It’s a classic romantic trope: a marriage is arranged for political reasons, and despite initial feelings or inclinations, the two strangers begin a slow spiral into each other’s hearts. In A Strange and Stubborn Endurance, author Foz Meadows imbues this familiar story with enough twists and turns and thoughtful examinations to render it almost entirely new—a queer romance for the ages. A secondary world fantasy of intricate politics, hierarchies of power and culture and magic, plus two exquisite leads that brim with life, this slow-burn novel may have the flame low, but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t burn hot.
Content Warning: Discussion of sexual assault, abuse, PTSD, suicide
Velasin vin Aaro, a minor lord from the country of Ralia, has never had any intention of getting married. Living the privileged life he has, alongside his mute companion Markel, he’s enjoyed wine, story, gossip, and various dalliances here and there to his heart’s content. But when he’s called home and told he’s being married off to a princess of neighboring Tithena, Velasin’s world comes crashing down. His sexuality is outed in a horrifying and traumatic attack, and the ambassador to Tithena, realizing Velasin has no attraction to women, offers the solution of a union to the prince instead. As Velasin grapples with sexual assault and severe trauma on the journey to Tithena, his newly betrothed, Prince Caethari Aeduria, navigates the uneasy political balance with his now-jilted sister. The husbands-to-be must learn to care for each other’s hearts, even as they must protect each other from danger around every corner.
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A Strange and Stubborn Endurance
First things first: this book goes to some incredibly dark and traumatic places, especially very early on in the novel. Velasin undergoes several brutal traumas in a row. He is sexually assaulted by a former lover the night before he is to leave for Tithena and is consequently outed to his father, who promptly disowns him before sending him off to be married. Velasin, whose world has come crashing down around him, contemplates suicide and serious self-harm. This all happens within the first hundred pages or so, and while everything about Velasin’s assault and the weeks thereafter are brutal and harrowing to experience as a reader, Meadows employs a steady, compassionate gaze. They do not move into gratuitous or excessive brutality and misery, nor do they shy away from the very real results of trauma that comes from assault or mental illness, especially all happening so closely together. Meadows brings clarity and reality to the effects of Velasin’s experiences, his anxiety and depression hand in hand with his physical tremors and grim humor, often masking anguish to survive this moment or that. All that to say, Meadows maintains a respectful, objective look at how a person experiences and goes through deep trauma on multiple levels, and then, just as respectfully, and perhaps gently, begins to show how a person can begin to heal from those traumas.
That Meadows manages to have a novel that details the slow healing that comes after trauma so beautifully and respectfully, while also making it a high-stakes political thriller, and then folds in a lovely and sweet slow-burn romance between two complex characters, each fearing their new situation while also falling heads over heels for their new husband only showcases why A Strange and Stubborn Endurance is such a triumph. Sexy and sweet, kind and at times funny, Meadows shows that you can have clearly stated boundaries and consent while also showcasing just how much a soul smolders when your crush enters the room. Their writing is especially beautiful as little by little, a healing Velasin comes to see joy in Cae’s love for life, his expertise and skill, just as much as Cae gives Velasin time to heal, only to notice how deeply his strict soldiering heart begins to melt for his new husband’s bravery and intellect, his thoughtful regard and biting tongue.
I haven’t even mentioned yet how beautifully queer and diverse and lived-in the world is, with its myriad politics and stakes and bits of culture, or how Meadows effortlessly includes disability on the page in ways that are matter-of-fact and every day.
There is much to love about A Strange and Stubborn Endurance. Come for the elegant prose, the political intrigue, the lovingly rendered characters, the romance and baring of hearts, the thorny and tangled path towards healing—come for any of it, and you will love all of it. Meadows has written something beautiful and if you needed a book to light a fire in your heart, let it be this one.
A Strange and Stubborn Endurance is published by Tor Books.
Read an excerpt here.
Martin Cahill is a writer living in Queens who works as the Marketing and Publicity Manager for Erewhon Books. He has fiction work forthcoming in 2021 at Serial Box, as well as Beneath Ceaseless Skies and Fireside Fiction. Martin has also written book reviews and essays for Book Riot, Strange Horizons, and the Barnes and Noble SF&F Blog. Follow him online at @mcflycahill90 and his new Substack newsletter, Weathervane, for thoughts on books, gaming, and other wonderfully nerdy whatnots.
