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The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson

Posted on August 19, 2011
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Reason for Reading:
  • I’m a huge fan of gothic mysteries.

I also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

When Eve falls for the secretive, charming Dom, their whirlwind relationship leads them to purchase Les Genevriers, an abandoned house in a rural hamlet in the south of France. As the beautiful Provence summer turns to autumn, Eve finds it impossible to ignore the mysteries that haunt both her lover and the run-down old house, in particular the mysterious disappearance of his beautiful first wife, Rachel. Whilst Eve tries to untangle the secrets surrounding Rachel’s last recorded days, Les Genevriers itself seems to come alive. As strange events begin to occur with frightening regularity, Eve’s voice becomes intertwined with that of Benedicte Lincel, a girl who lived in the house decades before. As the tangled skeins of the house’s history begin to unravel, the tension grows between Dom and Eve. In a page-turning race, Eve must fight to discover the fates of both Benedicte and Rachel, before Les Genevriers’ dark history has a chance to repeat itself.

My Review:

I finished reading this book a few hours ago and I am still battling the chills it brought to life.  Holy smokes, this one blew me away.

I’m a huge fan of Kate Morton, I loved Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier and so it was inevitable that I’d pick up The Lantern, gothic romantic mystery? Yes please!

I have to say, I was intrigued enough for the first half of the book to keep reading. I, like Eve, needed to know the secrets.  I was confused by the narrative but quickly got used to it and appreciated that I didn’t have to read long before going back to the other story.

Then, something magical happened.  I started jumping at every little noise, looking over my shoulder at the slightest breeze of air touching it and whimpering with needing to know exactly what was going on.

I’ve read a lot of books with psychological torture, but I have to say  - I think an event in this book about takes the cake.  I won’t say anymore about it, but .. yeah, you’ll know when you read it.

If you love books that just tingle with mystery, sweeping, beautiful descriptions of homes fallen into disrepair and ruin, filled with mystery, ghosts and more then The Lantern is a must-read.

 

About the Author

 

For more reviews on The Lantern by Deborah Lawrenson, please follow the book tour.

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The House at Riverton by Kate Morton

Posted on December 16, 2010
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Reason(s) for Reading:
  • I’m a Kate Morton fan-girl and am not ashamed to admit it.
I  also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

Summer 1924

On the eve of a glittering society party, by the lake of a grand English country house, a young poet takes his life. The only witnesses, sisters Hannah and Emmeline Hartford, will never speak to each other again.

Winter 1999

Grace Bradley, ninety-eight, one-time housemaid of Riverton Manor, is visited by a young director making a film about the poet’s suicide. Ghosts awaken and old memories – long consigned to the dark reaches of Grace’s mind – begin to sneak back through the cracks. A shocking secret threatens to emerge, something history has forgotten but Grace never could.

Set as the war-shattered Edwardian summer surrenders to the decadent twenties, The House at Riverton is a thrilling mystery and a compelling love story.

My Review:

I can’t tell you how sad I am now that I’ve finished this book.  I’m not sad because the story was bad or anything, oh no.. I’m sad because now I’ve come to the end of Kate Morton’s novels.  I started earlier this year with The Forgotten Garden and then got my hands on a copy of The Distant Hours and both books had me curled up on my sofa devouring the words and feeling that delicious thrill one gets when things are just right in the reading world.

I will admit to being a little worried that I wouldn’t like The House at Riverton as much as Morton’s later works, simply because it’s a first and surely she wouldn’t be as mature a writer right off the bat, right?  Nope. That’s not the case.  The House at Riverton is a masterful work – it weaves together a story so complex that, even though you have an inkling of what the great tragedies are, it really doesn’t matter because you’ll be shocked all the same.  I got those same thrills, the same goosebumps and walked around with my nose buried in this book all day until the last few, perfect pages.

Fantastic book, my only regret is that I waited so long to read it.

Check out these review(s):

Mostly Fiction

Linus’s Blanket

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The Distant Hours by Kate Morton

Posted on November 2, 2010
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Reason(s) for Reading:
  • I adored Kate Morton’s The Forgotten Garden.
  • Three sisters, a castle and a mystery – how could you NOT want to read this story?
I also recommend:
  • The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
  • Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Summary from GoodReads:

A long lost letter arrives in the post and Edie Burchill finds herself on a journey to Milderhurst Castle, a great but moldering old house, where the Blythe spinsters live and where her mother was billeted 50 years before as a 13 year old child during WW II. The elder Blythe sisters are twins and have spent most of their lives looking after the third and youngest sister, Juniper, who hasn’t been the same since her fiance jilted her in 1941.

Inside the decaying castle, Edie begins to unravel her mother’s past. But there are other secrets hidden in the stones of Milderhurst, and Edie is about to learn more than she expected. The truth of what happened in ‘the distant hours’ of the past has been waiting a long time for someone to find it.

Morton once again enthralls readers with an atmospheric story featuring unforgettable characters beset by love and circumstance and haunted by memory, that reminds us of the rich power of storytelling

My Review (Spoiler free!):

I’ve lived in this book for the last three days.  Every time I’ve put it down, I’ve done so with regret; regret that I couldn’t read more, regret that the world I’m living in is not the world portrayed in the book.  This story appealed to me on so many levels, from taking influences from books such as Jane Eyre, Rebecca and Wuthering Heights to providing drama on such a perfectly, laid out scale.

..and honestly, how can you go wrong with a story centered around a crazy old man and his daughters, with quirky names  such as Persephone, Seraphina and Juniper?

I’ve struggled with how to write this review and not reveal anything – and it is a struggle because all I want to do is talk about the story.  This was not a light, comfort read – but I don’t turn to Kate Morton for that sort of read.  I picked this tome up.. (and at nearly 700 pages, it’s a doozy) expecting an interesting book with well-developed characters.  What I got was the following:

- Well developed characters, I particularly loved the evolving relationship between one of the main characters, Edie, and her parents.

- A perfect setting.  Morton did a beautiful job of describing the castle – decaying it was.. and I could practically smell the mold, hear the leaves crunching and see the bathing pool as she describes it.

- A haunting mystery.  I actually was disappointed about halfway through the book because I knew I had it all figured out.  Did I?  Well… you tell me once you’ve read the book.. did YOU?

- The “Chill Factor”.  I got chills so many times while reading this book I lost count.  Also, I didn’t sleep the first night with my light off after reading the opening of the book.  I get spooked easily.. and this book qualifies as “spooky” – much like Jane Eyre does.

The Distant Hours is, simply put, fantastic.  One of the best books I’ve read this year and my battered ARC can testify to how much handling it has had over the past few days.  I liked Kate Morton after The Forgotten Garden, but The Distant Hours has made me a firm fan and I can’t wait to see what she writes next.

Check out these review(s):

Historical Novel Review

Mandy the Bookworm

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Ruined by Paula Morris

Posted on September 24, 2010
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Reason(s) for Reading:
  • Beautiful cover, and I am a sucker for a beautiful cover!
  • I love stories set in New Orleans.
  • I was in the mood for a ghost story.
I also recommend:

Summary from GoodReads:

Rebecca couldn’t feel more out of place in New Orleans, where she comes to spend the year while her dad is traveling. She’s staying in a creepy old house with her aunt. And at the snooty prep school, the filthy-rich girls treat Rebecca like she’s invisible. Only gorgeous, unavailable Anton Grey seems to give Rebecca the time of day, but she wonders if he’s got a hidden agenda. Then one night, in Lafayette Cemetery, Rebecca makes a friend. Sweet, mysterious Lisette is eager to talk to Rebecca, and to show her the nooks and crannies of the city. There’s just one catch: Lisette is a ghost.

A ghost with a deep, dark secret, and a serious score to settle.

As Rebecca learns more from her ghost friend — and as she slowly learns to trust Anton Grey — she also uncovers startling truths about her own history. Will Rebecca be able to right the wrongs of the past, or has everything been ruined beyond repair?

My Review:

I’m going to start this review out by admitting something.  I’m a wuss, a coward, a scaredy-cat.  If you look up “easily spooked” in a dictionary you’d see my picture there.  I’ve been known to read a book centered around vampires and then freak out if I have to walk outside in the dark.  I’ve hurt my hand slapping the light switch in my room and … on more than one occasion, have been known to sleep with my lamp on next to my bed.

Having said all that (and made those embarrassing admissions – hey, I’m 33 folks, I should know better) – let me just say that this is my kind of ghost story.  It wasn’t too scary, in fact I highly doubt my 7 year old nephew would be scared by it.  But it was creepy, written in a very simplistic way so it was easy to follow and had some great ambiance going for it.

That said… the simplicity nearly ruined the ending.  After the story finally got going (and it took about 50 pages until I started getting into it) it unwound with some interesting twists and turns but the ending.. Paula Morris, what in the world did you do?  The ending made me feel as if the story built up to this huge climax and then.. SLAM went the door in my face.

Taking a few minutes to calm down here….

Anyways, even with my disapproval of how it all ends I still recommend this book if you have a young teen interested in learning some neat facts about New Orleans and craving a ghost story.

(And I don’t even have to keep my lamp on tonight!)

Check out these reviews:

Girls in the Stacks

Reading to Myself

S. Krishna’s Books

As October approaches, what are some of your favorite “spooky” reads?

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The Twin’s Daughter by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

Posted on September 6, 2010
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The Twin's DaughterThe Twin’s Daughter by Lauren Baratz-Logsted

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Short Summary:

Lucy Sexton is stunned when a disheveled woman appears at the door one day… a woman who bears an uncanny resemblance to Lucy’s own beautiful mother. It turns out the two women are identical twins, separated at birth, and raised in dramatically different circumstances. Lucy’s mother quickly resolves to give her less fortunate sister the kind of life she has never known. And the transformation in Aunt Helen is indeed remarkable. But when Helen begins to imitate her sister in every way, even Lucy isn’t sure at times which twin is which. Can Helen really be trusted, or does her sweet face mask a chilling agenda?

My Review:

I love it when books change right in the middle of the story.

The first half of this book had me thinking the following:

  • Interesting, but is there any point to this?
  • This is a pleasant story, kind of simple, but pleasant.
  • Okay I see maybe where she is going, a sort of coming-of-age story.

And then.. the book took a violent turn.

THE TWIN’S DAUGHTER reminds me of a YA version of Anna Quindlen’s EVERY LAST ONE. Although the stories are different the style and the shock value is the same. Set up your story with background and then hit your reader with something horrifying.

That said, the last half of the book was everything that the first half wasn’t. It was gripping, had me turning pages quickly and every time I thought I came to a conclusion it tore that conclusion away from me.

Before picking this story up I recommend you think about this question:

“Does every daughter really know her mother?”

View all my reviews

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Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier

Posted on September 1, 2010
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RebeccaRebecca by Daphne du Maurier

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Short Summary:

Sixty years after REBECCA was first published, Daphne du Maurier’s unsurpassed masterpiece continues to enthrall readers with romance and suspense, as the second Mrs. de Winter narrates the haunting events surrounding her marriage to Maxim de Winter and her growing obsession with his first wife, the beautiful, now dead Rebecca. Includes excerpts from the author’s personal notes and essays, exclusive to this edition.

My Review:

This has been an interesting month for me – between reading Wilkie Collins’ masterpiece, THE WOMAN IN WHITE and now REBECCA.

Daphne du Maurier takes us inside the life of the second Mrs. de Winter; like Collins’ main protaganist, Marian, the second Mrs. de Winter is a plain woman although she lacks the backbone shown by Marian. From there on out the similarities end.

I don’t recall ever being told the name of Mrs. de Winter but I think that was the point of the story. I found myself caught up in the dark, gothic-feeling descriptions of Manderley and its grounds and could even hear the sound of the sea in portions of the book.

Being unfamiliar with the story I had hoped that I would be shocked or taken by surprise at the ending, but unfortunately, it was one I guessed. Still I enjoyed the unfolding of the twists and turns and the storytelling very much.

The characters in this book were exquisitely written; Mr. de Winter a brooding, dark and handsome man and the second Mrs. de Winter an innocent, pure and naive creature. They make this story – but not alone.

Although we never actually get to meet Rebecca it’s fascinating to see her character develop through the words of Mrs. Danvers, Beatrice and through Mrs. de Winter’s own imagination.

As I read this book I couldn’t help but think … what would it be like to step into the shoes, the home, the life of a beautiful, vivacious woman? Would I survive it?

View all my reviews

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Dracula in Love by Karen Essex

Posted on July 25, 2010
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Dracula in LoveDracula in Love by Karen Essex

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Summary:

Karen Essex turns on the heat in this transporting and darkly haunting new tale of love and possession that puts forth the question: What if everything you knew about Dracula . . . was wrong?

My Review:

Word of warning – do not read this book when you are out say.. babysitting and have to leave the house at 11PM.

I jumped at every. little. noise.

That said… Wow. This was quite the read. Michelle Moran, on the cover, dubs this the “Twilight for adults” and in a way, she’s right. Only in this case, Mina.. as the new Bella, is not quite so chaste.

Wow, I’m still trying to wrap my head around this book.

Okay, so for those of you younger readers, this is really, really steamy in parts. Don’t fall for the Twilight hook – this is definitely not as tame as Twilight (those are words I never thought I might say). But for those of you adults who want a “real” vampire story, one that includes dark, mysterious characters and focuses around the Sidhe and the old stories of powerful female vampires – yeah this is the book for you.

Dark, spooky, horrifying (blood transfusions and strait-jackets anyone?) and filled with a romance that will make you shiver and look over your shoulder.

View all my reviews >>

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Angelology by Danielle Trussoni

Posted on May 24, 2010
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Angelology Angelology by Danielle Trussoni

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This book is what would happen if Dan Brown and Elizabeth Kostova got together and made a book.

It starts out slow – seriously slow. So slow that I had to force myself repeatedly to pick it up over the period of three days. In fact, it didn’t pick up speed until the last few hours I spent reading it – and that was the last third of the book.

So for those of you out there reading my reviews I want to warn you (Auntie, I’m talking to you right now), if you didn’t like what Dan Brown did to religion in The DaVinci Code then don’t pick up this book. Although it’s a bit more fantasy-driven then Browns books are and dealing with the paranormal, there are sections of the book the clearly twist several parts of scripture just so that it can make a thrilling story. (One thing this book did remind me of was my childhood desire to name a son Japheth one day).

I was slightly annoyed by the names of the leading female characters, Gabriella, Angela, Evangelica. It was all just a little too neat and perfect. The most fascinating part of the book were a few pages right smack dab in the middle where the book left the main storyline and went back 1000 years to tell the history of what was being investigated.

Now, earlier I said that the book didn’t pick up until the last third – well, it got action-filled there. Lots of fights, lots of crazy things happening and finally some answers and movement of the story-line.

The overall feel was VERY gothic and if you enjoy gothis mystery/thriller books and don’t mind the religious aspect then this is definitely a book for you to read.

View all my reviews >>

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