breathless gothic set in the darkest, deadliest, most dangerous place on earth: France! probably the least of the Coffmans I've read so far, but stillbreathless gothic set in the darkest, deadliest, most dangerous place on earth: France! probably the least of the Coffmans I've read so far, but still fairly fun. as always, I come to her looking for atmosphere and she has yet to disappoint me. tons of creepy castle atmosphere (doors that close with no one touching them! rooms opening on rooms instead of a sensible hallway! vivid painting of a sexy-evil vampire-witch king!) and tons of creepy country atmosphere (rose bushes but all the roses are dying! overgrown foliage because Le Compte is apparently too cheap to hire gardeners! a poisoned spring plus an unlucky mouse proving that it's poisoned!) the heroine is obstinate and annoying. the hero is - is there even a hero? there is a mysterious, foppish gent who is described by our heroine as weak-looking and there's a big, dull French cop roaming around with some kind of club-cane; neither are particularly compelling or charismatic. the plot: our young heroine, a newly-orphaned and newly-rich bourgeois-but-sympathetic-to-the-French-Revolution up & buys an isolated mansion that belonged to her slain fiancé's family; sinister, maybe-satanic shenanigans ensue. moral of the tale: never up & buy a castle that is literally called "Witches' Coven Castle"?...more
what's a sophisticated, highly attractive, highly strung divorcée recovering from a nervous breakdown to do with all of her new-found free
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what's a sophisticated, highly attractive, highly strung divorcée recovering from a nervous breakdown to do with all of her new-found free time? why, visit a satanic spa, of course! such is the advice given to Christie Deeth by a similarly highly-strung friend. of course the "friend" "forgot" to mention the "satanic" part, but in this book that's par for the course because everyone is hiding something and everyone is playing the long game. and so off our intrepid and anxious heroine goes to Lucifer Cove (the spa's name is a bit of a giveaway). It's south of San Francisco, cozied away in a valley village that appears to have no roads in and no roads out, but also has lots of cute Tudor buildings and sulfurous hot springs and a very erotic dining establishment and a cozy temple devoted to the worship of the Son of the Morning Star... who also just may be the landlord of the charming sanitarium. Lucifer Cove's owner and its sexy staff are devoted to their clientele, encouraging them to find their true selves while fucking everyone in sight. this all sounds like a pleasant week away. but unfortunately for Christie, Lucifer himself has a very personal eye trained on our attractive young divorcée. an eye that gazes at her through mirrors, the tv set, through the assertive cat that follows her about. but could it possibly be... just maybe... that she is perhaps... falling for Satan too??
I got some Hiram Keller vibes from the author's description of "Marc Meridon" who basically spends all of his time staring and smoldering satanically at our agitated heroine. who's Hiram Keller? well, see the eyes above and/or click the spoiler below. but only at the risk of your eternal soul!
Virginia Coffman appears to be a craftsman at heart, well at least in the three books I've read by her so far. so expect no writerly flourishes or dreamy prose or interesting themes. oh well! I would have liked those things. but despite those lacks, she is a very competent writer who knows how to create atmosphere and construct a narrative that keeps the reader turning the pages. she also has a deft hand with description and so it was very easy to visualize everything in this hidden valley, its mountain pathways, the landscape, and especially the ornate design of the spa's various rooms.
favorite part was the casual relay of a satanic threat to poor Christie Deeth: oh, Mr. Meridon thinks your children should come and spend some time with you here... I gasped at that one. children in a satanic spa! heaven forbid! I can't imagine a bigger buzzkill to a week (or eternity) of orgies, drugs, and devil worship than some kids running around underfoot....more
feckless idiot runs away from her Catholic boarding school and the prospect of an arranged marriage. to the Italian seaside and the Tower Lera she flefeckless idiot runs away from her Catholic boarding school and the prospect of an arranged marriage. to the Italian seaside and the Tower Lera she flees, having misadventures with a gypsy caravan and led on by an escaped convict in drag. out of the frying pan and into the arms of her cousin Silvana, nicknamed "The Demon" - which should have been a bit of a hint for our doltish heroine. a big part of the charm of this amusing trifle is realizing just how big an idiot poor Melissa turns out to be. there were certainly hints here and there, in her constant waffling, poor decision-making, and embarrassing inability to read the room. midway through the book, after she criticizes a seawall for holding back all of that lovely seafoam, it occurred to me that maybe the author intended her to be a parody of hysterical and judgmental Gothic heroines. I sure hope so! mainly because I enjoyed the breathless pacing of the book and its amusing play with gender identity, and I want what is a goofy 2 star read to actually be a clever 3 star read. but also because I just bought an entire Virginia Coffman lot off of ebay, solely on the strength of her Dark Palazzo, and I hope that wasn't a waste of money. because then I would be the idiot....more
I came to see Venice but I stayed for the revolution!
this great gothic had everything I needed to bring me back to one of my favorite cities: the canI came to see Venice but I stayed for the revolution!
this great gothic had everything I needed to bring me back to one of my favorite cities: the canals and gondolas, the dark often abandoned palazzos, the campos, the bridges, the decay, mordant commentary on the various tourist traps, the hot crowded days and the eerie sound of water everywhere in the foggy dark, the sudden bursts of laughter coming from revelers on their way home, that entrancing feeling when wandering at night of being entirely alone in someone else's strange dream. atmosphere to die for.
Dark Palazzo has a surprisingly complex heroine. one would expect that a wealthy protagonist in a mystery set in Napoleonic Europe, who has fled France and her memories of The Terror, memories of past boyfriends sent to the guillotine, would be right at home amid the decadent Venetian set. but not so much. apparently you can take the girl out of Revolutionary France but you can't take the revolution out of the girl. she may have suffered during her time there, but she learned a few things about a clueless and parasitical upper class that only live for themselves, about why it's not right that a woman can't walk the streets unchaperoned, about free thinking and criticizing the secretive powers that be, about why people have revolutions in the first place. this was all very unexpected and delightful.
I also quite enjoyed how the sneaky hero of the piece disguises his good looks by wearing oversized spectacles that give him a buggy, goggle-eyed appearance. even the open-minded heroine is understandably turned off....more
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