Josephine Hart: Damage

I am not sure that this novel is a strict Gothic, but Josephine Hart's Damage published in 1991 is dark and tense. I do not recommend it for some of my readers due to sensitive scenes. If you want to know more about that before reading, feel free to email me or comment. The novel is a page turner, and I read it in two days. It is also short at about 195 pages.

I decided to make a list of Gothic elements in the book to see why I might like it and how I could fit it into the blog. I'll eschew a full review in lieu of my list. The novel feels like an urban gothic to me, but it does have country scenes.

secret room/key to it
twisted heroine with secrets and a shameful past
damaged heroine
incest
creepy letter
secret notes
murder/suicide that no one speaks of (or few speak of)
creepy resemblence of a lover to the deceased
recluse
hero/villain
strange father/son relationship
family estate in the country (Hartley)
obsession
sexual perversion on the part of the heroine and villain

So, this novel does have many Gothic elements, and perhaps that's why I enjoyed it tremendously. I first ran across the story in movie form with Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche (two of my favorite actors). If you don't mind graphic details and very dark plots, and you like a book with a high writing style (literary), check the book and the movie out.

Rating: 4 stars  ****

Barbara Michaels: Stitches in Time

As many of you know, Michaels (Barbara Mertz) is one of my favorite authors in the gothic romance genre. I hadn't read this novel, Stitches in Time, in 15 years-- since it came out and wanted to see what it was about and if I liked it as much this time around.

Rachel Grant is a graduate student slaving away to make ends meet in her friend Cheryl's antique fabrics shop. The only problem is that Rachel is in love with Cheryl's husband, a hunky cop named Tony. When a mysterious antique quilt shows up on the door step of the shop accompanied by a possibly dangerous murderer, things get interesting. Soon, Rachel finds the quilt interfering with her daily life in the form of memories of past lives and present treachery. This novel is one in the Georgetown set, and Pat and Ruth MacDougal, characters from Ammie, Come Home appear in this novel as well.

Characters 4/5 [Rachel falls a bit flat for me, but I like Adam as the hero-- a lot. He's different, not your average romantic lead male, and this is again one of the reasons I love Michaels' work. Adam is the type of guy you would find in a professoral/intellectual job in real life.

Plot 4/5: [I have read some of Michaels' real nail biters, and this isn't one of them. The novel has tons of fascinating stuff about quilting and myth as well as anthropology, but it drags a bit until a bit more than half way in.]

Atmosphere/spooky elements 3/5: [Honestly, not much. The quilt is a bit spooky, but a lot more could have been done here with the overshadowing, etc. It has its scary/creepy parts, but Michaels' has so many novels that really scare me.]

Literary elements 5/5: [As always, Michaels shines here with the information and analysis she manages to present about quilting, Wicca, possession, and female myth and history in this novel.]

Rating: 4 stars  ****

Fans of Michaels will enjoy this one as will anyone with an interest in antique clothing or quilting. Another interesting and perhaps attractive thing about this novel is its Christmas setting. It felt like I was reading it at nearly the right time of year. If you want a Christmas gothic romance read, check this one out. :)

I also like the cover of this novel with some of the quilt images and the photo of Michaels/Mertz wearing a filmy antique creation like one in the novel on the back cover. If you can find the hard back, it's worth tracking down to see front and back.

James Herbert: The Magic Cottage

In Herbert's The Magic Cottage, Midge Gudgeon and her boyfriend Mike Stringer-- he is the narrator of this book-- are looking for a quaint cottage in the woods-- away from the hustle and bustle of London. Midge sees an ad in the paper for one such cottage and is immediately, inexplicably smitten with it. With peeling paint, dying flowers, lovely rooms, and a charming mien, they buy the cottage.

From the first, the cottage has oddities: no spider webs though it has been vacant for some time and cracks in walls that disappear, not to mention that living there leads to mindblowing sex and spooky hallucinations. Squirrels and birds and other creatures of the woods love Midge, and she becomes even more fey to Mike's observing eye than she already is as a cute, little pixie like gal.

Soon, though, there is trouble in paradise. The neighbors are part of a strange healing cult: Elder Mycroft and his gang are more than a little creepy. What is the power they have, and why do they want Gramarye cottage so badly?

Characterization 4/5: [I enjoyed the realistic narrative voice, and the characters were all well drawn. I also think the name Midge Gudgeon is great.]

Plot 4/5: [The plot moves at a nice pace-- not glacially but not like a stampede either. The horror and shivery stuff unfolds slowly but not too slowly, and there is a definite racheting up of suspense. I only had a problem near the end when things almost got laughable; however, there is a nice twist, too, at the end. I didn't care for the ending much, though I won't give it away. :) It's semi-happy, I'd say.]

Atmosphere/spooky elements: 4/5 [The bats alone and the scuttling in the attic gave me the creeps, not to mention the cult next door and the dead who gain voices in the novel.]

Literary 4/5 [This one isn't deep, but it's fun.]

Rating: ****  4 stars  

I recommend this one. It is different and creative. I haven't read another spooky novel quite like it. If you like cottages and the like, you will love it.

Barbara Erskine: House of Echoes

I took my second stab at an Erskine novel with this one, published in 1997.

Adopted at a young age, now that she has a young child of her own, Joss has sought out her mother and father. Both are dead, but she learns she has inherited the old, ancestral home, Belheddon, in a tiny village in Essex. The inheritance comes at a perfect time since her husband Luke has just seen his business go down in flames. Almost from the first, though, Joss realizes something isn't right with the house: a cryptic note from her mother, warnings from those who live in the area, laughter of children who cannot be found, cold spots, mysterious roses that appear on her pillow, shadowy figures, and voices haunt Joss, Luke, and their son, Tom. What is wrong with the house, and what can be done about it? Will the family be able to exorcise the evil there, or will it engulf them?

Plot: 4/5 [This novel moved at a nice pace, and even more importantly, the dialogue was much better this time around. I think Erskine had some coaching or writing classes between this novel and Midnight is a Lonely Place. This one was published two years later; I admire the changes she managed to pull off. It is nice to see changes for the better in a writer; the dialogue between male and female characters is usually fine and when it's bad, it's only slightly intolerable. The novel really got suspenseful for me around 150 pages in; it was enjoyable to that point, but the intrigue heightened as it went on. I enjoyed reading this one in bits and savoring it.]

Characterization: 4/5 [The characters are nicely drawn, though I can't say I have ideas about who would play most of them.]

Atmosphere/spooky elements: 4/5 [This one is quite spooky and has plenty of thrills and chills. In fact, it kept me awake a little last night. I took off a star for just how haunted the house is. There is not much subtlety in the novel; these ghosts come at the reader fast, furious, and in great number-- especially in the beginning. The novel mellows and gets richer as it goes, if that makes sense. Also, the first reference to the Tin Man honestly made me giggle. Erskine writes unevenly (in my opinion), but if you want lots of ghostly activity, she's a sure bet.]

Literary elements: 4/5 [This one is pretty fluffy, but I admire any novelist who writes lengthy novels like this one and holds them together this well.]

Rating: 4 stars   ****

I recommend this one as a good Halloween season read. If you like haunted mansions, tearful love stories through generations or ghosts in general, this one is for you. The novel is long, too, so you have plenty of thrills to savor. I am not sure I'd read this one before bed, either, if you want to sleep well, and that's a pretty good recommendation for any Gothic Novel! 

Joe R. Lansdale: The Two-Bear Mambo

This novel is the next one after Mucho Mojo in the Hap and Leonard series, and yes, the title refers to what you think it does. Think bears and Discovery Channel or Animal Planet. This one was published in 1995. And again, I love the cover. A little tombstone is just visible beside the tree.

Hap and Leonard are having fun setting fire to the neighborhood crack house on Christmas Eve when they find out that Hap's ex-lover, lawyer and wannabe reporter the lovely African American Florida Grange, is missing. Her boyfriend and their acquaintance, Hanson, begs them to do him a favor in return for not putting them in jail. He wants them to go to the still racist, backwoods circa 1960 town of Grovetown in East Texas to look for her.

They do, and it all goes from there to a town with deep, dark secrets that are better unknown. Backwoods politics, mean men in gray suits, and fights break out as they search for Florida.

Plot: 4/5 [The plot moves swiftly and with the usual humor. In fact, I was reading passages of this to my husband and good friend, and they thought they were hilarious, too.]

Characterization: 4/5 [Hap and Leonard are as likable and "real" as ever, and the minor characters are drawn well. No other author has pegged the Southern character sketch like Lansdale. He can breathe life into a character in three sentences and make readers remember that character for the whole novel. If you like your characters unique, he's your author.]

Atmosphere/spooky elements: 4/5 [Just the thought of the mission that Hap and Leonard are given made my skin crawl, for starters. Lansdale also does a lovely job of describing the landscape that looks like a "war zone" due to all the paper mill ravaging of old oaks or the skeletal pines (like bones) that remain to be seen on a drive through Texas (44). The Southern Gothic elements-- graves, bones, decaying remains, floods and acts of nature, scary rednecks-- are strong in this one, but so is the raunchy humor.]

Literary elements: 4/5 [Yes, Lansdale writes like a dream, and he has a keen eye for what ails society, the ills of political correctness and for seeing human nature rightly.]


Rating: 4 stars    ****

I recommend this one. If you like Hap and Leonard, you will want to read them all anyway. If you need a laugh, too, and you are Southern and have a sense of humor, I guarantee you that any of these novels will make you guffaw. They will also make you think about the questions of life and death.

Jill Tattersall: Lady Ingram's Room

 From Sebastian Quinn's wonderful flickr page

I love the cover of this one, published in 1972; it is spooky and creative with the cobwebs and brightly colored dresses.

In the novel, Arabel Murray is an orphan with only Bridie, the housekeeper, for a friend. She must move out of the vicarage she was in with her mother, sister and grandfather (all of whom are now dead) and live with an uncle who is known to be tyrannical. In so doing, she leaves her childhood love, Giles, and her loved home.

The novel follows a few threads in a Dickensian style; for example, ne'er do wells Jason and Zelda make an appearance in chapter two and play a role in the novel.

Arabel is a likable heroine-- sprightly and spunky; she also has a stammer which is an interesting and unusual touch that makes her seem real. On her way to her uncle's house, her plans change, and she and Solomon, her cat, end up going to Ingledale Manor to be a governess temporarily for Sir Luke.  Mysterious things happen, and Arabel finds herself trying to solve the secret of Lady Ingram's room and of her death.

Characterization: 4/5 [The characters are clearly drawn. I picture Arabel portrayed by a young Diane Keaton, and Sir Luke as Javier Bardem. Scott Scott-Ingram (What a name!), another potential love interest, I pictured as Adrian Brody. Both the hero and heroine are likable, and I was quite taken with the hero which is always a good sign for a Gothic Novel in my book.]

Plot: 4/5 [The start is a bit slow, but I like the interesting narrative style and points of view in the novel.]

Atmosphere/spooky elements: 4/5 [Arabel herself looks like a witch with her black cat. Superstition is referred to in the novel, and the description of the windows at Ingledale Manor actually gave me the creeps. The secret room is inventive and different in its treatment in the novel, and that element along with tunnels and a ghoulish tapestry add to the spooky thrills.]

Literary elements: 4/5 [This one is written in a sophisticated way in terms of multiple narrators/points of view and stands out for that, much like the other The Wild Hunt that I reviewed a week or so ago, though Hunt is more sophisticated overall. I think that might be because of the two years between these novels; it is nice to see that this author honed her craft as she went. Another thing I like about her writing is that the dialogue is also believable.]


Rating: 4 stars ****

I recommend this one for its inventiveness and lovable heroine as well as the secret room aspect. I like it when authors in the genre do something new or inventive.

Lady Ingram's Room

Susanna Kearsley: The Shadowy Horses

This was my second foray into Kearsley's work after having read Named of the Dragon. The Shadowy Horses was published in 1997, so it falls into the category of newer Gothic Novels. It is one written "in the tradition of Barbara Michaels" according to its cover. The cover reminds me of some of Michaels' recent book covers.

Verity Grey finds herself in Scotland for an archaeological dig. A boy with psychic abilities has seen a ghostly sentinel in the area, and the head of the dig, Peter Quinnell, believes the lost Roman Ninth Legion is there. Other characters include the handsome David Fortune, Verity's old lover Adrian, the disliked Brian McMorran and his friendly wife Jeannie, and the lovely Fabia, to name a few.

Mysteries abound about the ruins and the tower, potsherds, and coins that are found there. On top of these puzzles, ghostly horses ride at night, and Verity herself experiences the sentinel's presence. What danger awaits them all? Are unearthly or human forces trying to make the team leave the excavations?

Characterization: 4/5 [The characterization is nicely done for the most part. Each character seems real and round. Verity Grey-- love that name!- I pictured as Jennifer Love Hewitt, and David Fortune would be played by someone like Colin Firth. Peter Quinnell might be portrayed by Anthony Hopkins.]

Plot: 3/5 [It must just be me, but this novel did not pick up or take off for me until around page 120. I stuck with it because of the good bits here and there, but Kearsley's plotting is, well, plodding, to me. I think she could use more slight cliffhanger chapter endings and other devices to keep readers' interest early on in the novel. Perhaps I am the only reader of this opinion, though, as others seem to rave about her work.]

Atmosphere/spooky elements: 4/5 [Things didn't feel spooky to me either really until that late point in the novel. Kearsley's atmosphere falls flat for a while even with the ghostly devices, but at least they are there. I did get a chill a few times in reading post page 120. I just wonder why it took so long for things to heat up.]

Literary: 5/5 [Yes, the poetry alone that is quoted as well as the numbering of the sections in the novel by horse numbers (First Horse, for example, with a bit of poetry and so on, much like Stewart's Nine Coaches Waiting has chapters numbered by coaches) is wonderful. The section headings make me think of doom, Apocalypse, etc. The novel is also rich with history of Scotland and of the Romans.]

Romance? Yes, and Kearsley manages to make it a bit suspenseful and interesting.


Rating: 4 stars  ****

** I recommend this one, and I see hints of Barbara Michaels, but to me, Kearsley doesn't build the type of spooky atmosphere that grips me and holds me, propelling me through the pages. It took me about about two weeks to finish it where most Michaels' novels and other favorite Gothics were about three days. :) I am sure most would recommend it, and it is fairly lengthy at over 350 pages-- one of those novels you can savor.

Mary Stewart: My Brother Michael

With this novel, I finally, truly get what all the Mary Stewart fuss is about. I felt like I was in Greece-- in the ruins of Delphi, driving through the small towns and villages, and I fell in love with Simon myself, just as Camilla did. I have not warmed to other heroes of Stewart's making (the hero in Thunder on the Right or in Nine Coaches Waiting, for example), but this novel changed that for me.

What is not to love? Camilla takes someone's rental car-- not hers-- to Delphi after a mix-up. She is looking for Simon and his girl-- the ones who should have the rental car. She quickly finds Simon and gets involved with his search for his brother Michael's killer. The novel is suspenseful, but it is the kind of suspense you want to live in for a while. If you are a WWII history buff, you will love this one as well since Michael died during war time in a deft tale of intrigue.

I do have to say that this novel has some Gothic elements, but it is not the ancestral castle type of Gothic. It is a Gothic romance. It has a hero (and his dead brother) with secrets, murder, buried treasure, mysterious letters, villains, Greek tragedy, exotic locales... and more.

Characterization: 5/5 [I loved Camilla; she is modern yet demure while still being sassy when it counts. Simon, as I mentioned before, I fell in love with. He is intelligent and wise as well as kind. Stephanos, Niko, Danielle, and Nigel were also round characters.]

Plot: 4/5 [I only have one plot issue: the car mishaps that went on for pages to show readers that Camilla cannot drive. They were a little funny, but they went on for too long. Otherwise, the plot moves steadily, inexorably to its brilliant conclusion.]

Atmosphere/spooky elements: 4/5 [The ruins themselves were ghostly; I felt removed from the here and now as I read. Of course, quoting from tragedies and dramas also lends to that atmosphere. When Stewart mentioned the "wine-dark sea," she had me at Homer.]

Literary? 5/5 [Oh my yes. Homer, Euripides, John Donne, the gods-- especially Apollo-- and more are  invoked, and there is a particularly arresting philosophical discussion between Nigel, Camilla, and Simon about whether the means justify the ends and how no man is an island ala Donne. I would even argue that Camilla fulfills the role of the heroine on a Homeric sort of journey, and Simon fulfills his role of avenger of his brother's blood. The novel is just brilliant that way.]

Romance? Yes, and it felt so believable. I suspended my disbelief throughout this novel and found it credible that Camilla and Simon would be together.


Rating: 4+ stars ****+

** I recommend this one. If you have struggled with Stewart, give this one a try (though I doubt many of you have struggled with her). I bow to her genius... :)