The Magnificent Marriage

The Magnificent Marriage is #15 in the Bantam series and was published in February 1975. It is about Dorinda, who accompanies her sister from London to Singapore to marry Maximus Kirby. Dorinda has eczema, a skin complaint, which keeps her out of sight in England. In this story, she finds that the moist air in Singapore cures her ailment and that she is falling in love with her sister's fiance! How Dorinda is able to marry Maximus is the story of this Barbara Cartland book!

This cover by Francis Marshall is similar in that you can tell it's the same couple; only the setting is different. In the Bantam book, the couple is at sea. Notice the junk, or oriental boat, in the water. On the Corgi cover, the couple looks as if they're strolling through a bazaar. Both are very beautiful and give you the feeling of being in the orient. Note the white suit that the hero wears; this would have been common in the hotter climates. Our heroine carries a sunshade to protect her skin; it was considered beautiful and high class to have pure white skin because only the common people who worked outside were tanned. The English had prospects all over Asia at this time. It was known that the sun never set on the British Empire!