04-01-2014, 02:03 PM
Hi everyone! I've been haunting this forum for awhile while trying to find a book I read years ago and am hoping you all can help! I only remember odd details but... a young woman (of course!) gets married to an older man and he sends her brother off to school. They go to his home where there's a mystery about the disappearance of his own brother. I remember two really standout scenes - one is where she buys a potion from an old lady who's also her husbands in-law to make sure she won't get pregnant - but she bought it because she thinks that's what someone in the house wants. Her husbands think it's because she's repulsed by an earlier intimate moment (I could be wrong about why, but I remember on the journey to his home, there first time is odd for her because I think she feels like he's doing his duty, not because he wants her - I was 12 when i read it so I could be off hah hah) Anyhow, near the end of the book, he locks her in her room (can't remember why) and she sneaks out thinking she hears noises. He's searching the house too and after scolding her they search the attic and find signs that someone was living there. It turns out that the brother did disappear in the marshes, but made it back to the house. But the old woman mother in law killed him, butchered the body and hid the parts in her garden...I just can't remember why he was hiding in the attic. I can't remember why she murdered him... I'm almost certain the brothers name is Roderick. I was really sure I read it in the readers digest Gothic 6 tales book - book but I've triple checked and it's not from there :-( If anyone has any thoughts I'd sure appreciate it. I've loved the gothic novel since I could read lol - I remember searching through used bookstores specifically for the typical cover, I wouldn't even care what it was about - if it had a girl with streaming hair running away from a dark house - It was mine!