When I was a teenager, back in the Jurassic period (okay, the late 1970s),
Gothic novels were hugely popular. I read them voraciously, entranced by
atmospheric castles on the moors (or someplace equally remote), sinister
servants, and heroines standing up to brooding heroes (or were they really the
villains?). I read Phyllis Whitney, Victoria Holt, Joan Aiken and her sister
Jane Aiken Hodge, Daphne duMaurier, Susan Howatch, Dorothy Eden, Philippa
Carr,
Mary Stewart, and many others. I hope those names ring a bell for some of you.
They swept me up and entertained me, gave me something to look forward to
after
doing my Algebra homework, and comforted me when the objects of my crushes
ignored my existence.
I'm not sure what attracted me to that variety of romantic suspense, but I
think
it had something to do with a young heroine, sometimes protecting a child (if
she was a governess or new wife as many of the protagonists were), striking
out
on her own and emerging triumphant. (The fact that "triumph" in these books
meant, at least in part, snaring the moody man of the moment was a non-
feminist
story chestnut that didn't bother my teen self as much as it perhaps should
have.) By the time I was in my twenties, though, these books had fallen out of
popularity, and I was forced to find new reading material.
Amy-Faye Johnson and her Readaholics friends are taking part in a Celebration
of
Gothic Novels in my August release,
THE READAHOLICS AND THE
GOTHIC
GALA. In honor of their new adventure and classic gothic novels, I'm
giving
you a tongue-in-cheek list of the top five reasons Gothic novels went the way
of
the dodo.
Book Club
Mystery
#3
One sleuthing book club finds themselves in the midst of a gothic-esque
mystery as they read Du Maurierโs Rebecca in the latest from the author
of The Readaholics and the Poirot Puzzle.
Reading the gothic classic Rebecca already has the Readaholics
spooked, and the chills only get worse when someone in town actually gives up
the ghost....
Amy-Faye Johnson has her hands full coordinating the Celebration of Gothic
Novels in Heaven, Colorado. The festivities start off smoothly, but the
weekend
is soon cursed with large egos, old resentments, and uninvited guests. Matters
become truly grave when a dead body is found at the gothic-themed costume
party.
The out-of-town authors claim not to know the victim, but Amy-Faye has
doubts. With skeletons turning up in all of the suspectsโ closets, Amy-Faye
and
the Readaholics must tap into their knowledge of gothic literature to find a
killer who lurks in the shadows...
Mystery Cozy [NAL,
On Sale: August 2, 2016, Mass Market Paperback /
e-Book, ISBN: 9780451470850 / eISBN: 9780698165816]
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