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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
5 stars because it withstood the test of time. As enjoyable in 2020 as it was when I read as a teenager.
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
This book has definite Daphne du Maurier vibes. The story was interesting, but the characters were rather frustrating and a few sensible conversations would've cleared up a lot of the drama before it could start. A good beach read.
It says on the cover that this is "the classic novel of romantic suspense." Romantic? Not so much. But suspense? OH YEAH. Towards the end I couldn't put it down because I just had to see what happened! I totally did not guess the mystery until just before it was revealed. The way it was written at that point was super creepy, too. Not really plausible, but heart-in-your-mouth suspenseful. *shivers*
I read most of Victoria Holt’s books in junior high and high school over 30 years ago. I don’t remember reading this one back then, but I loved some and others not so much, so this one may have been in that category or I just missed it. Favel was seemingly intelligent, but I guess the phrase “blinded by love” worked here because even though she was picking up on all the clues and suspicions, she was just unwilling to follow up on them. I guess you can put her in the category of “bang my head against the wall because why are you making this choice?!?” For instance, one character tells her a story about someone getting locked in a crypt and later in the book she goes into the open door of the crypt and gets locked in. SMH.
I also didn’t find Roc very likable. He laughed and joked everything off even though half the people in his family are lying or gossiping or just plain misbehaving. It was condescending and did him no favors. When confronted, instead of explaining or even saying that he couldn’t explain, he would either turn it back around on Favel making her sound like a paranoid, nagging wife or “if you love me, you’ll trust me” even after she finds out that he has lied to her multiple times.
I also didn’t find Roc very likable. He laughed and joked everything off even though half the people in his family are lying or gossiping or just plain misbehaving. It was condescending and did him no favors. When confronted, instead of explaining or even saying that he couldn’t explain, he would either turn it back around on Favel making her sound like a paranoid, nagging wife or “if you love me, you’ll trust me” even after she finds out that he has lied to her multiple times.
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.
*Audible*
Liked listening to it and the correct pronunciations of the Cornish names. Nice mystery with a twist.
Liked listening to it and the correct pronunciations of the Cornish names. Nice mystery with a twist.
I think that some of you Gothic lovers out there will love this one. I did not love this or even like it much. This took me ages to get through. It had so many characters and just a lot of information dumps here and there that didn't work for me. Also the main character, Favel (yes that's her name) was uber frustrating since she just tra la las during most of this book though she believes someone is out to kill her.
"Bride of Pendorric" is about a young woman who marries a random guy (Roc Pendorric) that shows up to her father's studio to buy some paintings. Favel and her father live somewhere off the coast of Italy getting by with him selling his art after the death of her mother.
The beginning of this book reminded me a bit of the beginning of "Rebecca". You don't really get why the main character is so obsessed with the man she comes to contact with (Roc in this case instead of Max de Winter). Roc is painted as a gambler, just like Favel's father, and so I was puzzled why she would even consent to marry this guy. He doesn't seem charming at all just tall and dark. This being a Gothic book though, Favel and Roc do marry and then her father mysteriously dies while swimming (after going off with Roc). Favel and Roc eventually return to England to live specifically in Cornwall, where Pendorric stands.
The subject of twins comes up a lot in this one. Roc is a twin, his sister Morwenna still lives at Pendorric with her husband Charles and their twin daughters Hyson and Lowella. And of course Roc's dead mother was a twin. We find out through other characters about Roc's father and what a philander he was (man cheated with everyone it seemed that lived nearby) and Favel starts to worry that the man she knew for like a month may be similar to his father. Good job caring about these things now. There are mysterious neighbors, relatives, a governess and a nurse. I can't say much about these characters besides to say that they were all just a bit too bland and underdeveloped. I still didn't like Roc through the majority of this book.
There are way too many twists in this book to even make sense of most of them. The flow was awful too.
I usually like the Cornwall setting, but besides hearing about the moor here and there, no place stood out. I think Holt hoped that Pendorric would be up there as much a famous house like Manderley or even Shirley Jackson's Hill House. It just didn't live up to that for me.
The ending gives you an information dump via a diary that just happened to be there for Favel to read and know all. I just laughed. Reminded me of Holt's "The Secret Woman" where all is revealed via a letter.
"Bride of Pendorric" is about a young woman who marries a random guy (Roc Pendorric) that shows up to her father's studio to buy some paintings. Favel and her father live somewhere off the coast of Italy getting by with him selling his art after the death of her mother.
The beginning of this book reminded me a bit of the beginning of "Rebecca". You don't really get why the main character is so obsessed with the man she comes to contact with (Roc in this case instead of Max de Winter). Roc is painted as a gambler, just like Favel's father, and so I was puzzled why she would even consent to marry this guy. He doesn't seem charming at all just tall and dark. This being a Gothic book though, Favel and Roc do marry and then her father mysteriously dies while swimming (after going off with Roc). Favel and Roc eventually return to England to live specifically in Cornwall, where Pendorric stands.
The subject of twins comes up a lot in this one. Roc is a twin, his sister Morwenna still lives at Pendorric with her husband Charles and their twin daughters Hyson and Lowella. And of course Roc's dead mother was a twin. We find out through other characters about Roc's father and what a philander he was (man cheated with everyone it seemed that lived nearby) and Favel starts to worry that the man she knew for like a month may be similar to his father. Good job caring about these things now. There are mysterious neighbors, relatives, a governess and a nurse. I can't say much about these characters besides to say that they were all just a bit too bland and underdeveloped. I still didn't like Roc through the majority of this book.
There are way too many twists in this book to even make sense of most of them. The flow was awful too.
I usually like the Cornwall setting, but besides hearing about the moor here and there, no place stood out. I think Holt hoped that Pendorric would be up there as much a famous house like Manderley or even Shirley Jackson's Hill House. It just didn't live up to that for me.
The ending gives you an information dump via a diary that just happened to be there for Favel to read and know all. I just laughed. Reminded me of Holt's "The Secret Woman" where all is revealed via a letter.
There were certain aspects about this book that I liked, and then others I didn’t care for. I really enjoyed the ghost mystery, and plot twist. But, I didn’t enjoy the romance and the slow points in the book. The last 20 percent was great, but up until that point it felt like a lot of info dumps and filler, with a few suspenseful moments thrown in. I would have loved a little more plot with Roc. The MC just told us how much she loved Roc, but it wasn’t felt, and he felt suspicious the whole time.
-gothic suspense romance
-ghost stories
-spooky twins
- found family
-beautiful and spooky Cornwall setting
-gothic suspense romance
-ghost stories
-spooky twins
- found family
-beautiful and spooky Cornwall setting