| Title | : | Darkwater |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0449235440 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780449235447 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 223 |
| Publication | : | First published September 1, 1963 |
Darkwater Reviews
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🎃 Read for the Unapologetic Romance Readers
Halloween 2017 Reading Challenge for the category of: gothic romance 🎃
As of 10/04/17, this book is currently only $1.99 for Kindle.
I really enjoyed this little book. Granted, my hopes were low. I'd looked through the reviews of DARKWATER and many of them were saying that DARKWATER was dull and flat, with a raging Mary Sue of a heroine who wouldn't STFU.
To my surprise, I found myself with a rather delightful Gothic romance written in the vein of such popular favorites as Victoria Holt or Patricia Maxwell (AKA, Jennifer Blake). Better yet, I got to buddy read it with one of my new Goodreads friends,
Elena.
Fanny is the ward of some awful relations. Her uncle, Edgar, is an enabler to his cold and greedy wife, Louisa, and air-headed, vain daughter, Amelia. Much to the rage and annoyance of Louisa and Amelia, Fanny is far prettier than Amelia, the heiress, and is constantly turning heads despite being poor. When Edgar finds out he has two new wards to take care of, he's the only one who seems indifferent, even pleased. Louisa is annoyed and Amelia, disenchanted. Fanny is the only member of the family who truly harbors a soft spot for the young children, and despite having planned to use their pick-up as a chance to escape, voluntarily stays on in order to care for and nanny them.
I just want to pause here, and say that I often hate seeing children in fiction because they're either way too precocious and cutesy, or else used as plot points without much in the way of characterization. These children, Nolly (Olivia) and Marcus were incredibly well-written and actually acted like children (i.e. at times sweet, at other times, bratty). They added a lot of comic relief but they also stood on their own as characters. I also thought that Fanny's family was well done. Amelia was far from being the b*tchy, jealous rival... she had moments of thoughtless kindness, and even Louisa had some humanizing emotions. I felt like that made their dynamic so much more interesting.
Oh, and then there's George. Fanny's creepy, "no maybe means yes" cousin. Ew, George. Ew.
The love interest, Adam Marsh, appears mysteriously (such is the way of the gothic romance) and leaves just as mysteriously. When he returns, he seems more interested in Amelia than Fanny (much to Fanny's devastating) and he strings Fanny along while cavorting with Amelia, which I really disliked him for. Obviously there is an explanation towards the end, but I so did not buy that.
Call me slow, but I didn't guess the perpetrator(s) until the very end. I wasn't trying to figure it out, though. I was reading DARKWATER in between reading Stephen King's IT, and this cozy mystery was the perfect balm for sleepless nights inspired by psychotic, murder-happy clowns. I just sat back and let the story carry me away, and found myself pleasantly surprised by the journey.
If you enjoy Gothic novels, this is a great addition to the collection. I want to read more Eden now!
3.5 to 4 stars -
DNF. In the words of Pearls Before Swine, "I am spared cuz I don't care."
Yet again we have an Eden heroine who yammers on about correct behavior & proper social interaction, because apparently this is supposed to provide Historical Backdrop. Of course, dear reader -- let's not forget that 19th-c peeps NEVER EVER EVER said or did anything without examining the social propriety of their actions & then acted entirely by those rules -- only villains & scurvy on-the-fringe creepsters dared to ignore the judgment of society, right?!
Spare me.
The heroine's flip-flopping inconsistencies irked me like crazy. Example: she's dead set on fleeing her poor relation status & taking up with Florence Nightingale's crew -- NOTHING will deter her from her purpose, dammit! -- until she catches sight of two sprogs on the railway playform & her heart melts & she goes BACK to the house she so carefully planned to escape, because clearly her new purpose is to love & guard these two soppy, mopey brats.
Spare me. Again.
I gave it 2 stars because this one had a better gothic atmosphere than other Edens, but it wasn't enough to entice completion. -
From 1963
Originally or also titled The Bird in The Chimney
I enjoyed this. Despite my feelings about historical novels. Despite the racially questionable descriptions of the Chinese woman.
It is well written, well plotted. -
I love Eden's Gothic novels. Even though there's a sameness about some of them, they satisfy what a reader of the genre comes to expect in a Gothic romance. A great mansion. A handsome mysterious stranger who is obviously not what he seems, an intelligent feisty heroine, a murder mystery, a dangerous foe, and in this one, two vulnerable children who need protecting. A great read.
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I read this book years ago and now am currently reading it again. This is one of eden's best work. Her description of Dark Water is vivid and i can almost see that place and even more interesting are the characters in the book especially the uncle and aunt.The heroine is very good and i really loved the story.
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This was just what I needed at this time, an enjoyable gothic read set on the Dartmoor moors which I have actually visited. I did figure out who the "bad guy" was fairly early but enjoyed it nevertheless.
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This was exactly as described very gothic and creepy with a young heroine with textbook instant love at first sight but circumstances keep them apart yada yada, nonetheless enjoyable. Kept wondering what would happen next. Very nicely done with the atmosphere and foreboding, and as I was reading this after midnight, I got pretty into it. It's fairly obvious who the bad guy is after a while. Overall a good read though i wish there was a little more depth to overall characters.
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Decent gothic fare from the 1960's, but the ending was a bit weak.
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Reading this made me remember how dramatic I was as a teen--entirely due to reading these Gothic romances. So when I was raising my eyebrows at the flightiness of Amelia or the decision-making of Fanny, I was also like, yup. I see my younger self here. I loved how it ended romance-wise (I don't want to give anything away!) and the eerie mystery was fabulous.
I read this for Gothic book club and so glad I did. We had some great discussions on Amelia's decision at the end and of course, the symbolism of birds. Lady Arabella was my favorite character for the most part because I also have goals to be the person who likes to tell spooky stories to kiddos and add some pizazz to the everyday when I age up, though she did lose that exalted tier when she tried to push George and Fanny together. I get that cousins married back when this story takes place, but George was the scariest thing to me in this novel.
Because of my enjoyment of this novel, I plan on reading more Dorothy Eden novels. -
Atmospheric setting at the great estate, Darkwater on the moors.
Review to follow. -
Second read through. This time it's for a Gothic book club discussion. Lively characters, good pacing, and lots of omens.
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Truthfully, this isn’t a great book. The plot is lacking and the characters are underdeveloped but I love it because of how it made me feel when I first read it. I remember being in the library and finding Dorothy Eden’s books and sitting down in the aisle and beginning to read. I was probably 17 and I was entranced by this gothic novel. Is it predictable? Yes. Is it her best written book? No, not even close but it is an easy read with a likable main character and my nostalgia for it and those days when I would spend hours at the library makes me happy.
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<3 ;)
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I’m trying very hard to finish this book but the language is really putting me off, it’s full of Asian stereotypes. I understand it was written a long time ago but I just can’t read anymore about “slitty eyes” and “velly much missee”. Will probably not finish.
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Good story, well written gothic romance!
The protagonist was written as a surprisingly independent young woman for the times (19th century) and for when the book was written (early 1960's).
It has a nice twist at the end where things are wrapped up satisfactorily. -
This book was a well-written, complex web of intriguing characters. Unfortunately, the most interesting characters were the peripheral ones: Lady Arabella, the alternatingly vindictive and helpful great-aunt; and Amelia, the 17-year-old cousin who has an obsession with escaped prisoners (one in particular as the novel progresses). Fanny, the heroine, was somewhat bland. Adam Marsh as a hero was okay, but not sexy or sinister enough to suit me. It is a gothic novel, after all, so I give myself carte blanche to expect a Romantic, threatening hero.
One different thing about the novel was the issue of race raised through the narrative's connection to China. There is some cynical display on behalf of the author of the racism of the flightier people in the novel -- the refusal to accept a Chinese "nurse," worry about whether or not two orphaned children would turn out to be "yellow," etc. The perfection of racism in the Victorian period is something that is more taken for granted than critiqued in most romance novels, so it was refreshing to see it called to attention.
Overall, Darkwater was better than I expected. I only made a concentrated effort to read it because I wanted to finish just one more novel before New Year's Day and I had to finish my "Books Read, 2007" list, so I wasn't expecting much. However, it did turn out to be tolerable, even enjoyable, though I would have been much more interested in a book about Amelia and her passion for criminals. I should force myself to finish books more often. -
I can't give this five stars because I didn't think it was really that original, but I still absolutely loved it. Here's what I loved:
The gothic setting. It had a very Wuthering Heights (my favorite book) feel to it with the moors of England and the dark setting. It was intense, and I was a little jumpy when I finished it and looked out my window at the dark landscape.
The writing. It was superb. Dorothy Eden manages to write in a time era that she did not live in, and she does it without copying Jane Austen or the Bronte sisters, but she does it so you feel the setting and believe it. It was remarkable, and I was drawn in.
The Chinese twist. :) I liked the bringing in of the Chinese amah and the children from China.
However, as happens in most books, the main character bugged me a bit. She was too pretty... too perfect. Her only weakness was her vainness and her love for attention. I felt bad for poor Cousin Amelia through most of the book and related better to her than Fanny.
Overall, I would suggest this book to any mystery lover. I really enjoyed it. :) -
WHAT IT'S ABOUT:
A tale of love and peril in a haunted old English mansion. Fanny knew then that Adam felt as she did about the strange events at Darkwater. Even before the sudden death of the old Chinese amah, she had sensed a chill of menace in the atmosphere. Now there was real peril in the mists and fogs that beshrouded the ancient English estate. There was danger...especially for Fanny -- ravishing, lovely young Fanny -- who was too curious and headstrong for her own good.
MY TAKE
This is personally one of my favorite Dorothy Eden books. I read it the first time when I was a young teen. I loved it! The description, the tension, the creepy elements, the mystery, and Adam. He was one of my first literary crushes. Since it's out of print now, I had to search far to find a copy. -
I liked this one, as I liked the last Dorothy Eden book I read. I think I'd have been happier, though, if the lead character of the heroine had been developed a bit more. Ms Eden had done so well with characterizing the personalities of the other members of the family, I knew them all very well, much better than I knew the lead character Fanny herself...I did feel very sorry for her in her predicament...but that was about it...I didn't particularly like her as I didn't really know her well enough to feel one way or the other about her...pity for her situation was all she had going for her...but over all, another fun summer gothic read!
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Some interesting characters, including a shell-shocked, over-amorous "brother" who promises to kill anyone who gets between our girl & himself, and an affable uncle who may be the actual villain. No big action/suspense scene at the end, which is fine, just a sign that there was a lot to wrap up, lots of secrets to reveal, in the last few pages. I like the way Dorothy Eden deals with issues of race and class in her books - the attitudes of the time she's writing about are taken in stride, but the main character is always the most progressive one.
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Dorothy Eden was a fantastic writer of gothic romance novels. I enjoyed most of her books very much as a young person, and they hold up pretty well even now 40 years later (unlike Victoria Holt's books, in my opinion). The plots hold together and her female characters feel more three-dimensional than those in similar novels. I'd give this a 3+ stars, within the context of its genre.
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Another book that I am adding from long ago. I remember this author but not this
specific book. I probably was in a phase of "romantic suspense", reading Phyllis Whitney,
Dorothy Eden, Mary Stewart, etc. -
A historical mystery with a Gothic vibe, complete with a gloomy English manor, virtuous orphans, unwanted suitors, and a handsome, mysterious young man. I enjoyed this one more than I expected, and am looking forward to tracking down more titles by this author.
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This was probably my favorite of the four Dorothy Eden novels I read over the last two days because a) the villain wasn't the crazy wife of the hero; and b) the hero was neither married nor intentionally cruel to the heroine. Voila!
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Good gothic style mystery with well developed characters. Definitely a page turner and the descriptions of the haunted old mansion are perfect. Recommended.
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The perfect classic gothic book to read during a rainy week.
