Oh. My. Another shiveringly good book, of which I've no idea what to say. What can one say when a book is so good?Caroline Brandon was the black sheep of her family. She had dared to turn her nose up at archaeologists and therefore, her parents as well as her older sister, Roma. Their one comfort was that their daughter was musical, amazingly so. Caroline gave her family up for music, only to give her music up, for Pietro.Selfish, Passionate and Brilliant Pietro. Only to lose him, the only person who understood her, knew she would never be as good as him, knew she was not an artist, just a performer. Gullibly she swallowed his tales, and believes that she wasn't and never would be anything above the average. Now that Pietro was gone Roma was her only comfort. Roma, whose worth Caroline never fully realized till now. Roma, whose only fault was that she couldn't understand why everyone didn't love Archaeology. She brought Caroline out of her doldrums, set her almost free from Pietro's grasp. Then Roma too, is gone. Caroline must and will find out the truth of her disappearance, she won't believe the stories she has been told, they just can't be right! So she goes to Kent, the very place her sister disappeared, but someone there doesn't want her to know, and they will do anything, anything at all to stop her. By the time she finds the secret of The Shivering Sands, it may all be too late…Worse, insanity may be hidden in the crevasses of Kent's countryside, waiting for her to pass within reach of the long, entangling fingers. The sea is a very long way down, and the sucking, bubbling sands are ready for another burial to be hidden in their depths…(The White Cliffs of Dover)Loved it, words can not describe the tingling sensation The Shivering Sands gave me. I am afraid that if I let myself put faces to the names that it will be too real, that the terror will over run me and I too, will be like the masts sticking up awkwardly from the sea. I didn't always like Caroline, she was an idiot. Why did she marry that Pietro? He thought he was better than her, and I hated his high-handedness. Some of the other characters I didn't like either. Napier was unknowingly cruel; though how he didn't realize it I don't know. His wife would be reduced to a shaking leaf because he was trying to help her through her fears. He only made them worse. All because he wanted a "wife he could be proud of". What about her?! What kind of husband did she want? Did he think of that? No! Arrgh! Other than that, I only liked Alice, she was so sweet. Innocent. Pure. Obedient. Grave Alice. This poem Alice quoted sums the story up: "From my study, I see in the lamplightDecending the broad hall stairGrave Alice and Laughing AllegraAnd Edith with the golden hairA whisper and then a silence;Yet I know by their merry eyesThey are plotting and planning togetherTo take me by surprise."(Page 56)As for the murderer, (he/she) was delightful unexpected and creepy.PG for talk of Love Children, Mistresses and of course, murder. As well as a "hand reading", however it's a bit like Mr. Rochester's gypsy game in Jane Eyre
Previously reviewed on The Good, The Bad, & The Unread:I’m absolutely loving the various authors and titles that Sourcebooks are resurrecting from the recent past. Victoria Holt is another of those that I’d vaguely heard of, but had never got around to reading before, and now I want to investigate more of her back catalogue. The Shivering Sands is a great introduction to her work, and had me figuratively on the edge of my seat at various points.Written in 1969, and set in the latter part of the 19th Century, the novel tells the story of Caro, the younger daughter of two archaeologists, who has grown up in the shadow of their discoveries and of her sister, who is two years older and following in their parents’ footsteps. Caro, meanwhile, is a talented musician but puts her career on the back burner after she marries a musical genius, partly as a response to the unexpected death of her parents. When her husband also dies suddenly, Caro is comforted by her sister, now a talented archaeologist who is working on a dig in Kent.Caro tries to restart her musical career, but then she receives the news that her sister has disappeared just as the dig is coming to an end. Caro returns to Kent and takes up a position as a music teacher in the house from whose grounds her sister disappeared, without telling anyone about her previous connection to the area. The family she works for is distinctly odd, as is the vicar’s daughter who takes her lessons with the three girls. Of those girls, the eldest is a legal ward of the house’s owner and recently married his errant son, Napier; one is Napier’s illegitimate daughter and one is the daughter of the housekeeper – although there may be more to her origins as we later discover.As Caro investigates her sister’s disappearance, she is both drawn to and afraid of Napier, and her suspicions are further aroused following the mysterious disappearance of his young bride, who had been having an affair with the local curate. When a new curate arrives, he recognises Caro, but she manages to keep him from revealing her full identity to the others. They work together to uncover the secrets behind the disappearances and other mysterious happenings, but it slowly becomes obvious that the investigation is putting Caro’s life in danger.Red herrings abound in this story, and the romance is nicely underplayed much of the time. The eventual solution to the mystery makes sense in terms of when the novel was written, although there’s one plot point I probably wouldn’t accept from a modern author. Caro’s final decision as to which man she wants to spend her life with also fits the characters and the era in which the book was written. I’m definitely a convert to the world of Victoria Holt and look forward to discovering more of her books.
What do You think about The Shivering Sands (1971)?
This is one of her earlier books, at least earlier than the other books of hers that I've been reading. I don't know how to feel about it? I enjoyed reading it, but it feels a bit contrived, and she has... stereotypes/symbols that she didn't actually seem to use? Her three young girls are based off a Longfellow poem, and she has Sybil - an old woman who has uncanny knowledge and seems to know the future with her paintings. I feel like maybe she was trying to DO something with those things that I just didn't catch? :/ There was also a Jacob/Esau thing going on. Idk. Maybe it all meant nothing. I was just confused.3.5 stars. :3 Still worth a read if you're craving this style of story n_n
—Jesse
The suspense elements are excellent in “The Shivering Sands”, which I believe is set in the late 1880s. The disappearance of an archaeologist and later a pregnant woman are hard-to-solve mysteries.I suspected several characters at one time or another, had a few ideas for motives, but most of which were wrong because of the clever plotting. I did begin to work out the culprit a few pages before all was revealed, but the identity of said character was never obvious.I like the way the author includes small scenes every so often that seem irrelevant until later on in the narrative. She also maintains an eerie tone throughout the novel. All characters are well-crafted. I particularly enjoyed the dialogue exchanges between the heroine and Napier.I feel the book would’ve been better still if there had been a greater amount of conflict , plus certain perilous situations seem to be resolved a little too quickly. But on the whole this is a very good read.
—Phil Syphe
4 and 1/2 Stars - A love story wrapped in a mystery!Set in the late Victorian era, this is the story of Caroline Verlaine, a young widow, who has lost her archeologist parents and her brilliant pianist husband to untimely deaths, and now her sister Roma has disappeared. Determined to find Roma, who went missing while on a dig in Dover, England, Caroline, who is a pianist herself, takes a job in the area—as a resident piano teacher to Sir William Stacy’s three young charges. One of the girls is the illegitimate daughter of the heir, Napier Sands, and another of the young women is his wife. Caroline tells no one she is the sister of the missing woman. Soon, she finds there are other mysteries at the Stacy home, including Napier’s past in which he killed his older brother, in what may or may not have been an accident, and the “shivering” sands off shore that swallow ships. Caring little for his young wife, who is afraid of him, Napier makes a project out of Caroline, telling her, “You and I are like those ships. We are caught in the shivering sands of the past. We shall never escape because we are held fast, held by our memories and other people’s opinions of us.”When a new curate shows up at the village, he joins Caroline in solving the mystery of what happened to her sister, and what is now Napier’s missing wife. And danger draws close as Caroline’s life is threatened.Holt did an excellent job of creating a mystery with no clear villain but many who had motives. And despite that it takes place in virtually one location, there is much happening with some great secondary characters, including Sybil, the batty old sister of Sir William, Napier’s father, and of course, the three young women. At one point I thought the mystery itself dragged a bit, but as with all novels by Holt, the finish is excellent. It’s a mystery, a love story and a story of new beginnings, choices and redemption. Told from the first person, you are only in Caroline’s head but the hearts of others are revealed through dialog. A worthy read, I recommend it.
—Regan Walker
