The Altons are a
happy family. Momma and Papa are devoted to each other and to their
four children: the twins, Caroline and Toby, and the younger
children, Kitty and Barney. They're looking forward to their holiday
at the family's Cornwall estate, Black Rabbit Hall, but all too
quickly tragedy strikes and the holiday turns into a nightmare.
Years later, Lorna
and her fiance, Jon, visit Black Rabbit Hall in search of a place to
have their wedding. Jon is not convinced that the crumbling old house
is a good place to bring their friends and families, but Lorna falls
in love with the place.
Instead of the once
happy family, the house is occupied by an old woman, who reminded me
of the housekeeper in Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca. In spite of
feeling the strangeness of the house, Lorna accepts an invitation to
stay and get to know the place. She stumbles on clues to the family
tragedy and gradually, the place becomes even more terrifying.
If you like Gothic
romance, this is a good one. The story is told in two time periods.
Caroline narrates the earlier story and Lorna is the main character
in the later events. I enjoyed the mystery, but I felt the telling
was too drawn out. We hear a great deal more about Caroline and her
siblings than seems necessary for the action.
Lorna behaves in ways
that don't seem realistic. In the first place, she accepts an
invitation from a frightening woman she scarcely knows. Then trapped
in a creepy old house, she persists in searching for the
secrets of the house and the family although the atmosphere becomes
more and more sinister.
I recommend this
book as a romantic mystery, but it has flaws, It's too long and the
characters are often not believable.
I reviewed this book
for Penguin.
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