bride is historical fiction at its best.”—Mackenzi Lee, New York Times bestselling author of The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue

A passionate tale of plague, fire, and forbidden love from the acclaimed author of Solomon’s Crown

It is 1666, one year after plague has devastated England. Young widow Cecilia Thorowgood is a prisoner, trapped and isolated within her older sister’s cavernous London townhouse. At the mercy of a legion of doctors trying to cure her grief with their impatient scalpels, Cecilia shows no sign of improvement. Soon, her sister makes a decision born of desperation: She hires a new physician, someone known for more unusual methods. But he is a foreigner. A Jew. And despite his attempts to save Cecilia, he knows he cannot quell the storm of sorrow that rages inside her. There is no easy cure for melancholy.

David Mendes fled Portugal to seek a new life in London, where he could practice his faith openly and leave the past behind. Still reeling from the loss of his beloved friend and struggling with his religion and his past, David is free and safe in this foreign land but incapable of happiness. The security he has found in London threatens to disappear when he meets Cecilia, and he finds himself torn between his duty to medicine and the beating of his own heart. He is the only one who can see her pain; the glimmers of light she emits, even in her gloom, are enough to make him believe once more in love.

Facing seemingly insurmountable challenges, David and Cecilia must endure prejudice, heartbreak, and calamity before they can be together. The Great Fire is coming—and with the city in flames around them, love has never felt so impossible.