The Mirror by Marlys Millhiser

[bronte]

The Mirror by Marlys Millhiser is a very good book that is not exactly gothic. Looking into a strange mirror makes two young women switch places, one lives in the 1970's the other in the late 1800's. The two try to get back to their own time. It is an interesting read, for example the one who traveled back in time "knows the future" because she learned in in history during the 1970's. When she tells people about things they think is she is clairvoyant, when a guy has a heart attack she does CPR which no one has seen before, they think she is insane. The other girl is scared of modern things like cars and other 70's things.
It is worth reading.

[Des Esseintes]

This reminds me of Penelope Farmer's Charlotte Sometimes. Wikipedia has an article about it here. It's something between a children's book and a young adult book, probably aimed at adolescent female readers. It's not gothic either but it's interesting to see the gothic elements it has. I think pushing some of those gothic elements back into books for younger readers is proof that adolescents grow up faster today than they did in the heyday of Minerva Press. Farmer's book also inspired the song Charlotte Sometimes by the Cure; a band who are often labeled gothic as well.