From Publishers Weekly
The language, mores and class distinctions of 19th-century society are faithfully rendered in this atmospheric if overstuffed approximation of a Victorian novel, evoking a fashionable hotel on the coast of Maine in the summer of 1896. Grange House was once the family home of a prosperous quarry owner, but a spinster daughter, reclusive one-time "authoress" Miss Nell Grange, is the only Grange left on the premises; a formidable lady cook and a managing hostess run the hotel. Accompanied by her parents, 17-year-old Maisie Thomas has been a guest at Grange House every summer of her life. She's enthralled with Miss Grange and dreams of being a writer herself. This summer's visit augurs ill, however. A pair of lovers are discovered drowned on a foggy morning, there is a mysterious grave in the woods, and Miss Grange drops strange hints about babies and deaths, drawing Maisie into an examination of the past and conjuring up ghosts. Meanwhile, Maisie's parents are pushing her toward a marriage to Jonathan Lanman, her father's young associate. Maisie's father asserts that marriage "puts solid ground beneath one's feet...a place. You can not have a history without a place." But Maisie is drawn to another guest, imaginative, bantering travel writer Bart Hunnowell. The format is a story within a story: as Miss Grange recounts the often improbable events of her life, Maisie is lost in a blur of fantasy and reality until she begins to doubt even her own identity. The fog, the dense woods and the sea itself are virtual characters in poet Blake's (Full Turn) gothic debut, reflecting the gloom of long-kept secrets. A nighttime assignation in a rowboat finally threatens tragedy, and the narrative plunges to a two-hankie finale. Agent, Leigh Feldman at Darhansoff & Verill Agency. Author tour. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Library Journal
When 17-year-old Maisie Thomas arrives at Grange House in 1896, she can hardly contain her longings for the future. Determined not to settle for marriage, the expected path for women of her class, she ponders how people's choices determine their fates and those of others. During her family's yearly summer retreats to Grange House from Boston, Maisie has grown acquainted with the reclusive Miss Grange, who spends most of her time in the mansion's attic apartment. This summer, she shares stories and letters with Maisie, who is intrigued by the various accounts of the Grange family's tragic past. Only after several deaths and revelations of old secrets does Maisie learn her own part in that history. First novelist Blake notes that the novel was inspired in part by her great-grandparents' courtship letters. Ghostly handprints, mistaken identities, and ill-fated romances reveal her fascination with Victorian literature. Public library patrons sharing this interest will relish the dense atmosphere in a novel where nothing is quite as it seems, though readers seeking definite answers to straightforward questions may be more irritated than entertained.
-Kathy Piehl, Mankato State Univ., MN Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
