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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
Halloween Bingo 2025
I read a lot of Victoria Holt's novels when I was a teen, long ago now. My mom got me hooked, as she really enjoyed them. It is interesting to reread them as a woman in my 60s—my perspective has changed (not a surprise).
I believe I was initially captivated by these romances because Holt's main characters were young women with limited experience and a lot of naïveté. This describes me at that age and it gave me hope that someday I would find a man who would see my worth. I never did, but I now know that I am far happier on my own than I would be in a marriage.
Holt's plots are very repetitive. Not necessarily a bad thing--after all I love Ilona Andrews and their novels also have many repetitive elements. If you find a pattern you like, it's fine to stick with it. However, the Andrews' heroines are not shrinking violets. They are competent women who love their men but don't need them to survive. I think that's what I react to now when I read Holt. Her heroines are clinging vines, needing a relationship to rescue them and give their lives meaning.
We change as we age. I can still enjoy a Holt novel if I read fast and don't over-analyze, but I much prefer modern, competent women characters.
I read this book for the Gothic square of my Halloween Bingo card.
I read a lot of Victoria Holt's novels when I was a teen, long ago now. My mom got me hooked, as she really enjoyed them. It is interesting to reread them as a woman in my 60s—my perspective has changed (not a surprise).
I believe I was initially captivated by these romances because Holt's main characters were young women with limited experience and a lot of naïveté. This describes me at that age and it gave me hope that someday I would find a man who would see my worth. I never did, but I now know that I am far happier on my own than I would be in a marriage.
Holt's plots are very repetitive. Not necessarily a bad thing--after all I love Ilona Andrews and their novels also have many repetitive elements. If you find a pattern you like, it's fine to stick with it. However, the Andrews' heroines are not shrinking violets. They are competent women who love their men but don't need them to survive. I think that's what I react to now when I read Holt. Her heroines are clinging vines, needing a relationship to rescue them and give their lives meaning.
We change as we age. I can still enjoy a Holt novel if I read fast and don't over-analyze, but I much prefer modern, competent women characters.
I read this book for the Gothic square of my Halloween Bingo card.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a book I read years ago--it was so familiar to me. I used to speed through Victoria Holt's books in high school because my small HS library had them all since the librarian donated them. The main character is suspicious of EVERYONE, but especially her new husband, after she finds out that he may have married for money, killed her father, maybe slept with her grandfather's nurse, had children out of wedlock, and maybe killed her grandfather. Um, I'd be suspicious, too, girl.
Favel is a bit clueless about everything, and she often acts like a character in the 1800s instead of a woman in the 1950s-60s. They had cars and phones, but there were a lot of windswept moors and gothic stuff going on.
Favel is a bit clueless about everything, and she often acts like a character in the 1800s instead of a woman in the 1950s-60s. They had cars and phones, but there were a lot of windswept moors and gothic stuff going on.
Thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed, had all the elements of a gothic fiction that I love and was just undoubtedly a very fun read. While I did guess some of the plot twist elements, there was enough uncertainty to keep me guessing all the way through and I did not see the main twist coming!
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Favel Farrington, a young woman raised on the enchanting island of Capri, meets the charismatic Roc Pendorric, who sweeps her off her feet. Leaving her idyllic home, she accompanies Roc to the ancestral estate of the Pendorrics in Cornwall. There, his welcoming sister and her family embrace Favel as the eagerly anticipated Bride of Pendorric, a title that both flatters and amuses her.
However, despite the beauty of the castle, an unsettling atmosphere pervades the air. Roc's twin nieces observe Favel closely, and even the courtyard stones seem to bear silent witness. Portraits of two previous Brides of Pendorric, including Roc's tragic mother, hang on the walls, further fueling Favel's unease. Roc's behavior becomes increasingly distant, causing her to question if their courtship and marriage were built on deception.
As peculiar occurrences escalate, Favel can no longer dismiss them as accidents. Someone is actively trying to harm her, and she must confront the chilling realities that surround her. Favel finds herself in a desperate battle for survival, grappling with the very real dangers that threaten her life.
I absolutely love gothic romances with all of the mystery and the strong female characters. Victoria Holt is an amazing author who incorporates an unforgettable story with amazing characters.
However, despite the beauty of the castle, an unsettling atmosphere pervades the air. Roc's twin nieces observe Favel closely, and even the courtyard stones seem to bear silent witness. Portraits of two previous Brides of Pendorric, including Roc's tragic mother, hang on the walls, further fueling Favel's unease. Roc's behavior becomes increasingly distant, causing her to question if their courtship and marriage were built on deception.
As peculiar occurrences escalate, Favel can no longer dismiss them as accidents. Someone is actively trying to harm her, and she must confront the chilling realities that surround her. Favel finds herself in a desperate battle for survival, grappling with the very real dangers that threaten her life.
I absolutely love gothic romances with all of the mystery and the strong female characters. Victoria Holt is an amazing author who incorporates an unforgettable story with amazing characters.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
I really enjoyed this! It was just the sort of atmospheric, suspenseful gothic romance I wanted to read on a rainy weekend heading into autumn. It's the story of a young Englishwoman living on the island of Capri who meets and is swiftly wooed by a mysterious man who comes to visit her father's art studio. They marry and he sweeps her off to his grand estate on the rocky, mist-covered Cornish coast. Soon she finds herself unnerved by the legend of the Brides of Pendorric -- the local belief that new wives of the house die young and spend years haunting the place, until a new bride arrives, dies, and allows the ghostly one to rest.
Though she is passionately in love with the husband she barely knows and is welcomed to Pendorric by her new in-laws, strange things begin to happen and soon she finds herself wondering who, if anyone in her new life, she can trust. Is someone trying to kill her and fulfill the legend?
Like so many gothic romances of the mid-20th century (this one was first published in 1963), Bride of Pendorric was clearly influenced by Daphne du Maurier's [b:Rebecca|17899948|Rebecca|Daphne du Maurier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386605169l/17899948._SX50_.jpg|46663]. While nothing lives up to that masterpiece, this is a well-written, entertaining story in the same vein and it kept me turning pages late into the night.
Though she is passionately in love with the husband she barely knows and is welcomed to Pendorric by her new in-laws, strange things begin to happen and soon she finds herself wondering who, if anyone in her new life, she can trust. Is someone trying to kill her and fulfill the legend?
Like so many gothic romances of the mid-20th century (this one was first published in 1963), Bride of Pendorric was clearly influenced by Daphne du Maurier's [b:Rebecca|17899948|Rebecca|Daphne du Maurier|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1386605169l/17899948._SX50_.jpg|46663]. While nothing lives up to that masterpiece, this is a well-written, entertaining story in the same vein and it kept me turning pages late into the night.