My review is up at Blogcritics.org–here’s the first paragraph: It’s tough to make intellectuals sexy, but Natasha Mostert, a London-based South African novelist, pulls it off in Season of the Witch, her newest novel and a tour de force of Gothic eroticism that seduces from start to finish without reprieve.
Synopsis: Entranced by the folk tales of an old mountain man, and repulsed by the same man’s grisly crimes, Redmond Hatch struggles to narrate the events which led him to bring his beloved wife and daughter to winterwood. Review: I was upset by the way Winterwood seduced me. I did not want to be reeled in by Redmond and his elliptical storytelling because I knew that, between the lines, he was telling me stories I didn’t want him to be able to tell. I wanted…
Synopsis: One girl with four personalities at war for dominance, and her only hope is the doctor who is growing to loathe her. Review: I swear this has never happened to me–I could have sworn I read The Bird’s Nest when I went through my Shirley Jackson phase back in 1998. I found this awesome woman in Canada who found me most of her out-of-print books–except this one–in a used bookstore in Toronto. I knew I didn’t own The Bird’s Nest, but I thought that…
Synopsis: An old spinster teacher narrates her obsession with fellow teacher Sheba Hart, who is having an affair with her 15-year-old student.
Synopsis: Idyllic 1930s Connecticut. 13-year-old Niles is dreaming the summer away with his twin brother Holland and their mystical Russian grandmother Ada–but tragedy has a way of striking this family, and it has something to do with the ring Niles holds so closely. Review: What a curious blend of classic Americana and gothic horror! It’s a tale of terror set in broad daylight, amid sunflowers and haymows and Main Street and the train, whistling at its appointed hour. There’s an angel in this book, with…
Synopsis: A ne’er-do-well goes to Prague to work for his cousin, who’s turning an old castle into a retreat-style hotel, but the castle is holding secrets, not to mention the fact that this story’s being written by a prison inmate with a crush on his writing teacher.
Just finished a book for work. It was a crime thriller set in Charm City, Jewel of the East, place of my birth, hon. But I don’t blog about these reads (why?), so instead you get some rambling musings far past my bedtime and a peek at one of the books in my permanent collection. I used to read while I blew my hair dry in the morning before school. I’ve never done that anywhere else I’ve ever lived, but whenever I visit my parents…
Synopsis: When a bookish woman is contracted to write the biography of a famous author known to lie about herself, she discovers shocking truths that lead her to reconcile with her own tragic past. Review: Steeped in the Brontes, DuMaurier, Wilkie Collins, and The Turn of the Screw, this book is at once a throwback to the 19th century and a thoroughly modern reinvention of the gothic story. Setterfield lovingly lifts generic tropes from these classic tales while weaving a story that is utterly hypnotizing…