The Blooding [Hardcover]

Patricia Windsor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1996

A dark, psychological drama is infused with the supernatural and reveals the painful lengths an adolescent girl is willing to go to in order to claim her own identity.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up-For Maris Pelham, spending the summer in England as an au pair provides the perfect opportunity to prove herself capable and responsible, especially to her mother. But a number of elements in her new surroundings arouse her curiosity: Derek Forrest's nighttime excursions into the woods; his arguments with wife Barb, who suffers from chronic fatigue and bouts of depression; the animal odor that often permeates the house; inexplicable blood and bits of flesh in the bathroom; and the strange animal that follows Maris home through the woods. Nevertheless, the young woman grows attached to this young family, as her usefulness to them boosts her confidence. But when Barb is found dead, her wrists violently slashed in an apparent suicide, Derek discloses to Maris the family's secret-he is a werewolf intent on "blooding" her as well. Told in flashbacks, the novel is immediately engaging, offering first its shocking conclusion, and then unfolding the events leading up to it, building suspense along the way. Although some situations seem a bit contrived and some characters are not fully developed, fans of horror fiction, including reluctant readers, will find the novel engrossing and generally satisfying.
Kelly Diller, Humboldt High School, IA
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Werewolves take on the role of ordinary family members by day, in this novel with strong erotic overtones by Windsor (The Christmas Killer, 1991, etc.). Maris Pelham grabs the chance to leave her unhappy American home and go to England for a summer as a mother's helper. Barb, the mother, has some mysterious illness and young Vicky and Adam seem frightened for their pet rabbit. At first Maris fears the father, Derek, but as she becomes irritated with Barb's outbursts, she begins to react to his overtures. Barb's suicide makes Maris and Derek's bond stronger, and eventually he admits that he is a werewolf and invites him to join her. Her growing delight in blood and in killing prey disturbs her human side, and she begins to wonder about the choice she has made. The book ends after a farmer shoots them; only Maris survives, to return to the US and an unknown future. This is fast-paced and lurid, perfect for bloodthirsty readers who want to linger over descriptions of tearing flesh; unresolved are the sensual issues of being an animal, the morality of killing for pleasure, and, far more disturbing, the unseemliness of older, married Derek luring Maris into her new life and then all but dismissing her. Strong stuff, requiring a strong stomach. (Fiction 14+) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 281 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic (October 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0590433091
• ISBN-13: 978-0590433099
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,962,199 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Bloody boring, January 27, 2006

By 

Liz (Missouri, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blooding (Hardcover)

I wanted to like Maris, really I did. She's a teenager whose mother should never be allowed anywhere near an impressionable child. She's told Maris over and over again how worthless she is (never outright but by dismissing her and her abilities). The slightest mistake Maris makes is held up as the failing of a lifetime and something she should be flogging herself over for years to come. The one big mistake she makes truly is a bad one, but I can understand why it happened, what put her in that position. I can understand Maris completely; I just can't like her.

I thought I could through the first few chapters. She wasn't fleshed out and neither were any of the other characters, but I thought that might change and I'd grow to like her and the others. She seemed like a good kid in a bad situation, going from the emotionally abusive, overbearing mother into an au pair job where the parents screamed and yelled behind closed doors and made the whole atmosphere oppressive. I wanted to feel for her and the children under her care. But none of the characters were ever anything more than two-dimensional, and it's hard to care much about cardboard, even when it talks.

And then suddenly Maris turns into a Lolita. Out of nowhere she's fantasizing about Derek, a guy who's nearly twice her age, and he seems to be watching her in turn. That's just creepy in a bad way.

Then Barb, the mother, dies, and it gets much, much worse. Suddenly Maris wants to stay in England any way she can, even by spreading malicious gossip about Barb when she really doesn't understand anything that's going on. Her attraction to Derek goes into overdrive, which makes absolutely no sense when she's previously been frightened by him and thought that he was a jerk. Which he is. Emotionally abusive, controlling and, as it turns out, a bit homicidal.

I guess, Maris a teenager, I really shouldn't have expected her to think beyond her hormones and make a decision based on actual information instead of her own hopes and desires. But I had hoped that I'd be wrong, that she wouldn't go and do something stupid and then, worse, mope around and wangst about it. But she does. Constantly. For pages. When she's not throwing little tantrums about not going out hunting. Oy.

At least, in the end, she's not so self-centered and whiny that she can't do the right thing. Saving one life at the expense of another isn't such a bad thing, in this case, and I'm glad she could do that. But by that point I didn't care enough about her or any of the other characters to get too happy about it.

There is no good resolution in this book, which makes sense in Maris' case. She made her choice and she's going to have to learn to be an adult and live with it. However, we never did know what happened to the children, and that's a big oversight. But by that point in the book, I was so anxious for it to be over with that I really didn't care all that much.

The story just drags and drags and the characters are never developed, so they wind up as dull as the prose. There is a time or two when it actually threatens to be exciting, where something truly scary might just happen...but then it dies and you're left with more wangst and illogic courtesy of teenage hormones.

There are enough moments of interest to stop me from giving this one star, but not nearly enough to make me even consider giving it three. If there were half star options, this would probably be a 1.5 rating. Don't waste your money here and unless it's the only book left in the library, give this one a miss.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not something I'd recommend, June 2, 2006

By 

K. Gilligan "grad student & literature lover" (Haddon Heights, NJ) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: The Blooding (Mass Market Paperback)

"The Blooding" by Patricia Windsor starts out fine. Maris is a teenager who wants to escape her mother, and when a chance to be an au pair in England pops up, she takes it. She soon finds out that all is not what it appears to be. This is a depressing book, and includes suicide. The mother of the children seems ignored and put down by her husband. The father shows way more interest in Maris then he should. (And out of nowhere she returns that interest.) He 'bloods' her- making her a wolf like him.

It goes downhill from there and this story does not end happily. I would NOT recommend this book.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Blooding, March 31, 2003

By 

Cat (Fredericksburg, Virginia. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Blooding (Hardcover)

I hated it and if it was possible to give this book lower than a one, trust me I would! The plot is also slow moving and the description is horrid!
The relationship between the young girl and the man who's over thirty is appalling and the characters have almost no personality. The mood is darker and depressing but the plot is simply stupid- sorry to say. My thoughts: Read this book if you wish but don't be too dissapointed if it's nothing spectacular... It will keep you busy at least.

(PLOT: A young girl who's mother places no trust in her sends her off to help out an old friend with her children in England. While in England weird things begin to happen, the woman sufferes from a mysterious illness and Maris- the main character keeps hearing people come in and out at around 3am and hears someone being sick and finds blood in the bathroom.
To make a long story short Maris ends up trying to find out this family's secrets and falls in love with the father who is like 20 years older than her and gets entangled in a swirl of dark secrets, family fueds, death, and werewolves.)