02-04-2017, 01:05 PM
A couple of years ago we had hundreds of romances forced upon us and we sat on them, until recently when we decided to clean out the garage. After dumping out 90% of the pile, we were left with some "older" (circa 70s and 80s) gothic romances.  This was one of two "gothics" by this author, whom I had never heard of.  I would classify these two as Southern gothics.
Synopsis: Twin sisters inherit an old plantation with a horrific past. Â One travels down first and disappears and the other follows to find her. Â It has all the right elements for a gothic: an old home with secrets, some questionable characters, attempts on the heroine's life, the inheritance, and of course, the romance.
Having read hundreds of gothics, I found this somewhat predictable though there were a few minor twists. Â But I enjoyed it because unlike the mass produced gothics of the 1970s, this was well-written. Â Nevertheless, there were still some points I find fault with. Â First, we don't know the true details of the past events until the end. Â Fair enough. Â But in the middle, while others were recounting these events, it didn't make sense and our heroine, who was not an idiot, didn't even question them. Â I won't spoil it for everyone by saying what it was. Â Our heroine was somewhat naive in accepting stories and theories even when they didn't make sense to her. Â She was guilty of trying to make the story fit with her preconceived notions, only because she trusted the wrong people. Â I also have to question the author's understanding of Mendelian genetics.
Synopsis: Twin sisters inherit an old plantation with a horrific past. Â One travels down first and disappears and the other follows to find her. Â It has all the right elements for a gothic: an old home with secrets, some questionable characters, attempts on the heroine's life, the inheritance, and of course, the romance.
Having read hundreds of gothics, I found this somewhat predictable though there were a few minor twists. Â But I enjoyed it because unlike the mass produced gothics of the 1970s, this was well-written. Â Nevertheless, there were still some points I find fault with. Â First, we don't know the true details of the past events until the end. Â Fair enough. Â But in the middle, while others were recounting these events, it didn't make sense and our heroine, who was not an idiot, didn't even question them. Â I won't spoil it for everyone by saying what it was. Â Our heroine was somewhat naive in accepting stories and theories even when they didn't make sense to her. Â She was guilty of trying to make the story fit with her preconceived notions, only because she trusted the wrong people. Â I also have to question the author's understanding of Mendelian genetics.