The Marriage Pact by Michelle Richmond

Publisher's Blurb:
Would you stake your life on your marriage?

Newlyweds Jake and Alice are offered a mysterious wedding gift - membership of a club which promises its couples will never divorce.
Signing The Pact seems the start to a perfect marriage.

Until one of them breaks the rules.

The marriage of their dreams is about to become their worst nightmare.
Because The Pact is for life.
And its members will do anything to make sure no one leaves . . .

---

REVIEW:
​The premise of this book is a great one. What would you do, and how far would you go, to protect your marriage? 
The book begins with the wedding of Jake and Alice, a couple seemingly well suited and happy. As a gift they are given a mysterious locked box and only when they return for honeymoon do they come to realise they have been selected to become part of The Pact, a club which comes with the promise that none of its couples ever divorce.
At first, it seems like a no-brainer. A club of very well connected and happy couples who will support Jake and Alice, through a series of rules and rewards, to make a success of their marriage.
But soon it becomes clear the rules have more power than the rewards and any infringement of the marriage codes can lead to stark and sometimes archaic consequences.
Oh, and did no one mention - the first rule of the marriage Pact is that you don't talk about the marriage Pact - and you certainly don't ask any questions about it, former members or what happens when marriages don't work out.
As Jake and Alice find themselves caught up in the increasingly claustrophobic world of the Pact - with each facing their own "rehabilitation spells" at the Pact's specialist facility (a former prison) they come to realise that no one leaves the Pact. Ever. 
Not alive anyway.

This is a book that had me gripped. At times it made for very disturbing reading and the feelings of claustrophobia were almost overwhelming. Even as a reader. It does require a certain wilful suspension of disbelief but not excessively. One could, perhaps, draw comparisons with the Pact as it is set up in the book and certain "religions" favoured by celebrities. The power of the cult is strong.

If ever a book was crying out to be made into a movie, this is it. Although I would hope it wouldn't lose the nuances of Jake's narration - and his snippets about research into marriage and what makes for a successful union.

This is a dark, compelling read which I highly recommend.

The Marriage Pact is published by Penguin UK, I received a review copy of this book via Netgalley

​