Ebook: 362 pages
Genre: Historical Romantic Fiction
Publisher: Salt, 6 Oct 2025
Source: NetGalley
First Sentences: He comes running across the fields in the early light. Eliza would know him anywhere, a smudge against the green through the diamond panes.
Review Quote: ‘The Marriage Contract is a beautifully atmospheric, searingly romantic novel that is ultimately a celebration of female empowerment and self-discovery. This book broke my heart over and over again, and I loved every word. Eliza, Francis and Edmund will haunt me for some time.’ —Elizabeth Lee, author of Cunning Women
My Opinion:
‘The Marriage Contract’ is Sasha Butler’s debut novel and I am surprised that despite being sort listed for a couple of awards in 2022, it has only just been published.
This is an emotive story that unfolds against the background of the first Elizabethan era in England. The protagonist is Eliza a young girl forced into a marriage she does not want because she loves another man. Her ambitious and unpleasant Yeoman father is determined that she will marry well. An intense and emotional read grounded in the reality of life in the 16C.
With well formed characters and flowing prose one wonders if the author is going to become a popular new voice in Historical Fiction. We shall have to wait and see, meanwhile recommended to fans of this genre.
With thanks to NetGalley, Salt Publishers and the author for the opportunity to read and review.
Précis Courtesy of Amazon:
'Once she had thought of them, their love, as a fortress that nothing, not giants nor dragons nor men with fists and minds of gore could tear down. She realises now, that their love is malleable, mouldable, breakable. As soft as dreams.'
Summer in Worcestershire, 1577. Eliza Litton, a talented artist, is in love with childhood friend, Francis. But her tyrannical father, who rules the household with insults and fists, has other ideas. As summer comes to an end, Francis vanishes after a drunken night at the inn and Eliza's father forces her to marry a gentleman, Edmund.
Thrown into a new, unfamiliar life with her husband who appears distant and cold, Eliza cannot tear herself from the memory of Francis. Yet her feelings for Edmund soften with time; he presents a life to her better than she ever dreamed. He provides her a safety she never had beneath her father's roof and encourages her to paint, to pursue the things she loves.
As she begins to fall for Edmund, Francis is adrift on his own voyage, doing all he can to survive, fixated on returning to Eliza.
But as Eliza grows closer to Edmund, she uncovers a deceit she never imagined, causing her to question her own loyalties and commit her own betrayals. After everything, who will Eliza be? And what choices will she make?
The Marriage Contract vividly portrays life in the precarious and unforgiving Elizabethan era, exploring love's many forms; how we can betray the ones we love, and how we can find forgiveness; and explores a woman's fight to follow her desires and find her autonomy.
Author Profile
Courtesy of Amazon
Sasha Butler is a writer based in the West Midlands. Her first novel, The Marriage Contract will be published in 2025 and was shortlisted for the Cheshire Novel Prize 2022 and the Bath Novel Award 2022, under the former title, As Soft as Dreams.
She is interested in writing historical novels focusing on ordinary people who, despite living in eras so different from our own, are ultimately recognisable in their humanity - with desires, hopes, loves and fears.
In addition to novels, she occasionally writes short stories. Her short story Map of an Affair featured in Floodgate Press’ anthology, Night Time Economy (September 2024).
In her spare time, Sasha enjoys exploring National Trusts and planning trips to far-flung places. She lives with her partner in a little apartment with an ever-growing collection of books and plants.
Photographs and Biographical Information courtesy of the following sites: