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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I generally eat up pulpy gothic chillers about women with no one to call their own, who find themselves in an old house with secrets well-guarded and ensnared by desires too tempting to admit, a state of things that can make or break them.
Drawn in broad strokes, a musically oriented heroine with questionable judgment and a thumping heart.
Drawn in broad strokes, a musically oriented heroine with questionable judgment and a thumping heart.
dark
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
This felt a bit long-winded but the payoff was so worth it. The romance has more in common with Jane Austen books than modern historical romance (the hero and heroine don’t even kiss!) but, for me, it was just as satisfying as Elizabeth and Darcy’s in Pride and Prejudice. This was also so smartly plotted, as any Victorian sensation novel, and the characters were so well-drawn, most with troubled pasts that haunt them throughout the story. Given how popular this book was in the 1960’s when it came out, it’s interesting to think that this may have been an influence for modern gothic thriller writers (specifically Gillian Flynn, as this book reminds me of one of hers).
This was my first venture into Victoria Holt. The begining was a little slow but a couple chapters in I started to really get into it. I figured out the mystery early on but that was ok it still kept me enchanted. I did not like how when the main character would respond she would put such lines as I respectfully told her I would. I feel it would have been nicer for the character just to respond instead of saying that she did respond. Maybe I'm just to into contemporary romance but that was my only real problem with the book.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
I do love Victoria Holt and this is one of my favourites. I enjoyed listening to the audiobook, it was very entertaining.
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
One earlier visit with a Victoria Holt tale on audio whetted my appetite for more. I was pleased to take up The Shivering Sands and listen in as new to me narrator, Kitty Kelly, took me back to Victorian times so I could savor a gently-paced gothic romantic suspense.
The Shivering Sands opens with the heroine’s dilemma- her beloved older sister Roma, an archeologist, has gone missing at her dig on the Kentish coast and the authorities are at a loss. Caroline has been in a state of numb grief for first both her parents who were killed together in a train accident and for her young talented pianist husband, who died of a heart attack. The first moments of the book are followed by Caroline’s reminisces of her past that led her to this point. A slow, but a cozy way to bring the reader into the world of the book, the heroine’s thoughts, and the atmosphere of the story- because, oh yes, this is Victoria Holt so there is much atmosphere.
Though I read The Shivering Sands, the decades since I have utterly forgotten the story so other than the familiar feel of the writing and style? This was a new book to me.
Wow, I forgot how zany some of the plots could get. Well, not so much the plot though yes, in the end, the dramatic climax and reveal left me startled, but I was referring to that very dysfunctional household of Sir William Stacy. To investigate her sister’s disappearance, Caroline comes to the Stacy estate along the Dover coastline as piano teacher, for she is talented at the piano though her late husband tried to crush her confidence to further his own ego, to three young ladies- two are girls, one the vicar’s wife’s, and the other an illegitimate daughter of the house hold, and the third is the ward of Sir William and his son’s new wife.
I read this as a teen and things like a woman falling in love with a married man didn’t phase me too much, but now, it is a plot I don’t read and purposefully so. But, the romance is mild in these older ones (The Shivering Sands was written in 1969) so I let it ride and kept listening. In truth, I was more preoccupied with the suspense side and the larger cast of oddly assorted people than Caroline’s interest in Napier Stacy, the stark, brooding and sometimes arrogant son. As Caroline learned the secrets of the Stacys and there was rising chill of suspense, I got more into the story. The truth of what happened to Roma came out of nowhere in a way and I had no suspicions of that person or their reasons.
Kitty Kelly was a sensational match for the story. Her low lilting voice captivated and drew me more deeply into the story. Her low voice made voicing women or men sound well and she distinguished the various characters for me easily.
Ultimately, I enjoyed the story and the nostalgic feel I got for the older style that could still captivate me. Those who enjoy old-style gothic atmosphere and gentle romantic suspense should definitely give this one a go.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
I read a few Victoria Holt novels as a teen; I can't remember if this was one of them (let's be honest, they are all kind of similar). As I was reading, I found things that weren't issues back then that bothered me a little now, like the fact that no one ever factored the "shivering sands" into their investigation of the disappearances. It would seem to me to be fairly obvious, but....
However, I did enjoy the book, and one reason is the different perspective I had reading the book as an adult rather than as a teen.
However, I did enjoy the book, and one reason is the different perspective I had reading the book as an adult rather than as a teen.
I got this book from my Mom when I went to visit her in Oregon last month. It belonged to my Grandma Betty.
It was definitely a story that improved as it went along. It started out very slow and was full of melodrama from beginning to end. However, once mysterious things started happening to the main characters in the story, it became more interesting; and, while I did figure out the main culprit before he/she/it was revealed, there was a little twist I wasn't expecting.
I could easily picture this as a cheesy 1960s budget film, but I did enjoy the bit of fluff after a very long travel home from England this past weekend.
It was definitely a story that improved as it went along. It started out very slow and was full of melodrama from beginning to end. However, once mysterious things started happening to the main characters in the story, it became more interesting; and, while I did figure out the main culprit before he/she/it was revealed, there was a little twist I wasn't expecting.
I could easily picture this as a cheesy 1960s budget film, but I did enjoy the bit of fluff after a very long travel home from England this past weekend.
A kind soul sent me this book and I thoroughly enjoyed it - can't wait to scour my library for some more Victoria Holt!