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Bledding Sorrow
Legacy of Love
As the new bride of Geoffrey Bledding - and mistress of his magnificent Yorkshire estate - Ann hoped at last to fulfill her wildest dreams of happiness.
But as the walls of Bledding's manor closed behind her, she was forced instead ro re-enact a cruel destiny ordained in centuries long dead by two who loved in its shadow.
And now- trapped in the madness of her husband's cruelty, tortured by the inhuman cries and warnings of an ancestral nightmare - Ann dared to seek escape. She would love James, the handsome stranger, though his outstretched hand might lead her through an agonizing horror - and beyond!
As the new bride of Geoffrey Bledding - and mistress of his magnificent Yorkshire estate - Ann hoped at last to fulfill her wildest dreams of happiness.
But as the walls of Bledding's manor closed behind her, she was forced instead ro re-enact a cruel destiny ordained in centuries long dead by two who loved in its shadow.
And now- trapped in the madness of her husband's cruelty, tortured by the inhuman cries and warnings of an ancestral nightmare - Ann dared to seek escape. She would love James, the handsome stranger, though his outstretched hand might lead her through an agonizing horror - and beyond!
406 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
8 people are currently reading
362 people want to read
About the author
Marilyn Harris
41 books81 followersHarris was born on June 4, 1931, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, the daughter of John P., an oil executive, and Dora (nee Veal) Harris. Harris was educated in her home state, attending Cottey College from 1945 to 1951, then transferring to the University of Oklahoma, from which she received a bachelor of arts degree in 1953 and a master of arts degree in 1955.
Harris's first collection of short stories, King's Ex, was published by Doubleday in 1967. After that Harris proved a prolific author, publishing seventeen books, including novels, short stories, romance/ historical fiction and children's fiction in a twenty-year period from 1970 to 1989. These works, in addition to those listed above, include In the Midst of Earth (1969), The Peppersalt Land (1970), The Runaway's Diary (1971), The Conjurers (1974), Bledding Sorrow (1976), The Portent (1980), The Last Great Love (1981), Warrick (1985), Night Games (1987), and Lost and Found (1991). Harris's work has received a wide readership; in 1983, nine million of her books were in print, and her work has been translated into many languages, including French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, and Japanese. She has also been an author in residence at Oklahoma's Central State University.
She died January 18, 2002.
Harris's first collection of short stories, King's Ex, was published by Doubleday in 1967. After that Harris proved a prolific author, publishing seventeen books, including novels, short stories, romance/ historical fiction and children's fiction in a twenty-year period from 1970 to 1989. These works, in addition to those listed above, include In the Midst of Earth (1969), The Peppersalt Land (1970), The Runaway's Diary (1971), The Conjurers (1974), Bledding Sorrow (1976), The Portent (1980), The Last Great Love (1981), Warrick (1985), Night Games (1987), and Lost and Found (1991). Harris's work has received a wide readership; in 1983, nine million of her books were in print, and her work has been translated into many languages, including French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, and Japanese. She has also been an author in residence at Oklahoma's Central State University.
She died January 18, 2002.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
July 27, 2015
Wow. Where to begin? Okay, we'll start with the obvious: AWESOME. This is a kick-ass book, but it's definitely not for everyone.
If you want a gothic with tame violence, skip it -- the bloodspray is graphic. If you demand a HEA formula, skip it -- the resolution is grim. If you're offended by violence against the heroine, definitely skip it. BLEDDING SORROW isn't a cozy-cuddly story. In these pages you'll find menacing ghosts, violent family histories, bloodspray, insanity, physical abuse, drugging, & rape. There's plenty of macabre to be found, ranging from horror-style bloodsplatter to psychological terror.
Spoilers.
Geoffrey Bledding is the last of his line, a watered-down aristocrat who refuses to accept the downfall of his family. He's a spitting image of the first Geoffrey Bledding, an Elizabethian-era loon who was suspected of murdering his wife & coachman after catching them in bed. Indeed, the ghostly woman's screams can still be heard echoing through the locked wing. But a lack of money dictates Current Geoffrey open Bledding Sorrow to public use despite recurring personal issues. Menacing spectres plague him around the castle grounds & he hides a mad woman in the private wing -- the woman he keeps drugged to insensibility so he can visit her room at night & extract 'wifely duties' without protest (a practice to which the local physician takes no offense -- a charming pair, Bledding & Axtell).
The mad wife is Ann, a delicate soul trapped for ten years in Bledding's upper bedroom. Inclined to nervousness since childhood, she enjoyed a sheltered life before marrying Geoffrey at age 19, but now she knows her husband only as a nighttime horror. These days her world is reduced to pills, porridge, & occasional stumblings about a walled private garden. She talks to flowers. She writes with her pen an inch above the paper. She covers herself in dirt when distressed. She screams, moans, & sees spectres that terrify her into a stupor.
What Ann doesn't know is that everyone else sees the same spectres -- including the hero James Pask, a bus driver who was hired to haul tourist groups around the countryside. But like his Elizabethan counterpart, James is a sensitive beta-hero who knows something is amiss. One morning he happens upon Ann in the walled garden, where their sparks ignite a ripple of reincarnated history. This can't possibly end well, thinks the reader -- an impression shared by everyone from husband to doctor to caretaker to lover. The ghosts repeatedly gesture & wail for naught. Everybody knows something will happen, but nobody can break the cycle. Ann, James, & Geoffrey haunt the castle as much as their ghostly counterparts, while the supporting cast repeatedly fuss & pick at their roles in the inevitable, yet they can't (or won't) exert themselves beyond watching & waiting. There's a fascinating obsession with sex -- avoiding, fearing, wanting -- as each person deals with hormones in different ways. All these characters contribute to the blossoming of Ann & James' love, but they also contribute to the recycled tragedy in a place where past & present run parallel to each other in intricate detail.
This is my second Harris novel, & I continue to be impressed with her writing skills. There's a lot to admire in her style -- the descriptions & dialogue, the scenes of love & horror, & most especially the finely-tuned characterizations. Whether endearing, repulsive, or somewhere between, the players are unique; everyone lives & breathes on the page.
Why is this author OOP?? I've read a lot of so-called "literary fiction" in the historical and/or gothic genres, & she's on par with the best.
If you want a gothic with tame violence, skip it -- the bloodspray is graphic. If you demand a HEA formula, skip it -- the resolution is grim. If you're offended by violence against the heroine, definitely skip it. BLEDDING SORROW isn't a cozy-cuddly story. In these pages you'll find menacing ghosts, violent family histories, bloodspray, insanity, physical abuse, drugging, & rape. There's plenty of macabre to be found, ranging from horror-style bloodsplatter to psychological terror.
Spoilers.
Geoffrey Bledding is the last of his line, a watered-down aristocrat who refuses to accept the downfall of his family. He's a spitting image of the first Geoffrey Bledding, an Elizabethian-era loon who was suspected of murdering his wife & coachman after catching them in bed. Indeed, the ghostly woman's screams can still be heard echoing through the locked wing. But a lack of money dictates Current Geoffrey open Bledding Sorrow to public use despite recurring personal issues. Menacing spectres plague him around the castle grounds & he hides a mad woman in the private wing -- the woman he keeps drugged to insensibility so he can visit her room at night & extract 'wifely duties' without protest (a practice to which the local physician takes no offense -- a charming pair, Bledding & Axtell).
The mad wife is Ann, a delicate soul trapped for ten years in Bledding's upper bedroom. Inclined to nervousness since childhood, she enjoyed a sheltered life before marrying Geoffrey at age 19, but now she knows her husband only as a nighttime horror. These days her world is reduced to pills, porridge, & occasional stumblings about a walled private garden. She talks to flowers. She writes with her pen an inch above the paper. She covers herself in dirt when distressed. She screams, moans, & sees spectres that terrify her into a stupor.
What Ann doesn't know is that everyone else sees the same spectres -- including the hero James Pask, a bus driver who was hired to haul tourist groups around the countryside. But like his Elizabethan counterpart, James is a sensitive beta-hero who knows something is amiss. One morning he happens upon Ann in the walled garden, where their sparks ignite a ripple of reincarnated history. This can't possibly end well, thinks the reader -- an impression shared by everyone from husband to doctor to caretaker to lover. The ghosts repeatedly gesture & wail for naught. Everybody knows something will happen, but nobody can break the cycle. Ann, James, & Geoffrey haunt the castle as much as their ghostly counterparts, while the supporting cast repeatedly fuss & pick at their roles in the inevitable, yet they can't (or won't) exert themselves beyond watching & waiting. There's a fascinating obsession with sex -- avoiding, fearing, wanting -- as each person deals with hormones in different ways. All these characters contribute to the blossoming of Ann & James' love, but they also contribute to the recycled tragedy in a place where past & present run parallel to each other in intricate detail.
This is my second Harris novel, & I continue to be impressed with her writing skills. There's a lot to admire in her style -- the descriptions & dialogue, the scenes of love & horror, & most especially the finely-tuned characterizations. Whether endearing, repulsive, or somewhere between, the players are unique; everyone lives & breathes on the page.
Why is this author OOP?? I've read a lot of so-called "literary fiction" in the historical and/or gothic genres, & she's on par with the best.
July 28, 2016
Wow, Bledding Sorrow definitely surprised me. I don’t think I expected it to be quite this dark, but I loved it because it was. Filled with all kinds of lovely, gothic and macabre tidbits, I think despite the romance, it’s essentially a ghost story. I kept thinking of this very cool quote from the movie, The Devil’s Backbone.
What is a ghost? A tragedy condemned to repeat itself time and again? An instant of pain, perhaps. Something dead which still seems to be alive. An emotion suspended in time. Like a blurred photograph. Like an insect trapped in amber.
The characters are complex and dark, trapped in a vicious cycle. Harris’ prose is lush and vivid, bringing everything to life. There’s a whole dark mystique that surrounds the estate of Bledding Sorrow and I felt like I was there. A sense of doom looms over the whole book. Yet when the ending came, I was still shocked.
Harris writes so well, and she has no qualms about inflicting horror on her characters. Not to mention, she didn’t even try to create a sense of justice. She just lets the story unfold like train wreck. I was definitely enthralled, a true gothic classic! I highly recommend it.
I need to read some of Harris’ other books!
Definitely check out Sarah’s awesome review of Bledding Sorrow.. It’s much better than mine. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
What is a ghost? A tragedy condemned to repeat itself time and again? An instant of pain, perhaps. Something dead which still seems to be alive. An emotion suspended in time. Like a blurred photograph. Like an insect trapped in amber.
The characters are complex and dark, trapped in a vicious cycle. Harris’ prose is lush and vivid, bringing everything to life. There’s a whole dark mystique that surrounds the estate of Bledding Sorrow and I felt like I was there. A sense of doom looms over the whole book. Yet when the ending came, I was still shocked.
Harris writes so well, and she has no qualms about inflicting horror on her characters. Not to mention, she didn’t even try to create a sense of justice. She just lets the story unfold like train wreck. I was definitely enthralled, a true gothic classic! I highly recommend it.
I need to read some of Harris’ other books!
Definitely check out Sarah’s awesome review of Bledding Sorrow.. It’s much better than mine. http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
January 5, 2026
Holy CRAP. Not for the faint of heart 😭😭😭 This is a tragedy. How dare you Marilyn Harris. One of the best gothics I have read so far, but not a romance in the genre sense.
Bingo Notes:
book cover has a vehicle
Bingo Notes:
book cover has a vehicle
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April 8, 2022You know that .gif of Julia Louis Dreyfus where she's like "Haha... what the fuck?"
Bledding Sorrow is a nasty piece of work. A feel-bad opus dedicated to the inevitability of misery, told through the point of view of characters I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.
Once the puzzle pieces come together it feels like slowing down so you can watch a car crash.
Well, did you get what you wanted?
It starts with the legend: In the 1600s, Bledding Sorrow is an estate run by Geoffrey Bledding, a man that's not quite right. He's falsely pious and proud. Status is everything, and the fact that he's wealthy, but not titled, sticks in his craw. He does a favor to the Duke of Leicester by taking a woman to wife, thinking that it will put him in the good graces of Queen Elizabeth.
It doesn't.
Geoffrey parades his new wife around in his gilded coach, a sinister routine that frightens the townspeople. The wife is pale, remote, and mostly silent. Another horrifying routine is established: Geoffrey has his wife drugged before he visits her at night.
Even when he's not present, the coach rides continue. Eventually the wife and the coachman form a bond, which later turns into an affair. When this is discovered by Geoffrey, the punishment for the lovers is unspeakable.
The book quickly fast-forwards to 1970s England. The current Geoffrey Bledding is like his ancestor: weak-kneed and prideful, a man who thinks his life holds immensely more value than others with nothing to back it up. It's even worse for this version of Geoffrey Bledding, because he isn't even rich. Bledding Sorrow is only functioning because of the National Trust, which is not only preserving the estate, but using it as sort of a museum and field of study.
This Geoffrey Bledding has an American wife, Ann, who is locked away in a separate wing, drugged to oblivion so she won't make a peep. This Geoffrey Bledding visits her at night.
The ghosts are less quiet, though.
Ann is being warned off, but how can she heed the visions when she's not cognizant of reality? When a new coachman comes to Bledding Sorrow, is it her salvation or her doom?
When I say this book is nasty, I mean it. Every character (aside from Ann and the coachman) is some sort of a bigot, so it's a lot.
CW: rape, mutilation, torture, forced drugging, homophobia, fatphobia
Bledding Sorrow is a nasty piece of work. A feel-bad opus dedicated to the inevitability of misery, told through the point of view of characters I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.
Once the puzzle pieces come together it feels like slowing down so you can watch a car crash.
Well, did you get what you wanted?
It starts with the legend: In the 1600s, Bledding Sorrow is an estate run by Geoffrey Bledding, a man that's not quite right. He's falsely pious and proud. Status is everything, and the fact that he's wealthy, but not titled, sticks in his craw. He does a favor to the Duke of Leicester by taking a woman to wife, thinking that it will put him in the good graces of Queen Elizabeth.
It doesn't.
Geoffrey parades his new wife around in his gilded coach, a sinister routine that frightens the townspeople. The wife is pale, remote, and mostly silent. Another horrifying routine is established: Geoffrey has his wife drugged before he visits her at night.
Even when he's not present, the coach rides continue. Eventually the wife and the coachman form a bond, which later turns into an affair. When this is discovered by Geoffrey, the punishment for the lovers is unspeakable.
The book quickly fast-forwards to 1970s England. The current Geoffrey Bledding is like his ancestor: weak-kneed and prideful, a man who thinks his life holds immensely more value than others with nothing to back it up. It's even worse for this version of Geoffrey Bledding, because he isn't even rich. Bledding Sorrow is only functioning because of the National Trust, which is not only preserving the estate, but using it as sort of a museum and field of study.
This Geoffrey Bledding has an American wife, Ann, who is locked away in a separate wing, drugged to oblivion so she won't make a peep. This Geoffrey Bledding visits her at night.
The ghosts are less quiet, though.
Ann is being warned off, but how can she heed the visions when she's not cognizant of reality? When a new coachman comes to Bledding Sorrow, is it her salvation or her doom?
When I say this book is nasty, I mean it. Every character (aside from Ann and the coachman) is some sort of a bigot, so it's a lot.
CW: rape, mutilation, torture, forced drugging, homophobia, fatphobia
August 16, 2023
Holy shit. I was not expecting to be swallowed whole and vomited out all covered in spit by this book. It’s extremely over the top and left me overcome by horror and sadness, but it was also so very enjoyable… I’m off to start Harris’ Eden series and hope I’ll like it half as much as this bloody, gory,exploitative,romantic,cynical whirlwind of Gothic goodness!
PD: Did Geoffrey really need to survive the book and be free to prance around the world with the other disgusting depraved asshole character?!
PD: Did Geoffrey really need to survive the book and be free to prance around the world with the other disgusting depraved asshole character?!
June 30, 2016
I'm seriously having a fangirl moment. Especially after that sub-par modern YA gothic book I read recently.
Harris is the Queen of 20th century written gothics (and probably in the 21st century tbh). You can disagree with me in referring to this book (and the other book of hers I read) gothic, but I consider it one.
Actually, you can fight me on this one. >:D
This book is DARK, spooky, and eerie. Creepy. You have to get the atmosphere and feeling right. This is how a gothic should be written, ya'll. Take notes everyone.
This book is definitely not for everyone. It's violent, bloody, tragic, and filled with gloom and doom.
Trigger Warnings: Physical abuse, drugging people, rape, and did I mention bloody.
Read Sarah's review, she is so much more articulate than me right now. lol
Harris is the Queen of 20th century written gothics (and probably in the 21st century tbh). You can disagree with me in referring to this book (and the other book of hers I read) gothic, but I consider it one.
Actually, you can fight me on this one. >:D
This book is DARK, spooky, and eerie. Creepy. You have to get the atmosphere and feeling right. This is how a gothic should be written, ya'll. Take notes everyone.
This book is definitely not for everyone. It's violent, bloody, tragic, and filled with gloom and doom.
Trigger Warnings: Physical abuse, drugging people, rape, and did I mention bloody.
Read Sarah's review, she is so much more articulate than me right now. lol
October 30, 2023
Dnf with prejudice @ p.51 - skimmed to the end.
I'm the odd man out, if anyone is interested in reading Marilyn Harris this is certainly worth a try. Many of my GR friends have rated this 5 stars. Most likely my disinterest in this book is partly due to having already read the Eden series all the way through to The Women of Eden - at this point Marilyn Harris' ploys to shock readers and be a sadist to her characters is nothing new to me. At no point was I hooked by the narrative. It probably doesn't help that I rarely read haunted house or ghost stories. Another review mentioned this isn't a character-driven story, which means the reader has to be interested in the repeated horror & history of Bledding Sorrow, and I simply wasn't captivated at any point.
I'm giving this 2 stars because this was an okay story with a beginning, middle, and end.
I'm the odd man out, if anyone is interested in reading Marilyn Harris this is certainly worth a try. Many of my GR friends have rated this 5 stars. Most likely my disinterest in this book is partly due to having already read the Eden series all the way through to The Women of Eden - at this point Marilyn Harris' ploys to shock readers and be a sadist to her characters is nothing new to me. At no point was I hooked by the narrative. It probably doesn't help that I rarely read haunted house or ghost stories. Another review mentioned this isn't a character-driven story, which means the reader has to be interested in the repeated horror & history of Bledding Sorrow, and I simply wasn't captivated at any point.
I'm giving this 2 stars because this was an okay story with a beginning, middle, and end.
March 12, 2018
You really have to be in the right mood for this one..totally dark..but wow couldn't put it down!
July 30, 2016
That ending is like a punch to the gut but how else can a good ghost story or horror book end? And there is no mistaking, despite the bodice rippery cover and tragic romance involved, this is a horror novel and a slow burning one at that. Like a throwback to founding gothics, it is the atmosphere and the haunted surroundings that set the stage for horror rather than a lot of visceral thrills. It also gets into the classic fear of an endless "karma" loop of consequences and opportunities unheeded. Evil seems to fall into step much easier than good sense.
Marilyn Harris proves herself to be an excellent character-driven novelist, surprising me and I imagine many readers with her ability to make even side characters deeply felt and three dimensional to an extent that goes beyond the expectations of genre fiction. I didn't enter the novel expecting Geoffry's old assistant, Caldry Moore to be such a standout, moving character but once you follow the rigid, pragmatic layers she keeps in place to hide her own vulnerability and smothered compassion, you will be invested in her story as much as you are in the tale of the doomed lovers. Mr. Pask, the coachman, is also a richly sensitive and lovely character- a rare beta romantic hero that it is easy to root for and despite limited pages devoted to his relationship to Ann, Harris is effective in making his obsessive, sincere love and devotion to her very concrete.
It goes without saying that this is not fun, light horror novel if that's even a thing. It starts tragic and violent, it teases some beauty and love in bits and pieces in the middle then it ends gruesomely tragic and violent all over again. There's also repeated rape, wife battering, violent murders, animal attacks, gore, frightening imagery, etc. so it's a book that's best read for a rainy mood or stormy night.
Marilyn Harris proves herself to be an excellent character-driven novelist, surprising me and I imagine many readers with her ability to make even side characters deeply felt and three dimensional to an extent that goes beyond the expectations of genre fiction. I didn't enter the novel expecting Geoffry's old assistant, Caldry Moore to be such a standout, moving character but once you follow the rigid, pragmatic layers she keeps in place to hide her own vulnerability and smothered compassion, you will be invested in her story as much as you are in the tale of the doomed lovers. Mr. Pask, the coachman, is also a richly sensitive and lovely character- a rare beta romantic hero that it is easy to root for and despite limited pages devoted to his relationship to Ann, Harris is effective in making his obsessive, sincere love and devotion to her very concrete.
It goes without saying that this is not fun, light horror novel if that's even a thing. It starts tragic and violent, it teases some beauty and love in bits and pieces in the middle then it ends gruesomely tragic and violent all over again. There's also repeated rape, wife battering, violent murders, animal attacks, gore, frightening imagery, etc. so it's a book that's best read for a rainy mood or stormy night.
July 24, 2015
Rating: 3.5 stars
Dark, disturbing and madder than a box of frogs!
Not as good/insane as her early Eden books though, and it had the added distraction of too many sentences starting with 'suddenly' which got right on my wick.
Dark, disturbing and madder than a box of frogs!
Not as good/insane as her early Eden books though, and it had the added distraction of too many sentences starting with 'suddenly' which got right on my wick.
March 13, 2011
Bledding Sorrow by Marilyn Harris is one of my all-time favorite books. I re-read it every few years. :)
If you have read other books by Marilyn Harris, you will likely understand her style. There is an eloquent human element in her prose, as well as an appreciation for the sadomasochist existing in all of us. If you take the time to read "Bledding Sorrow," you will find the adventure quite worthwhile and oddly satisfying.
If you have read other books by Marilyn Harris, you will likely understand her style. There is an eloquent human element in her prose, as well as an appreciation for the sadomasochist existing in all of us. If you take the time to read "Bledding Sorrow," you will find the adventure quite worthwhile and oddly satisfying.
February 18, 2023
What the FUCK Marilyn????
I should’ve known this book would end the way it does because Harris is an expert in stories of pain and misery, where no good deed EVER goes unpunished, but wow.
I’d meant to read this for spooky season and fell behind because I moved in Nov and have had other family things happening, but this is like the perfect horror/gothic romance if that interests you, but you have been WARNED. Also TW for sexual assault.
Also the cover is freaking beautiful.
I’m going to go read a happy book now! I know Harris is passed away but I need to look into her brain and find out how she is able to write like this. Her writing really shows how there is nothing more destructive and dangerous than a insecure man who feels that his pride has been damaged in some way, and he will do anything to save what’s left of it.
Geoffrey Bledding can catch these hands!
I should’ve known this book would end the way it does because Harris is an expert in stories of pain and misery, where no good deed EVER goes unpunished, but wow.
I’d meant to read this for spooky season and fell behind because I moved in Nov and have had other family things happening, but this is like the perfect horror/gothic romance if that interests you, but you have been WARNED. Also TW for sexual assault.
Also the cover is freaking beautiful.
I’m going to go read a happy book now! I know Harris is passed away but I need to look into her brain and find out how she is able to write like this. Her writing really shows how there is nothing more destructive and dangerous than a insecure man who feels that his pride has been damaged in some way, and he will do anything to save what’s left of it.
Geoffrey Bledding can catch these hands!
January 27, 2019
So it definitely was a fantastic read. Very different from your usual romance stories whether historical or contemporary. I did enjoy every part of the storyline. And not a single time did it have me bored or falling asleep. Great, creative story. Two thumbs up!
June 17, 2019
I had trouble getting into this at first but I think the fact I thought it was going to be a historical threw me for a loop at first ....but WOW this was a real WTF of a book and the ending woah ...NOT what I expected at all...it really drew me in and it will be one that I always remember
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September 18, 2025I've been trying for days to arrange my thoughts on Bledding Sorrow but all i could come up with is still how batshit crazy that book was and honestly it's been a while since i read a very well written gothic horror/romance that isn't a classics. Not to mention it was published in the 70's among all the pulp-gothics that were generally hit and miss.
This book is basically a Madwoman in the Attic trope but she gets to be the main character, Ann is not to be sidelined like Bertha Mason from Jane Eyre or Catalina from Mexican Gothic. Her husband Geoffrey is an impoverished gentleman who's trying to hold on to his inherited estate (Bledding Sorrow) by opening his house to the public. he's not in any way byronic, but he's not the sexy charismatic villain either. And the last principal character is James the noble sensitive hero, he works in the estate as a hired coachman (bus driver) which leads to his uncovering the mystery of the imprisoned wife.
These three characters are ultimately a kind of reincarnation, all they do and all the things that happen to them is already predestined, a reconstruction of a violent bloody past with Bledding Sorrow as a witness then as well as now. The author didn't hold back with the brutality and the blood and gore, especially with the abuses (physical & sexual) that Ann has to endure from her husband that sometimes i had to stop reading for awhile. There are also creepy ghosts in the estate that aren't just a local legend nor simply a product of Ann's deranged mind. And lastly there's the inevitable end for the doomed lovers that obviously not HEA. Undeniably tragic yet a sublime ending for a true Gothic Romance.
This book is basically a Madwoman in the Attic trope but she gets to be the main character, Ann is not to be sidelined like Bertha Mason from Jane Eyre or Catalina from Mexican Gothic. Her husband Geoffrey is an impoverished gentleman who's trying to hold on to his inherited estate (Bledding Sorrow) by opening his house to the public. he's not in any way byronic, but he's not the sexy charismatic villain either. And the last principal character is James the noble sensitive hero, he works in the estate as a hired coachman (bus driver) which leads to his uncovering the mystery of the imprisoned wife.
These three characters are ultimately a kind of reincarnation, all they do and all the things that happen to them is already predestined, a reconstruction of a violent bloody past with Bledding Sorrow as a witness then as well as now. The author didn't hold back with the brutality and the blood and gore, especially with the abuses (physical & sexual) that Ann has to endure from her husband that sometimes i had to stop reading for awhile. There are also creepy ghosts in the estate that aren't just a local legend nor simply a product of Ann's deranged mind. And lastly there's the inevitable end for the doomed lovers that obviously not HEA. Undeniably tragic yet a sublime ending for a true Gothic Romance.
July 15, 2018
DNF. Beautiful writing, but there's so much that's stupid and offensive in this book, from the risible backstory where Queen Elizabeth allows one of her ladies-in-waiting to be gang-raped by stablehands because Robert Dudley has slept with her (also, the timeline does not line up with historical events, so the lady-in-waiting would have to be fifty years old for any of this to actually happen, as this part is set in the early 17th century, and Dudley died decades earlier), to the bad guy in the 1970s part of the story being an evil gay doctor who likes to rape patients. Lots of rape in this book. Also, the hero is a bus driver who, even when on a route, will pull over a bus to spend time with a dying dog. How does this guy have a job again?
Anyway, between the homophobia and the tedious pacing, I couldn't keep an interest in it. Even though...
...SPOILERS....
The hypochrondriac heroine gets her feet amputated in the end by her nutso husband, who, after she bleeds out, then runs off with the gay doctor to live in France.
Yay, everyone loves a happy ending!
Yuck.
Anyway, between the homophobia and the tedious pacing, I couldn't keep an interest in it. Even though...
...SPOILERS....
The hypochrondriac heroine gets her feet amputated in the end by her nutso husband, who, after she bleeds out, then runs off with the gay doctor to live in France.
Yay, everyone loves a happy ending!
Yuck.
August 23, 2012
I read this book as a teenager and then again 20 years ago... I would definitely read it again if I came across it! It was dark and deliciously gothic, with characters I could truly sympathize with. Marilyn Harris was one of my favorite authors of my younger years and this book is an excellent example of why.
February 20, 2023
I started reading it, when a thought popped into my head, and I'll use it for my review:
"This is one STUPID book!!!"
Enough said.
"This is one STUPID book!!!"
Enough said.
May 15, 2023
what.... the fuck, i'll take a long and pitiful break from reading now, i feel positively drained from any happiness i felt before i finished bledding sorrow....
August 21, 2023
Avon said this book is, "a pulsing romantic saga of dark desire and haunted love!" and that statement provides me with endless shock and humor. This book was fucked up lol like I have sat on what to say about it for weeks and whenever I try to come up with something I just stare off into space remembering so many grisly details. Anyway, I look forward reading more of Harris's books.
June 17, 2024
I liked it when I first read it years ago, but I didn’t care for it the second time that ai read it, years later.
November 29, 2024
Very tragic and depressing read..don't read while eating..
December 3, 2025
I liked this book for its focus on the curse, but the romance wasn’t really there. So not a gothic bodice ripper like I thought
July 3, 2024
I couldn't put it down. I got delusional and convinced myself it was gonna end happy...
Boy, was I wrong. I almost threw up reading the ending. 10/10 recommend maybe
Boy, was I wrong. I almost threw up reading the ending. 10/10 recommend maybe
January 22, 2009
A sad gothic romance with adultery and ghosts with a spooky murder. That's what I remember about this book from my teens.
Want to read
August 22, 2012I'm not even sure what to shelve this as, but it looked really interesting, so I got it, even though it's a rather beat-up copy.
December 31, 2012
this was good. more a ghost story, tragic & romantic. it seemed to compliment a cold, wintery evening.
September 1, 2013
To this day I cannot forget this book. It was terribly depressing, with intermingled horror and sadness. I would never read it again.
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