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Book Review – Pride and the Peacock by Victoria Holt

book-review-pride-and-the-peacockAmazon Description of the Book:

A young woman uncovers her family’s dark secrets in this mystery and her connection to a famously cursed gemstone in this Victorian gothic thriller from an internationally bestselling author

To secure her inheritance, Jessica Clavering agrees to a marriage of convenience, but will her handsome new husband’s desire for her ever surpass his obsession with a famously cursed opal?

Raised in the shadow of her family’s financial ruin, Jessica has never felt as though she fit in. When her only friend, an elderly neighbor, offers her the chance at a new life, she’s eager to take it. His only condition: she must marry her son, Joss.

The newlyweds inherit a fabled opal mine in Australia. It’s only once they arrive on the faraway continent that Jessica starts to uncover her family’s dark past and her connection to the Green Flash, an exquisite and spellbinding opal. The stone arouses a dangerous desire in anyone who sees it—even her husband.

Blending historical romance with elements of the paranormal, The Pride of the Peacock is an exhilarating tale from the Queen of Gothic Romance. Fans of Susanna Kearsley, Daphne Du Maurier, and Kate Morton will be spellbound by classic story of an overseas voyage, a cursed opal, and forbidden desire.

MY REIVEW AS AN AUTHOR:

This was the second Victoria Holt Gothic book I read.  I loved this one as well. I can see that the her style is formulaic — but in a good way.  She includes all of the elements of a great gothic story:  A large house, a story weaving around the wealthy vs. a lower caste in society, a family secret, a mysterious question arises that weaves all the way through the story.  As an author, I could see the formula, but it didn’t take away from the enjoyment of the story, not one bit.

This story included a journey into the world of opal minors and it gave the reader a historical view and close up view of the life of an opal minor.  This was the educational part of the plot, and it was very enjoyable.  I would never have chosen to read a magazine article about mining for opals, but the way Ms. Holt weaved it into the story added a depth to the story and gave the reader the experience of entering a different world.

Her writing style was just as beautiful as the first novel.  I found myself watching what verbs she chose to use, and how she described her scenes.  I learned a lot about weaving descriptions into the storyline.  Below I have a few of my favorite ‘turn of phrases’.

I don’t want to go into the storyline too deeply, but it was a story of a young woman who saved the life of a neighbor, who is intricately involved in her family in ways she has no idea of in the first half of the story.  She learns about this connection one secret at a time, and her fate is also taken up by the man she saved.

I went through my notes after reading the book and put together a crossword puzzle for anyone who also read the book and wants to try their hand at it.  I used mostly the words I either had never heard before or had to look up!  Below, I will speak to the gothic issues that we are all interested in.

SUSPENSE:  For suspense, I give this a nine out of ten.  This story twisted and turned in a few different directions, enough to keep me reading chapter after chapter, long after I planned to put the book down.

PLOTTING:  I give this book a perfect 10 too.  The story and relationships were well planned.  The clues were dropped into the storyline in a way that kept the reader — and the main character — guessing.  Just when you thought you had figured out where the story was going, there was a plot twist.

GOTHIC ELEMENTS:  I give the story an 7 out of 10, not because it was lacking anything.  This is more of a rating based on how gothic the story was in it’s setting and timeframe.  Dracula would get a 10 in gothic elements, but this story was less than that level of dark or scary.  I would say it was more of a gothic intrigue.  I would give it a 10 in gothic intrigue.

CLARITY OF WRITING:  I give this book a perfect 10 just like the last one.  There was never a time when I had to re-read the story to figure out who was talking or what was going on.  The story was quite intricate, but Victoria Holt’s writing style is so crisp and clear, the reader is never abandoned on the page.   It was easy to read and clearly written.  The editing and grammar were perfect.

PROSE:  I give this book a perfect 10 again because she is a master at writing prose.  I read a bit about the author’s story and she wrote for many years and wrote I think well over a hundred books or more, so she rose to the top in my opinion.  I enjoyed every page of this book, just as I did the last book.

I have even chosen another Victoria Holt book to read next.  I may have found my favorite author!



BELOW ARE MY FAVORITE TURN OF PHRASES:

❖ He was an actor of a kind, for when he talked of people his voice and his expression would change.

❖ Hers was an evil sort of beauty. She was what was known as a siren, the sort who would lure men to destruction.

❖ Little eddies of dust swirled just above the ground, and I thought: The wind is certainly rising.

THE CROSSWORD:

CROSSWORD – Click on the graphic below to get he google drive file to download.  It has the puzzle, the clues as well as the answers (on page 3)
Do the crossword online here.

Crossword-pride-of-the-peacock



 

 

 

Book Review – Mistress of Mellyn by Victoria Holt

Book-review-mistress-of-mellyn

Amazon Description of the Book:   Mount Mellyn stood as proud and magnificent as she had envisioned…But what about its master–Connan TreMellyn?  Was Martha Leigh’s new employer as romantic as his name sounded?  As she approached the sprawling mansion towering above the cliffs of Cornwall, an odd chill of apprehension overcame her.

TreMellyn’s young daugher, Alvean, proved as spoiled and difficult as the three governesses before Martha had discovered.  But it was the girl’s father whose cool, arrogant demeanor unleashed unfamiliar sensations and turmoil–even as whispers of past tragedy and present danger begin to insinuate themselves into Martha’s life.

Powerless against her growing desire for the enigmatic Connan, she is drawn deeper into family secrets–as passion overpowers reason, sending her head and heart spinning. But though evil lurks in the shadows, so does love–and the freedom to find a golden promise forever…

Cat-as-book-reviewer

I loved this book and everything about it.  There was a mystery at the core of the story, but at the same time, this was a family drama that played out among several interesting characters.  It was a love story, but it was also a gothic story.  It had all the elements of a gothic novel, and took me away as a reader to another time and place.

Although it was a classic gothic novel and had all the elements — spooky house, odd suspicious characters at every turn — there was also a mystery that the main character was trying to solve the entire story.  This made the story all the more enjoyable.



MY REIVEW AS AN AUTHOR:

I got so much out of this book being an author myself.  It was intricately plotted and executed with mastery.  I was in awe of the author’s talent as a writer.  It held my interest the whole way through.

Part of the story was a bit educational about the historical times and I personally love when an author adds this level to the book — but also knows where to stop.  Victoria Holt had the perfect mix.

Her writing style is beautiful.  I was in awe of it the entire way through.  There was another almost poetic turn of phrase on each page.

I don’t want to go into the storyline itself other than to say it was the story of a young woman who is chosen to be a governess at a time and place when being a governess was considered a ‘lower class’.

I went through my notes after reading the book and put together a crossword puzzle for anyone who also read the book and wants to try their hand at it.  I used mostly the words I either had never heard before or had to look up!

SUSPENSE:  For suspense, I give this an eight out of ten.  It was very suspenseful, but I wouldn’t call it a suspense book.  It had a ribbon of suspense throughout the book which added very much to the gothic novel.

PLOTTING:  I give this book a perfect 10.  The story was well planned.  There was enough foreshadowing where it didn’t feel like anything was pulled out of a hat at the last minute.  The story was complex enough to remain interesting the entire way through, but not over complex where I had to keep notes.  This balance and mix made the book completely enjoyable.

GOTHIC ELEMENTS:  I give the story an 8 out of 10, not because it was lacking anything.  This is more of a rating based on how gothic the story was in it’s setting and timeframe.  Dracula would get a 10, but this story was less than that level of gothic.  It was the perfect amount for the story that was told.

CLARITY OF WRITING:  I give this book a perfect 10.  There was never a time when I had to re-read to try to figure out who was talking or where everyone was.  It was easy to read and clearly written.  The editing and grammar were perfect.

PROSE:  I give this book a perfect 10 here too because I love Victoria Holt’s style of writing and her style of storytelling.  I literally enjoyed every page of the book.

BELOW ARE MY FAVORITE TURN OF PHRASES:

❖  We climbed to the plateau and a pair of intricately wrought-iron gates confronted us.

❖  This was a phrase I never heard before and I was not even able to find a definition on the internet.  If anyone knows what this means, please let me know!  there was a whatnot in . . .

❖  I deliberately bearded you in your carriage . . .

❖  dangerously demure

❖  tomb of a place

CROSSWORD – Click on the graphic below to get he google drive file to download.  It has the puzzle, the clues as well as the answers (on page 3)

Do the crossword online here.