Helpful Score: 2
I'm a fan of Gothics and this one really honed in on the eerie mood and sinister setting...but it also delved deep into the characters. We got to see from not only the heroine's point of view, but also the hero's. Definitely darker than most Gothic romances. I read this in two days and loved every minute of it. Well besides the frustration at not being able to solve the mystery of Cairncross before the heroine did. All in all, great novel.
Left penniless after her father's death,Alexandra Benjamin strikes an unusual bargain with John Damien Newell, the darkly seductive master of Cairncross Castle.Hired to teach his troubled younger brother Samuel to speak,she must first win her charge's trust. It is a daunting task, but one isn which she is determined to succeed. Then the whispers start.. You should leave here,Miss Benjamin. You don't know how cruel the master is..
Crueler still are the secrets Caircross Castle keeps, Secrets of a woman who cared for John Damien and Samuel as children,only to vanish amidst chilling rumors of murder. Secrets that tell of a ghost who still roams the castle's midnight passages,and seems to command the hearts and minds of both John Damien and Samuel. Secrets that lead Alexandra through a labyrinth of twisted lies and ancient mysteries,to where the answers lie waiting..in the darkest chambers of the heart.
Crueler still are the secrets Caircross Castle keeps, Secrets of a woman who cared for John Damien and Samuel as children,only to vanish amidst chilling rumors of murder. Secrets that tell of a ghost who still roams the castle's midnight passages,and seems to command the hearts and minds of both John Damien and Samuel. Secrets that lead Alexandra through a labyrinth of twisted lies and ancient mysteries,to where the answers lie waiting..in the darkest chambers of the heart.
This is a gothic mystery that has lots of atmosphere. Alexandra Benjamin is the only child of a Jewish doctor who was successful in helping the deaf to learn to talk. When Damien wrote to the doctor, asking him to come to York to help his brother, Alexandra responded by calling herself Alex; leading Damien to believe that he was hiring a man.
When Alex gets there, Damien is unhappy but agrees to let her try -- as Sam's governess. Alex soon finds that Sam stopped talking when the boy's governess disappeared (20 years before this story). There are lots of ghost-like sightings and spooky occurrences. One thing that was hard to accept was the ease with which Alex taught Sam to speak again. Damien was overly negative without fully explaining why he felt there was nothing for him in life.
In the end, the solution/explanation wasn't as clear as I would have liked. This is a very involved tale that is hard to encapsulate in a few sentences.
When Alex gets there, Damien is unhappy but agrees to let her try -- as Sam's governess. Alex soon finds that Sam stopped talking when the boy's governess disappeared (20 years before this story). There are lots of ghost-like sightings and spooky occurrences. One thing that was hard to accept was the ease with which Alex taught Sam to speak again. Damien was overly negative without fully explaining why he felt there was nothing for him in life.
In the end, the solution/explanation wasn't as clear as I would have liked. This is a very involved tale that is hard to encapsulate in a few sentences.
