Continuing my Gothic Romance phase, I recently read two books by Victoria Holt. The first – Mistress of Mellyn – I enjoyed quite a bit, but I was less impressed by The Shadow of the Lynx.
MISTRESS OF MELLYN BY VICTORIA HOLT
Premise: Martha Leigh comes from impoverished gentry. Having failed to secure a marriage proposal, she finds herself obliged to accept a position as governess. Her new employer is the widowed Connan TreMellyn, the owner of Mount Mellyn, a vast estate on the Cornish coast. Her charge is his daughter, Alvean, who has already driven off several governesses with her outrageous behaviour.
On the train journey to Cornwall, Martha has a disturbing encounter with a man who claims to be a palm reader. He tells her to beware of Little Alice. Martha doesn’t believe in fortune telling, but is disturbed nonetheless. Her sense of unease is heightened upon her arrival at Mount Mellyn. Alvean is truculent and uncooperative, and her father is mysterious and brooding. It doesn’t take Martha long to realise that something very sinister is afoot.
My Thoughts: I enjoyed Mistress of Mellyn. Is is a typically melodramatic Gothic, complete with cliffs and ghosts. Naturally, a romance develops between Martha and her employer, Connan TreMellyn. I think I would have given this book a higher grade had I not read it immediately after finishing Mary Stewart’s excellent Nine Coaches Waiting, which has a similar premise. As it is, I consider Mistress of Mellyn to be a solid B-.
THE SHADOW OF THE LYNX BY VICTORIA HOLT
Premise: When seventeen-year-old Nora Tamasin’s father dies on his quest for gold in 19th Century Australia, Nora finds herself penniless and at the mercy of her father’s business partner, a mysterious man known as the Lynx. The Lynx sends his son, Stirling Herrick, to escort Nora on her journey from England to Australia. Before they set sail, Nora and Stirling make an unexpected detour to the beautiful estate of Whiteladies. But is their visit by chance or by design?
When Nora arrives in Australia, she is immediately captivated by the charismatic and domineering Lynx. Despite fancying herself in love with Stirling, Nora finds her thoughts frequently occupied by his father. The Lynx, for his part, is obsessed with gold and amassing great wealth with which he means to avenge himself on his enemy in England: the owner of Whiteladies. He soon extends his obsession to Nora and makes her his wife, but theirs is not destined to be a Happily Ever After…
My Thoughts: While I enjoyed the parts set in Australia, I didn’t care for the love story, and the suspense element lacked depth. I despised Stirling’s wishy washy character and Nora’s lack of constancy. Furthermore, I found the switch to another character’s point of view towards the end of the book irritating. In short, this is not a book I would recommend. C
Have you read either of these books, or any other novels by Victoria Holt? If so, what did you think of them?
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It’s been several years since I read one, but I have loved a number of Victoria Holt’s books. Ones that I particularly remember liking are Mistress of Mellyn, Menfreya in the Morning, My Enemy the Queen(not a gothic but pretty nifty Elizabethan hist fic) and The Shivering Sands. Then again, there have only been 1 or 2 of Holt’s books that really didn’t do it for me.
Well, as you know, I love Victoria Holt. I believe Mistress of Mellyn was her first book but she has others that I enjoyed very much. Like Lynn said, very few of her books didn’t work for me. I enjoyed The Judas Kiss, Menfreya in the Morning, The India Fan, The Silk Vendetta, Kirkland Revels, Devil on Horseback, The House of a Thousand Lanterns and loved My Enemy the Queen as well. There’s more but those come right off the top. Glad you gave her a try Sarah. I realize that her books are not easy to find. You did read one I hadn’t read before though. Good to know I wasn’t missing anything.
Edited for clarification
I’ve only read two Victoria Holt novels–one was The Black Opal or something like that. Anyway, I stopped reading her books because of the very things you mentioned with The Shadow of the Lynx. The love stories were weak; but most of all her female characters were very frustratingly weak, too. I remember reading one of the books and just DYING because the heroine wouldn’t stand up for herself or make a decision. Blech.
@Lynn Spencer: The premise of The Shivering Sands appeals to me. Unfortunately, it’s currently out of print. I’m hoping Macmillan reprint it at some point. They’ve been releasing Victoria Holt’s old books at the rate of two per year.
@Keishon: I will definitely give them a go if I can find them. I still have Bride of Pendorric on my TBR shelf.
@heidenkind: Didn’t you mention Barbara Michaels to me? If so, I have a couple of her books to read. Ammie, Come Home; Shattered Silk; and House of Shadows.
Ooohh, Shattered Silk! That is a good one. None of Barbara Michaels books have been outright fails for me, but I do like some better than others. The heroine in Shattered Silk works with vintage clothing in the book and I liked reading about that as well as the main suspense plot. I seem to remember liking Ammie, Come Home as well, though I last read it in high school or early college.
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