Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a great writer!, April 3, 2003
Victoria Holt is great! After LORD OF THE FAR ISLAND, MASK is my favorite book of hers. Just when you think you have the plot figured out, she throws in an interesting twist. She always keeps you guessing with her books, and such is the case with this one. This is a story of a young girl named Suewellyn who goes to live with her parents on a remote island in the South Pacific. It's necessary for them to flee because her parents are unmarried lovers: Suewellyn's father is actually her mother's counsin's lawful husband. Yet the family lives in peace and happiness on this island for several years... ...until Sue's look-alike cousin comes for an extended stay. The cousin is an heiress to a sizeable estate and fortune, and when she dies in the volcano eruption that devastates the island and claimes the lives of Sue's parents, Sue makes the cunning decision to assume her cousin's identity and inheritance. The book held my attention till its conclusion. However, I must admit that the ending seemed a bit rushed, as if Ms. Holt was under a deadline to finish the book.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
My Second Victoria Holt Novel, and My Favorite One of the Two., December 8, 2005
This Holt novel, unlike the prior one I read (Seven for a Secret), takes off right out of the starting gate and doesn't let you go until the very end. Yes, I could see some of the things that were coming from a mile away, yet others not so much. Holt shows an adept talent in this novel, moreso than the first I read, to twist and turn her plot enough to keep you glued and to care about Suewellen and the intrigue around the Mateland clan with their highly desirable castle estate. True, there are similarities between this book and the first one--that being someone hanging themselves in a barn, identity swapping, and living among island natives, but the story itself moves quickly, and this is a huge asset. Can Suewellen pull off the ultimate hoax and claim the Mateland castle for herself by posing as her deviously wicked half-sister, or will she be found out, resulting in a domino effect of disaster? This book is so delightful I don't want to give too much of the plot away, so you'll just have to read it for yourself. A thoroughly enjoyable read regardless of its flaws, I would recommend it to anyone who appreciates a good and involving novel of suspense.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Victoria Holt Does it Again!, September 25, 2003
After fleeing England with her newfound parents, Suewellyn grows up on an island in the waters surrounding Australia. Her life is somewhat sheltered, so when a catastrophe strikes the island, she doesn't know what to do. She decides to go back to England and claim her inheritance, even if it isn't really hers. That proves to be difficult, as she soon finds out. This is one of the first Holt books I read, and it is one of the best!
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