Customer Reviews

Woman Without a Past

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

WOMAN WITHOUT A PAST takes place in Charleston, South Carolina, where the heroine of the book, Molly Hunt, finds out about her past. Molly was given away for adoption as an infant, and has only known her adoptive parents. However, sheer chance brings her into contact with the man who is about to marry her twin sister, whom she never knew to exist. Filled with doubt, Molly follows Charles Landry to South Carolina to meet the family she never knew.

As the story progresses, Molly learns about her biological family, and finds that there are some deep secrets that may have eventually led to her adoption years ago. The big shocking secret is that her adoption may have been a result of a kidnapping, and for some reason the family seems to know about the crime but refuses to shed light on it.

As she learns about these family secrets, her life starts to take a turn for the worse, as she finds herself in danger and a target for murder.

I really enjoyed this novel by Phyllis Whitney. I've been a fan of hers for over 20 years now, and her novels still have the same impact they had on me way back when. She hasn't lost her touch. Ms Whitney knows how to write a good romance mystery and is probably the best in the genre.

A review by Heather
This story is about a woman named Molly who writes woman's mysteries. Her parents told her when she was young that she was adopted, and that they didn't know who her parents were. So Molly always accepted this and went on with life, when one day a man named Charles shows up at her work and says that she is identical to the woman that he was engaged to who lives down in Charleston, south Carolina on a huge plantation. So Molly goes with him and meets her twin sister Amelia and some other interesting characters who seem to not want her their. Then Molly finds out about a family murder, and about her dad that had a heart attack, and about her being stolen as a baby, and she is intrigued to figure out all of it.

Molly in this story is very curios, and very trusting. Molly would always believe what everyone else would say. When her crazy mother took her in the middle of the night Molly believed that she was going to take her somewhere nice, but she didn't. And even after that Molly trusted her when she took her backstage of an old theatre. This book is a good mystery, but Molly didn't really know what was going on so the reader doesn't know either. Most of the excitement happened when she was in the theatre at the end of the book. But the book isn't very exciting in the middle and beginning. The author doesn't give you that much information about the deaths, so it can be boring.

I would recommend this book for people who like mysteries without a lot of action. This is mostly a mystery book that makes you think about what happened and you have to examine the events in the book carefully to completely understand it.

Absolutely a delicious read! From beginning to end, Woman Without A Past grabbed the reader into a suspense filled, mystery personified read that could not be put down. From adoption to murder, this novel portrayed the feeling of needing to connect to the biological past that anyone that was adopted would feel, and intertwined between all the chaotic emotions associated with that quest alone, were unsolved murders and mayhem, a little madness, and a touch of romance.

Romantic Suspense at its best!

I discovered Phyllis A. Whitney's books when I was a teenager. In a way, they were like an older version of Nancy Drew: mystery stories that add murder and a bit of romance (while still staying PG-13!). When I recently stumbled across WOMAN WITHOUT A PAST at a used book sale, nostalgia compelled me to pick it up.

This book features Molly Hunt, an author of mystery novels herself. During her most recent trip to meet with her publisher in New York City, Molly is shocked when a visitor from the south claims that she looks exactly like the woman he is engaged to marry back home! This man, Charles, insists to Molly that she is Cecelia Mountfort, twin sister of Amelia Mountfort, and that she was kidnapped as a baby. Molly, who was adopted when only a year old and who knows nothing of her birth family, agrees to follow Charles back to Charleston, SC to meet the Mountfort family for herself.

As is typical for a Whitney mystery, the plot gradually thickens; secrets are uncovered, and at least one murder is committed prior to the end of the book. These days, I don't usually read mysteries or romances, but Whitney does a nice job blending the two styles (with more of an emphasis on the former). For me, reading this book was a blast from the past that I thoroughly enjoyed.

Why didn't I like it? Her character development was incomplete. Her characters were very transparent and did not change much throughout this "thriller/mystery". The plot, although creative, did not seem very realistic. I know it's only fiction, but, even the end was not all that it was built up to be. You'll wait and wait for an exciting ending and not get one. Her discriptions of things/events was on par with that of a real writer, but the rest of it seemed like anyone with an interest in creative writing could have written it.

I couldn't believe everyone else has rated this book 5 stars!
I thought the plot weak and not well thought out at all. All-in-all very dissapointing. Don't waste your time with this one.

It's a great book\! It keeps you guessing and i couldn't put it down