I hope to read this one sometime this year. The only time I've seen rape as a part of a Bujold novel was Shards of Honour and a little bit in Borders of Infinity. but then I've only read Curse of Chalion and some of the Vorkosigan Saga

Yeah, now that I've read more of her books, it's probably not a fair comment. At the time, I'd read Curse of Chalion, Paladin, Shards, Barrayar, Warrior's Apprentice, and a couple of other ones, and all of them have rape as a very heavy theme. Paladin of Souls is a great read, though. It really completes Curse of Chalion.

I feel terrible for not remembering the rape in Curse of Chalion.

Reading Jane Austen--that's the one I was thinking of. @target-acquired--With Bujold, it's not necessarily that the rape happens, but it seems to be a pretty constant theme in her earlier books. Donno threatens rape of Ista; also the reason why Caz was beaten was the threatened rape of his oarsmate.

I think for me the worst example is in Warrior's Apprentice--Bujold's extremely unsympathetic portrayal of Elaine Sr really bothered me. In general, I think Bujold handles the topic well, but it certainly is a constant refrain. Comes up in Chalion #3, Vor Game, and quite a few others too.