Beware of plot spoilers.

Here is America's answer to "Rebecca", a story about hate, about a woman obsessed with her own pleasures. Like Rebecca, she is beautiful and charming and the master manipulator/schemer who destroys all those she comes in contact with, especially those who should be dearest to her. Like "Rebecca" we also have a relatively weak hero, a hero who aims to be a "gentleman" and ends up being a coward/fool/drunk. Our heroine is more defined, but she is unable to defeat the villain. It takes the hero to destroy the villain, but in doing so, we have a very unhappy ending. If you do not particularly enjoy reading unhappy endings, this book would not be for you. However, had the author given it a happy ending, it would not have been very effective; in fact, I would have found it to be very saccharine.

"B"