Scan barcode
sophiahelix's review
3.0
Having read a great deal of Mary Stewart when I was a young teenager, I theorize that Aiken was actually poking subtle fun at the Gothic genre. The "orphan with six elder brothers" and her "half Greek, half Chinese father and half Russian, half French mother" stuff at the beginning is just absurd enough to feel like satire, and all the things that happen to the heroine, including the whack romance at the end, contribute to the heightened sense of ridiculousness. Plus there's the straight-up reference to Stewart's "My Brother Michael" early on, another Greek-set Gothic. If it's not satire... well, I think she just wasn't very good at writing in this genre. But having read her children's Gothics, I rather think it's meant to be silly.
More...