Raised by a wealthy distant cousin after the death of her mother, Ellen Kellaway is forever reminded that she is the Poor Relation. Resigned to her eventual fate as a governess, she is suddenly taken by surprise when childhood friend Phillip Carrington declares his love and proposes a whirlwind marriage, much to the chagrin of Cousin Agatha who was counting on wealthy Phillip marrying her daughter Esmeralda. Curiously, Phillip's family is thrilled with the match to a girl with nary a penny to her name. Fate takes a sudden turn before the marriage can happen, and out of the blue appears a distant relative from her father's side of the family offering her a home on Far Island off the coast of Cornwall. Ellen loves the island and the Castle the Kellaways built hundreds of years ago (dungeons and all), and she soon finds herself falling in love with the island's owner, Jag Kellaway.In true Holt fashion, Ellen soon finds herself in the midst of a mystery and things begin to go bump in the night. What is it about her father that none of the villagers wish to talk about? Why did her mother pack up and leave him when Ellen was little more than a toddler? What about the drawings her mother left behind, including one of the room she's been seeing in her dreams for years? Who is the mysterious girl Silva raised on the Island and presumed dead? Is Ellen just accident prone or is someone trying to do her in? If so, why?While I enjoyed reading this and would recommend it to Holt fans, it just doesn't quite come up to a four star read. Perhaps it's because she took too long setting up Ellen's background and romance with Phillip and then realized at the end she had to hurry up and wrap-things-up-before-the-book-gets-too-long. It is a good book and a perfect comfort book for cuddling up with on a rainy afternoon; it's just not a great one.
My rating: 3/5Always treated as the poor relation, Ellen Kellaway was raised by her Cousins William and Agatha Loring. But with fire and spirit, she embarks on an exciting adventure to uncover the mystery surrounding her past. When her cousin Agatha informs her that she has overstayed her welcome and 'lived on charity' long enough, Ellen is persuaded to take a post as governess to cousin Agatha's friend, the Honorable Mrs. Lemming. Out of a desire to escape her present situation, she agrees to a 'marriage of convenience' with childhood friend Phillip Carrington. A mysterious tragedy brings a halt to wedding preparations and again Ellen is back in her previous status of "poor relation".All seems lost until Ellen receives a letter from the mysterious Jago Kellaway who claims to be her guardian and Lord of The Far Island, Ellen's family home. He invites her to come to the Far Island to meet her family. Ellen immediately packs her bags and journeys to Kellaways Island, off the coast of Cornwall and is immediately smitten with Jago Kellaway. And while she finds herself falling in love with him, she also begins to uncover some frightening secrets about her past and about the mysterious Jago himself.
Typical gothic romance. Elements include: beautiful brash heroine! Dark brooding possibly homicidal hero/villain! (AKA read to the end to find out which, gothic fans, but if you're a fan of melodramatic gothics, you probably know already) A castle! Secret diaries! A smattering of dudes both handsome and inconsequential, ready to woo our heroine if she'd only look favorably on them! Names like Jago, and Carrington, and Esmeralda! A character with an unspecified learning disability, attributed to premature birth! Random characters who comment ominously on the action, either helpfully or just to muddy the waters (of Far Island's bay)! Okay, this is getting ridiculous. Though I do feel at one point during the creation of this novel, it's very possible that VH threw up her hands and screamed "I'M SURROUNDED BY IDIOTS!" into the gloaming of the heather-studded hills, echoed by the shrill calls of the gulls. Ahem.In sum, definitely not my favorite Victoria Holt, but still a nice light comfort read for a stressful June/July. If you like gothic romances for that sort of thing, it's by the numbers and reasonably intriguing.
—Anna
Ellen has had the same terrifying dream almost her entire life. She sees a room with red curtains, and the dreams progressively reveal a little more each time and give her the feeling of something terrible about to happen. The room exists nowhere in her life as a Poor Relation, the orphan of a mysterious marriage that no one will talk about. Then her life changes for the better with a marriage proposal, which unfortunately didn't end in marriage (view spoiler)[when Philip died of a gunshot wound which was ruled a suicide (hide spoiler)]
—BJ Rose
I began the book with hopes for a pleasant mix of romance and suspense. The first two thirds of the book were pleasant and engaging. I immediately liked the heroine, Ellen. I was attracted to her spirit and determination to look positively at life despite her bleak future. Then plot turned, as expected but not the way I expected, poor Philip. Enter Jago. Now, I had every intention of liking the man. He was all that promised romance: attractive, wealthy, rescuer, mysterious, and much more. Howeve
—Rachel
