Jane Eyre is an orphaned governess who develops romantic feelings for her employer, Mr. Rochester, a man ensconced in tragedy. Sent away to an orphanage as a child by her cruel aunt, Jane’s attachments in life have been few. At Lowood, she gains a friend whose perspectives enable Jane to reign in her anger and…
Tag: kate morton
The Sea House by Elisabeth Gifford
On the shores of Scotland is a sea house where two tales unravel. Ruth, who is renovating the house, and hiding from her past and found another: mermaid bones buried beneath the floorboards. Ruth’s mother drowned when her daughter was very young, leaving her orphaned. In an attempt to find a piece of her family…
In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware
In a Dark, Dark Wood is a large house with glass walls, host to a “hen party” weekend that ends with Leonora Shaw in a hospital room. Narrated from her hospital room, Nora tries to piece together her memories and heal from the injuries of the last violent night in the isolated cabin. Nora hadn’t…
River Road by Carol Goodman
Nan Lewis is a creative writing professor at Acheron College in upstate New York. Tormented by the tragic death of their young daughter on the dangerous bend of River Road, her husband Evan left Nan to crawl inside a bottle every night. In the evenings after teaching, Nan still hides there from her writing, which…
“Rebecca” by Daphne du Maurier Book Discussion and Blackberry Victoria Sponge Cupcakes
“Last night I dreamed I went to Manderley again…” Rebecca is perhaps the greatest and most haunting Gothic novel, the one to which all others written since have been compared. (Image of “Manderley” created with ChatGPT) Set in the English countryside in the 1920’s, in a mansion by the sea, Maxim de Winter lives with…
The Lake House by Kate Morton
Buried deep in the woods in Cornwall, England, is a home that hasn’t been inhabited in 40 years. The house by the lake, Loeanneth, is stumbled upon by a young detective named Sadie. She is on a forced holiday from work for becoming obsessed with a case of an abandoned toddler, which holds more of…
“The Thirteenth Tale” Book Discussion and Orange Ginger Spiced Cupcakes Recipe
A bibliophile named Margaret works in her father’s antique bookshop, also writing small biographies about obscure people long gone. Content in her life, she shockingly receives a letter from one of the most brilliant writers of her time, Miss Vida Winter, notorious for tormenting readers (with her unpublished Thirteenth Tale in a volume of only…
“The House at Riverton” Book Discussion and Mini Raspberry Lemon Tarts Recipe
The House at Riverton: All the secrets a life in service can hold Grace Bradley unravels the tale of a long-ago tragedy that occurred while working for a wealthy family at the Riverton mansion in early 20th century England. First she was a maid who spent her young adult years hiding the secrets of the…
“The Distant Hours” Book Discussion and Mini Pear Pound Cakes
The Distant Hours by Kate Morton From the first pages of The Distant Hours, imaginations are captured, like Edie’s, by the dark tale of the Mud Man, a haunting fictional book within this one: “Can you hear him? The trees can. They are the first to hear him coming…It is moonless when the Mud Man comes.”…