Dragonmede

THRESHOLD OF FEAR…

For Eustacia Rochdale it is like a dream come true when she becomes the wife of Julian Kershaw, heir to Dragonmede. For her gay, reckless mother Luella, it is the achievement of a lifelong ambition.

The marriage is tempestuous and stormy but worse is to come. At Dragonmede Eustacia learns of a sinister legend, threatening her life and that of her unborn child. And she learns that her marriage was arranged – with her husband an unwilling partner…

Written by Rona Randall. First published 1974 by William Collins Sons & Co. First issue in Fontana Books 1975.

I’ve read  and enjoyed a few Rona Randall gothics, so was very pleased to come across this Fontana edition of Dragonmede at a local jumble sale.

Dragonmede follows the fortunes of Eustacia Rochdale, a young Victorian woman who falls in love with Julian Kershaw, suave Sussex aristocrat and regular visitor to the illegal gambling den run by Eustacia’s mother, Luella.  Despite his gambling addiction, Julien appears to be everything a woman would want in a man – handsome, passionate and rich, rich, rich and Eustacia is overjoyed when her feelings for him appear to be reciprocated.

Luella Rochdale notices the mutual attraction between the two and is eager to marry her daughter into a good family. However, Luella has a reputation for being a bit of a tart and her gambling  house, though tolerated, is frowned upon by the neighbours. Though she has done everything possible to raise her daughter as a lady, educating her in the best schools and sheltering her from the caprices of her more amorous clientele, she realises Eustacia may be considered a less than desirable catch for such a gentleman and so uses all her wiles to ensure her daughter is safely wedded and bedded into the respectable Kershaw clan.

1979 Ballantine Edition

Eustacia is ecstatic when Julian proposes, but, this being a Rona Randall gothic, marriage to the man of your dreams is when your problems really begin. Arriving at Dragonmede, Eustacia is made to feel less then welcome by the usual gaggle of gothic misfits living there, while her husband’s behaviour towards her very quickly becomes increasingly cruel and controlling.

Worse still, her husband is not the only sadistic psychopath living at Dragonmede and when he is found hanging from the rafters, Eustacia  becomes  the prime suspect and in mortal danger herself…

Dragonmede has all the necessary ingredients for a good gothic – an old gloomy house, an isolated imperilled heroine, ancient curses, handsome men, sadistic men, mad artistic  creepy-paintings-in-the-attic men, secret love affairs, inexplicable accidents and a grisly murder.

Though the plot seemed to meander a bit for me toward the end, I liked the cast of unconventional characters – particularly Luella, the scheming cardsharp who stopped at nothing to better her daughter’s position. Four out of five stars.

Lost Ecstasy

ECHOES OF A DANGEROUS LOVE

“Why have you come back?”

It was dark, but Tom glanced around to make sure no one had seen them. “Just to look at you. I don’t want to make any trouble.”

Suddenly he gazed at her with a strange, smouldering intensity. Look, you may hear things about me. You will… I’m human. But this goes, now and forever…there’s only you. Do you understand? Only you…”

Kay’s Love for Tom was deep and passionate but was it strong enough to withstand the whispered rumors about his past that shadowed her life with terror?

Written by Mary Roberts Rinehart. First published 1927. Seventh Dell printing June 1968. Cover by Victor Kalin.

Oh my, I just had to share this lovely Dell edition with some more gorgeous artwork by Victor Kalin. Flicking through the pages, Lost Ecstasy seems to be more of a ‘romance on the ranch’ kind of a read rather than gothic – though with a cover like this I’d be willing to swap vampires for sexy cowboys any day of the week.

Mary Roberts Rinehart was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1876. She trained as a nurse and became a full-time writer in 1903. A lot of her novels are sold as gothics or works of mystery romance and  are widely respected for their humour and complex storylines. Known as the “American Agatha Christie” she was also the highest paid author in the US during the first half of the 20th Century.

I’m hoping to review some of her books over the coming months so if you have any particular favourites or recommendations, please let me know.

In the meantime, more info on Mary Roberts Rinehart can be found HERE.

And Victor Kalin’s daughter has sent a link to more of her father’s stunning artwork HERE.

Peril at Stone Hall

THE TOWER ROOM

… held a mystery as impregnable as the walls of the castle. Skeletal hands appeared at its window. Low sobbing floated from behind its iron door, and a broken voice ceaselessly sang a child’s nursery tune.

Dory heard the sounds and saw the shadows move but the others blamed it on the howling wind and her imagination.

Was she going insane?

Or had she stumbled upon a secret that would keep her forever entombed inside the castle?

Written by Jane Corby. A Macfadden-Bartell Gothic 1972.

This book treads a similar path plot-wise to Rona Randall’s Leap in the Dark (reviewed last year). Both involve rich, befuddled grannies prone to forgetting who their relatives are and therefore vulnerable to unscrupulous impostors hell-bent on stealing the family fortune.

Granny Dugald lives alone in a huge, old castle laden with treasure. Her son, Ronald Dugald, died twenty years ago in a plane crash. She has never accepted his death, clinging to the belief that he  is still working as an archaeologist in some far-flung part of the world and has merely forgotten to phone. Then a man claiming to be her son turns up on her doorstep and she is overjoyed.

Enter our heroine, Dorcas Lane  or Dory as she prefers to be known. Dory is the real Ronald Dugald’s daughter and knows her father is dead. She has never met her grandmother but is horrified to learn what is happening and so makes it her mission to  travel to Stone Hall in order unmask this pretender and see that justice is done.

Arriving at Stone Hall, it is obvious to Dory something is very wrong. The castle has been remortgaged and many of its treasures auctioned off. All the servants have been sacked  and replaced by a very sour-faced cook and her half-witted son, Leon, who likes to stroke people’s hair and collects ‘shiny things’. Then there is the pretend-Ron himself – his clothes are too bright, he laughs funny and, worse of all, he loves modern furniture. Dory is furious someone so ill-bred, so gauche is getting away with pretending to be her father. However, her stay at Stone Hall is proving to be very, very dangerous . . .

Peril was not a bad gothic to start off the year, even though the plot was pretty predictable. Extra marks awarded for the castle Stone Hall, which we learn was built by a pirate in the 17^th century in order to stash his booty. Perched on the edge of a cliff  and riddled with secret passages, this made a great gothic setting. With  its crumbling cliffs, tottering bell towers, collapsing secret chambers and even some booby-trapped abandoned mines, this place would give anyone nightmares. Three out of five stars.