Thursday, February 11, 2010

On the Night of the Seventh Moon-Victoria Holt

On the Night of the Seventh Moon
Victoria Holt
St. Martin’s Griffin, Mar 2 2010, $14.99
ISBN: 9780312384319

In 1859 English spinster Helena Trant is on vacation in Germany enjoying everything about the Black Forest as she reminisces about her bookselling father’s vacation there and her mother’s musing about woods. However, while on a picnic Helena gets separated from her companions. Later on the Night of the Seventh Moon, a mist engulfs and frightens her though she keeps reminding herself that Loke the God of Mischief is mythology.

A horseman rescues her though she is not sure from what. His noble horse takes her to his shelter. There Siegfried and Helena begin to fall in love, but she also fears her mysterious rider as she does not understand the nightmare that engulfs her champion and now her.

This is a reprint of a solid gothic romance written by legendary Victoria Holt in the 1970s. The story line is classic gothic with a brooding hero, an innocent damsel in distress and a mysterious castle in the mists of the Black Forest. Although the narrow path of the story line is obvious with no spins occurring outside the sub-genre boundaries, sub-genre fans will enjoy Helena’s student adventure in the euphoria and nightmare of love and life.

Harriet Klausner

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