Customer Reviews

The Legend of the Seventh Virgin

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Legend of the Seventh Virgin is an interesting book in the Victoria Holt canon. I am going to name another book and author: "Cotillion", a Regency romance by Georgette Heyer, who invented that particular genre. Holt, too, invented a particular kind of modern Gothic with a strong romantic element, which was an instant success in the same way as the Regency. Anyway, "Cotillion" is a novel in which Heyer subtly subverts the traditions and mores of the Regency genre - rules she herself established! - and "Seventh Virgin" is a novel in which Victoria Holt explores the themes of the particular genre that she created. (She was influenced by Charlotte Bronte, but made the modern first-person narrative Gothic historical romance her own). I think this is what makes it so particularly interesting - Holt experiments with heroines and lead characters, playing around with their roles and our expectations, manipulating the rules she herself established (and unfortunately later depended too much upon) for this genre. Snare of Serpents, one of the better of her later books shows similar experimentation with the roles of hero and heroine and subversion of our expectations.

The book is, as we expect from Holt, interesting with the customary mysterious buildings and ruins, the intriguing characters with the dark pasts, the sense of fear and dread and the eventual, startling, unexpected conclusion. However, I did not particuarly like the last chapter, which appeared to be an after-thought, a whole other separate study, as if it belonged to a collection of short stories or in a folder of experimental jottings. Having said that, Legend of the Seventh Virgin is still a great Holt, a mysterious, slightly subversive Gothic which courageously plays a game with the author's own rules and ways. If you are studying the development of the Gothic romance through the ages, you should try to refer to this book as well as to Holt's "Mistress of Mellyn" to sufficently represent her work in this genre. It is dissatisfactory in some ways, but as a friend said:

"I thought it was an interesting twist upon the Gothic plot. The characters didn't deserve the fates that would normally befall them. So they didn't"

I think this sums it up pretty well, really. A brave and relatively successful experiment on Holt's part.

I don't generally read Romance novels. If I accidentally read one, then I generally dislike it. The genre and I are simply not made for each other. Legend of the Seventh Virgin is different, in that it and I have a history together. Between the ages of 8-11 I must have read this book 60,000,000 times, and when I saw it in the store I had to buy it to see if it was as I remember.

It may be that Victoria Holt is a formulaic writer. I've never read any of her other books, so I wouldn't know. What I do know is that the same impressions I had as a child came back to me very strongly. I loved Kerensa and I hated Mellyora. I totally supported Kerensa's decision about Nellyphant and would have done exactly the same. The one signal difference, I suppose, is that I felt much less dissatisfied about the ending than I did as a child (her fate no longer seeming so awful to me).

I kind of figure that anything that vivid can't be all bad.

Do you enjoy attention-grabbing mystery novels? If the answer is yes, then The Legend of the Seventh Virgin, by Victoria Holt, is definitely the book for you. Although it is definitely an older book, it is worth the trouble of finding it to read its intriguing and crazy story. The book follows a cottage girl in England named Kerensa Carlee through the adventures of her life. Kerensa has a strong desire to change her social status in life, and works hard with the hope of eventually living in the Abbas (the largest mansion in her town of St. Larnston) as a mistress of the house. Throughout her journey to this position, there are many shocks, twists, and turns in the plot which keeps the book interesting and impossible to put down.
One of the main strengths of this book was obviously its plot; the plot was intriguing and made the book impossible to put down to anyone who loves a good mystery. Another strength of the book would definitely be its characters. The characters in The Legend of the Seventh Virgin are extremely well-developed and as you are reading the book, it is very easy to see yourself as a part of the story, because you almost feel as if you know the characters personally. The only real weakness of the book would probably be in its language and dialect; some people may have trouble understanding the way that the cottage people in the story speak, because it is written in the proper dialect for its time and location.
The book is very readable except, again, for possibly its word choice. Although the dialect definitely adds to the believability of the story and the characters, some people may find it harder to understand and may thus enjoy the book less. I, however, was not bothered by the type of language that was used, because I found it to be very effective in helping to tell the story. I also believe that the dialect and language used made the story more interesting. Most of the language used was monosyllabic, which also helped make the book easier to read and understand. Finally, lots of imagery is used in The Legend of the Seventh Virgin, which makes it extremely appealing to the reader.
This book is probably written for young adult readers. It is useful to young adults to read this novel because, as most do, it ended with a life lesson about following your dreams but also about appreciating your life for what it is. Surprisingly, I would say that both girls and boys would most likely enjoy this novel, which is rare for most books. This would probably be most appropriate for either gender around the teenage to young-adult age.
All in all, I would recommend The Legend of the Seventh Virgin, by Victoria Holt, to any young adult looking for a good mystery novel. The last few chapters are of particular interest to the reader because, in my opinion, they throw the two biggest twists in the plot; however, the entire novel leading up to these twists is interesting and very worth reading.

As I read this book, at first I was becoming a little frustrated. When is our lady Ms. Carlee/St. Larnston going to attain to that mountain top and stay there. Then I began to become aware that each time she began to elevate, some flaw of character or motive (greed, pride, whatever) began to become evident and she would be brought low. This is a story about real life, which is not a "live happily ever after" situation by any means. The story leaves her after a series of a strong introspection following a couple of near brushes with death and a deep emotional disappointment, at a good starting point, low again, but poised for a good revival this time. I guess the author left the sequel of the story up to the reader.

I like the story because it speaks of my own personal experiences with life and what resolves I have come to at each rise and fall .

Could the author have been familiar with the following passage from Jeremiah 18:

This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD: "Go down to the potter's house, and there I will give you my message." So I went down to the potter's house, and I saw him working at the wheel. But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.

I had perceived a striking resemblance to these principals in the story.

I was a little confused by the dialogue at first, but quickly got used to it.

The characters in this book are well written. They make choices that seem good at the time, but have horrible consequences. I feel sorry for Kerensa at different parts in the story, then don't feel sorry for her. I found myself almost flip-flopping with who I wanted to be truly happy, Kerensa or Mellyora.

Along the intelligent vein of romance ... This author pens spellbinding tales. Also recommend: "The Road to Paradise Island".

You know, although I keep complaining about her books being written to a formula, I don't like this one, although it is slightly different in that the heroine doesn't live happily ever after. Such a plucky thing she is. Is the author punishing her for being too greedy and having ambition? Oh well, I'm not going to go mad and demand the hours I spent reading it back anyway.