Blue Wolf Reviews

Tag: gothic

  • The Dark Cove Theatre Society

    The Dark Cove Theatre Society

    An unusual and quirky mystery for young adults, The Dark Cove Theatre Society addresses many issues. The setting is on a small island, Dark Cove off the shores of Canada. There is an Arts Academy on the island which was founded in 1892. It has achieved a reputation for excellence with most of the students progressing to become major contributors in the arts world.

    The subjects taught include dance, music, theatre and visual arts. There are excellent facilities for the students who are carefully selected as borders. The main character, Violet, is a scholarship girl and always aware that she must achieve consistently high grades to remain at the academy. She is 16 years old.

    Violet is aware of the precarious nature of her tenure, and she becomes increasingly nervous when she falters badly in a stage production. Rumours fly around that there is a cursed girl and Violet struggles with the fears and phobias she has always had. She has a roommate, Kay who is supportive and very caring, often rescuing the lass and steadying her nerves.

    Once the term begins at the academy, different groups of people come together in classes and rehearsals. There are many friendships formed and sexuality is explored. Gradually Violet begins to gain confidence, but then the issue of the curse emerges.

    Every year, one member of the cast suddenly and mysteriously drops out of the academy. Bizarre happenings and whisperings begin to convince Violet that she is the victim. After much searching and detecting, a secret is uncovered which will put a stop to the random victimization that has occurred.

    Courage and a need to overcome fears are issues which are addressed in this story encompassed in a growing understanding of love and friendship.

  • The Haunting of Mr and Mrs Stevenson

    The Haunting of Mr and Mrs Stevenson

    Belinda Lyons-Lee has done Gothic historical- fiction more than justice with this her second book; not only is it a page turning retelling of the stranger than fiction history of Robert Louis Stephenson’s inspiration for one of his best known and greatest works, but this narrative also cleverly merges fact and fiction. While she has used factual events, dates, times and people of history, this is still a historical fiction novel.

    Narrated by married American novelist and artist Mrs. Fanny Osborne, who in 1876 met Robert Louis Stephenson in Gretz, an ‘artist colony of sorts’ south of Paris and after developing a deep affection for him they were married in 1880.  Due to Louis’s poor health the couple moved to Bournemouth, in the south of England, where it was hoped his health would improve. Since childhood Louis had always been haunted by the wardrobe made by the notorious William Brodie, a Scottish cabinet-maker, deacon of a trades guild, and Edinburgh city councillor; Louis decided to write his next book about Brodie, who maintained a secret life as a burglar in order to support his mistresses and to fund a gambling addiction in the late 1700s.

    In Bournemouth the Stephensons form a friendship with the Shelleys (son and daughter in law of poet Bysshe and Mary author of Frankenstein). After dinner Lady Jane Shelley, who is a spiritualist, encourages the visitors to join her in a séance to summon up Mary, but to Louis’s distress, she conjures up the charming charlatan Eugene Chantrelle, an erstwhile friend in the Louis’s past. Why does this have such a discomforting effect on Louis and Fanny and how is the haunted sinister wardrobe connected to their uneasiness?

    ‘The Haunting of Mr. & Mrs. Stephenson’ is a clever mix of thoroughly researched history, a gothic mystery and the story of Fanny and Louis’s marriage and romance. This addictive, captivating and atmospheric narrative is a must for those with an interest in Victorian- era spiritualism and the darker history of Edinburgh. The author’s aim was to create a story, which is illuminating, entertaining and transporting; she has certainly done this!

  • Beneath His Silence

    Beneath His Silence

    Gothic Regency Romance is a wonderful escapist read with a sinister plot, a dark, handsome Duke and a wonderful heroine who falls in love with the dark, dastardly stranger. You know the plot lines if you are a fan, but like all good indulgences, you have to open the book to the first page and jump right in to a world that is sinister, full of mystery and intrigue to see what will eventually a happen.

    Will they fall in love or will she meet her doom? This is all unknown at Chapter One but as the pages turn it is really hard to know who is really the villain. Hannah Linden has captured this darkly enjoyable, almost addictive spirit in Beneath His Silence with a very strong story line that keeps you guessing until the very last chapter.

    Ella Pemberton is the second daughter of a Duke. After the death of her sister, she becomes embroiled in her father’s obsessive desire to find out what really happened, as her death was sudden and not of natural causes. She decides to become the governess to Lord Sedgewick’s son Peter, not that she is a governess at all, but thinks it is the only way she will be able to discover the truth about her sister’s death.

    As the days pass she realises Peter is a beautiful little boy missing his mother and Lord Sedgwick, Harry, is not at all what he has been portrayed. What is really going on in this house of dark secrets will keep the reader involved as the pages turn.

    Beneath His Silence is an excellent read as it contains all the elements required for a good Regency read. Linder has added an additional element of villainy to the plot line which keeps it strong, as well as helping to create the strong character that is Ella; determined, purposeful and almost undaunted, well almost.

    Yet another element which could be considered as a bit risky, is that of religion, with Harry as a Christian and Ella as an unbeliever. Perhaps in parts this is portrayed a little a little too heavily as a lighter touch would have been far more beneficial to the storyline in general.

    Beneath His Silence is a debut novel and as such certainly lets the readers of Gothic Romance know there is a promising new author to look out for on the bookshelves.

  • All the Murmuring Bones

    All the Murmuring Bones

    All families have secrets but when those secrets could and have killed, it sets the scene for a gripping mystery based firmly in gothic fiction: part fairy tale and part reality.  All the Murmuring Bones from AG Slatter is a carefully woven story of magic, myth and adventure that enchants, binding you into the world of maybe with a craftsman’s skill.

    Things have not been going well for the O’Malley family for a very long time. Their history of success is tied the mystical and cruel mer who rule the seas. Over the years the family have struck a deal for the safe return of their ships by the sacrifice of one child each generation; a deal which has fallen into decline over the years.

    Miren is the last of her line and the only one with the bloodlines to fulfil the specific requirements. Orphaned, she has grown up with her grandmother, who, in a desire to return the family to its previous wealth, has arranged the marriage of Miren to her ‘cousin’, a wealthy young man and one her grandmother considers will help breed a new line of O’Malley’s.

    Independent and determined Miren decides this is not her pathway and as grandma turns up dead, in rather strange circumstances, she takes action, leaving the town with a band of traveling entertainers who agree to hide her and help her escape to freedom, which does not sit well with her ‘cousin’.

     From this point Miren begins to discover that everything she has ever been told about her family, is far from the truth and as the truth begins to surface, she is faced with having to accept that nothing in her world is full of light and joy, just the darkness of evil.

    As a protagonist Miren is a wonderfully crafted character full of woman’s magic and strength, with the characters such as the mer created with the legends of Ireland foremost.

    All the Murmuring Bones is a Gothic fairy tale, if such a thing is possible, full of good and evil that enchants in a dark manner.

  • Secret Heiress

    Secret Heiress

     The story commences with Miss Matilda Gregory looking to hire a new maid. Ida Garfield, longing for a chance to escape her go nowhere life on the farm is offered the opportunity and grabs the one chance she may have to make a new life for herself.

    She has not been hired for her skills as a maid, but for her well known curiosity. But before she can commence work Miss Gregory is found dead and it looks like she is out of a job.

    Samuel Hackett, Miss Gregory’s fiancé, was also employed as the Secretary for Summersby House and upon Miss Gregory’s death assumes that he is the person inheriting the estate. His valet, Barker, a man of menace and an equally mysterious past, immediately raises Ida’s curiosity as he does not appear to take orders in the manner he should and it would seem he almost has some sort of control over Samuel Hackett.

    Hackett decides to keep Ida on as a housemaid and friend, a move which will eventually cause many more issues as Ida’s curiosity knows no bounds.

    As the days go by Ida discovers there is a deception in the past and it appears that there is a secret heiress, Matilda Gregory, but how can this be that there are two women, one dead, whose names are the same.

    Surviving ‘Matilda’ has an irrevocably broken memory and had been sent to live in a home for disturbed persons from a young age. Hackett decides to bring ‘Matilda’, back to Somersby setting off a chain of events which will prove as mysterious as they are deadly. 

    But all is not as it would immediately seem, as the surviving ‘Matilda’ begins to behave in a strange and frustrating manner, appearing quite lucid at times and the opposite at others ,which begins to raise a few concerns as to what is really wrong with “Matilda’, and how Hackett and Ida will be able to manage the household.

    Biddy comes onto the scene in 1903, creating a parallel story. Biddy is 16 years old, loves to tell outrageous stories, enjoys playing practical jokes on people and is in love with Tom. But who is Biddy and how is it, that some 17 years on from the apparent death of Matilda Gregory in 1886, she becomes involved in the events of Summersby House.

    It all depends on which way you look at the story, who’s side you are one and how you view the is spine chilling plot, as to how you view the final, cataclysmic conclusion.

    Once started you will find this totally engrossing, deftly woven, gothic tale set in Australia very, very hard to put down.

    Be warned, though, you will need to keep a very close eye on the characters as all is definitely not as it would seem!