The Dark of Memory

by Paula Minton

The accident that had killed Lydia's mother was spoken of only in hushed tones; the mysterious disappearance of her father - a famed novelist - was never discussed. And under the oppressive, stifling guardianship of her aristocratic aunt, Lydia Turner seemed destined to remain n painful ignorance of the actual fates of her parents. Until the perplexing hideous insinuations of her family, and throwing her into a frantic terror and bewilderment that sent her across the country to her family's home in search of answers - and an escape from insanity and death.

Genres: Gothic, Horror

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

A pseudonym used by Paul Little.

Reviews

[Ang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Young women starts to suspect that the truth of her past has been hidden from her. When she receives a mysterious phone call she knows what she must do to find the truth and escape the tyranny of her Aunt.

Beautifully written. Many hidden details you only notice upon a second reading. I only gave it four stars because the villains are fairly predictable. There are several poetry references and I had a great time analyzing the foreshadowing in the poetry. The heroine is not fearless but determined to find the truth in spite of her fear.

I read a review indicating that there was a decent amount of romance/love triangles but that is not the case. In the last twenty-five pages there is a brief allusion to a potential future love interest and is never brought up again.

[Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this book used in a thrift store 20 years ago for 49 cents. I sure got my money's worth because I enjoyed this book reading it in this day and age. I like all the details that come out in the book. The pages of my paperback have yellowed and rip easy so it made it difficult to read but it was worth it. I had trouble seeing the words clearly because of the darkened paper but that was still way better than reading this on a tablet. I love the old books.

[Adrian Griffiths · Rating 2 out of 5]

Heroine struggles with angry relatives and two handsome bachelors, wondering who can be trusted, I can't remember what she has that they want. Very predictable, I really only bought it for the knockout cover illustration

[Stephen Fodor · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a good mystery, everything was suitably explained at the end. It had a good gothic horror undertones to it. The poetry that Paula Minton chose to use fit very well into the storyline.

[Melinda · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first half was pretty good but the second half, especially towards the end, was too easy to figure out. Read this on openlibrary.org