What do you think?
Rate this book
Listen for the Whisperer by Phyllis A. Whitney
Leigh Hollins was determined to find her mother--the famous Hollywood actress Laura Worth. She found her all right, but it was not a happy reunion. For Laura was being haunted by the murderer who had killed the director of one of her movies twenty years earlier. Laura was being stalked, harrassed, and frightened near to death. And because Leigh was her daughter, someone would try to kill her too....From the Paperback edition.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1971
155 people are currently reading
582 people want to read
About the author
Phyllis A. Whitney
191 books561 followersPhyllis Ayame Whitney (1903 – 2008) was an American mystery writer. Rare for her genre, she wrote mysteries for both the juvenile and the adult markets, many of which feature exotic locations. A review in The New York Times once dubbed her "The Queen of the American Gothics".
She was born in Japan to American parents and spent her early years in Asia. Whitney wrote more than seventy novels. In 1961, her book The Mystery of the Haunted Pool won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Juvenile novel, and she duplicated the honor in 1964, for The Mystery of the Hidden Hand. In 1988, the MWA gave her a Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement. Whitney died of pneumonia on February 8, 2008, aged 104.
She was born in Japan to American parents and spent her early years in Asia. Whitney wrote more than seventy novels. In 1961, her book The Mystery of the Haunted Pool won an Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for Best Juvenile novel, and she duplicated the honor in 1964, for The Mystery of the Hidden Hand. In 1988, the MWA gave her a Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement. Whitney died of pneumonia on February 8, 2008, aged 104.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 51 reviews
June 21, 2020
Yet another thrilling tale by Phyllis A. Whitney. She gave this one the background setting of Norway.
Try and finish this in one go. It will be more compelling that way.
Try and finish this in one go. It will be more compelling that way.
December 21, 2018
I’ve read this book a number of times, but I read it again over the weekend after finishing A Dance with Dragons. I wanted something fluffy and light so I pulled this from my shelves. I’ve deducted two stars from my rating and I’m re-writing the review because I have more substantial comments to make.
Phyllis Whitney, Mary Stewart, Dorothy Eden and Victoria Holt—these are the writers that my mother indulged in when I was a child. Of the bunch, Mary Stewart is the best. Her characters are more fully-formed, the writing is superior, and the stories are just all-around better. However, if you want a good gothic romance, Phyllis Whitney and Dorothy Eden are great.
Listen for the Whisperer is not a bad read as long you don’t think too much about it. The characters are interesting enough, the mystery is not bad, and the setting (Bergen, Norway) sounds great (I want to visit!). But it does leave much to be desired (see, I thought about it too much).
Leigh Hollins is the daughter of a well-known writer and famous Hollywood movie star. When her father dies, he wants her to reconcile with her mother, Laura Worth. Laura gave up her daughter when she was a baby to concentrate on her career. Twenty or so years later, Leigh goes to Norway to confront her mother. However, Laura has secrets and is being stalked by whisperer from a scandal in her past. When Leigh joins her at her home in Bergen, the stalker turns on her as well.
Um, okay. It’s probably been about ten years since I read this book cover to cover. In that time, my opinion of Leigh has changed. I used to have sympathy for her, a woman who grew up with the knowledge that her mother rejected her. Now I agree with Laura when she rolls her eyes and declares Leigh (who is 23) to be very young and immature. She is. She’s a whiny brat who blames everything bad in her life on the fact that her mother left her to be raised by her father—and his wife and they were a happy, secure family. It’s like, really? Get over yourself. She eventually does get over herself…with the help of a handsome Norwegian, Gunnar. He was a friend of her father’s and is now a close friend of Laura’s. He’s 15 years older than Leigh and rather paternalistic, but that doesn’t stop him from being the romantic lead. That’s okay, I guess. If Leigh (who clearly has daddy and mommy issues) is okay with this man scolding her and chiding her for being an angry daughter, then it’s okay with me. So the romance is eh. I like Gunnar well enough, I just think he’s too much of a father-figure for young Leigh.
The mystery.
Everything in this book is very tidy and neat and clean. Any violence happens off-screen and the hero and heroines barely raise a sweat in this book. It’s not Whitney’s best book, but it’s okay. If anything, it’s a great advertisement for Bergen, Norway.
Phyllis Whitney, Mary Stewart, Dorothy Eden and Victoria Holt—these are the writers that my mother indulged in when I was a child. Of the bunch, Mary Stewart is the best. Her characters are more fully-formed, the writing is superior, and the stories are just all-around better. However, if you want a good gothic romance, Phyllis Whitney and Dorothy Eden are great.
Listen for the Whisperer is not a bad read as long you don’t think too much about it. The characters are interesting enough, the mystery is not bad, and the setting (Bergen, Norway) sounds great (I want to visit!). But it does leave much to be desired (see, I thought about it too much).
Leigh Hollins is the daughter of a well-known writer and famous Hollywood movie star. When her father dies, he wants her to reconcile with her mother, Laura Worth. Laura gave up her daughter when she was a baby to concentrate on her career. Twenty or so years later, Leigh goes to Norway to confront her mother. However, Laura has secrets and is being stalked by whisperer from a scandal in her past. When Leigh joins her at her home in Bergen, the stalker turns on her as well.
Um, okay. It’s probably been about ten years since I read this book cover to cover. In that time, my opinion of Leigh has changed. I used to have sympathy for her, a woman who grew up with the knowledge that her mother rejected her. Now I agree with Laura when she rolls her eyes and declares Leigh (who is 23) to be very young and immature. She is. She’s a whiny brat who blames everything bad in her life on the fact that her mother left her to be raised by her father—and his wife and they were a happy, secure family. It’s like, really? Get over yourself. She eventually does get over herself…with the help of a handsome Norwegian, Gunnar. He was a friend of her father’s and is now a close friend of Laura’s. He’s 15 years older than Leigh and rather paternalistic, but that doesn’t stop him from being the romantic lead. That’s okay, I guess. If Leigh (who clearly has daddy and mommy issues) is okay with this man scolding her and chiding her for being an angry daughter, then it’s okay with me. So the romance is eh. I like Gunnar well enough, I just think he’s too much of a father-figure for young Leigh.
The mystery.
Everything in this book is very tidy and neat and clean. Any violence happens off-screen and the hero and heroines barely raise a sweat in this book. It’s not Whitney’s best book, but it’s okay. If anything, it’s a great advertisement for Bergen, Norway.
June 13, 2022
“The moment I stepped through the double doors; I sensed a change…a shadowy figure now stood before Laura’s picture. There was something ghostly about the stillness of that figure…”
For a little while there, Victor and Laura found themselves sensually entwined to one another.
The backdrop was a country-to-country Scandinavian driving trip that saw these two grazing against one another while sightseeing, their hands reaching for each other in dining rooms, and later, in the evenings, breathlessly tugging at one another, finding their rhythm in the dark.
It was a vacation for both of them, and as is the case with all vacations, theirs soon ended, and so did their fleeting, breathless romance.
But the choice to end their time together was far from mutual.
Victor, for his part was deeply in love with Laura; he was hurt when they parted ways. Laura, on the other hand, was attracted to Victor, but her true love was her work.
He was Victor Hollins, the renowned novelist, and she was Laura Worth, the internationally famous actress.
Shortly after the end of their love affair, Laura found herself pregnant, and for a while, didn’t even bother to let Victor know about this. She worked on her film until she was unable to, then took a short break in the latter stages of the pregnancy. Finally, she reached out to Victor when the child was born. She brought the child to him and informed him in no uncertain terms that she was uninterested in being involved in the child’s life, or his for that matter. Soon after arriving, Laura left Victor, for good.
This reopened wounds that were just beginning to heal for Victor, but at least this time he had a chance to be a father, a role he threw himself into. As the years went on, he proved to be a very attentive and loving dad to the daughter he named Leigh. And Leigh, for her part, loved and admired her dad, she enjoyed a very happy childhood. Along the way Victor met and married a kindly woman named Ruth who he loved in a gentle sort of way. Ruth and Leigh had a solid relationship, but despite Ruth’s efforts, Leigh never really felt comfortable with her stepmother in the role of mom.
Meanwhile, Laura threw herself back into her acting career, seldom looking back to her time with Victor, or her daughter Leigh.
And as the years passed, Victor and Laura became entwined to one another once again, but in a very different way. Laura starred as Helen Bradley in the film titled “The Whisperer,” which was based on Victor Hollins’ bestselling novel of the same name. And it was while this film was being shot that a tragedy occurred when its director was murdered. There were rumors that Laura herself might have been involved in the killing, and even though she was eventually absolved of the crime, her reputation was badly tainted. She was furious at the prospect of losing out on the career she’d so badly wanted, devastated at the prospect of all the bad publicity and no acting work to offset this horrid experience.
Unable to continue living in Hollywood, she fled back to the home of her youth, in the picturesque city of Bergen, Norway. As the years pass, she begins to accept that she will never be Laura Worth the movie star again. Eventually she falls into a rather unconventional life, marrying a physician whom she doesn’t necessarily love, but feels protected by. The physician is Miles Fletcher and living with he and Laura is his daughter Donia, a young woman of odd personality quirks, and Irene Vavros, Laura Worth’s serious-minded secretary, who on occasion assists with household duties.
Years later, we see Leigh as a heartbroken young woman who has just lost her loving father. And as we read the opening pages of the story, we learn that Leigh has discovered a letter he left behind for her, one that encourages her to seek out her Laura, her long lost mother.
Despite having never met Laura Worth, Leigh has held a severe dislike for the woman who chose to walk away from her father, and herself, in what she viewed as a very cruel way. But even so, she is tempted so seek out Laura Worth the former acting legend. Leigh, like her father is a writer, and an avid fan of Laura Worth’s films. She decides that she will go to Norway to find this woman, if for not other reason than to interview her for a book she is planning to do about great actresses of the past.
And this is where the grand story begins…and what a story it was!
I loved the Norway that Whitney presented to me; the scenery so vividly described that I could almost see it. I was introduced to the unique features of the area, such as the small rock islands named skerries, the funicular cable railway system and the Hardanger, a fiddle that sounds like a bagpipe.
I was also introduced to a number of words and phrases that delighted me, including, caracul, fillip, and scuffed, as in “scuffed my way back to my room.” I also chuckled as I considered the work atilt, as in, “I set the chair atilt beneath the doorknob.” I think I’ll use that one again…
Finally, Phyllis A. Whitney definitely earned the sobriquet, “Queen of the American Gothics,” with this amazing work. I was gripped by her storytelling prowess, amazed by the way the scenes, characters and even the set pieces seemed to develop a life of their own.
Five stars all the way for “Listen For The Whisperer.”
For a little while there, Victor and Laura found themselves sensually entwined to one another.
The backdrop was a country-to-country Scandinavian driving trip that saw these two grazing against one another while sightseeing, their hands reaching for each other in dining rooms, and later, in the evenings, breathlessly tugging at one another, finding their rhythm in the dark.
It was a vacation for both of them, and as is the case with all vacations, theirs soon ended, and so did their fleeting, breathless romance.
But the choice to end their time together was far from mutual.
Victor, for his part was deeply in love with Laura; he was hurt when they parted ways. Laura, on the other hand, was attracted to Victor, but her true love was her work.
He was Victor Hollins, the renowned novelist, and she was Laura Worth, the internationally famous actress.
Shortly after the end of their love affair, Laura found herself pregnant, and for a while, didn’t even bother to let Victor know about this. She worked on her film until she was unable to, then took a short break in the latter stages of the pregnancy. Finally, she reached out to Victor when the child was born. She brought the child to him and informed him in no uncertain terms that she was uninterested in being involved in the child’s life, or his for that matter. Soon after arriving, Laura left Victor, for good.
This reopened wounds that were just beginning to heal for Victor, but at least this time he had a chance to be a father, a role he threw himself into. As the years went on, he proved to be a very attentive and loving dad to the daughter he named Leigh. And Leigh, for her part, loved and admired her dad, she enjoyed a very happy childhood. Along the way Victor met and married a kindly woman named Ruth who he loved in a gentle sort of way. Ruth and Leigh had a solid relationship, but despite Ruth’s efforts, Leigh never really felt comfortable with her stepmother in the role of mom.
Meanwhile, Laura threw herself back into her acting career, seldom looking back to her time with Victor, or her daughter Leigh.
And as the years passed, Victor and Laura became entwined to one another once again, but in a very different way. Laura starred as Helen Bradley in the film titled “The Whisperer,” which was based on Victor Hollins’ bestselling novel of the same name. And it was while this film was being shot that a tragedy occurred when its director was murdered. There were rumors that Laura herself might have been involved in the killing, and even though she was eventually absolved of the crime, her reputation was badly tainted. She was furious at the prospect of losing out on the career she’d so badly wanted, devastated at the prospect of all the bad publicity and no acting work to offset this horrid experience.
Unable to continue living in Hollywood, she fled back to the home of her youth, in the picturesque city of Bergen, Norway. As the years pass, she begins to accept that she will never be Laura Worth the movie star again. Eventually she falls into a rather unconventional life, marrying a physician whom she doesn’t necessarily love, but feels protected by. The physician is Miles Fletcher and living with he and Laura is his daughter Donia, a young woman of odd personality quirks, and Irene Vavros, Laura Worth’s serious-minded secretary, who on occasion assists with household duties.
Years later, we see Leigh as a heartbroken young woman who has just lost her loving father. And as we read the opening pages of the story, we learn that Leigh has discovered a letter he left behind for her, one that encourages her to seek out her Laura, her long lost mother.
Despite having never met Laura Worth, Leigh has held a severe dislike for the woman who chose to walk away from her father, and herself, in what she viewed as a very cruel way. But even so, she is tempted so seek out Laura Worth the former acting legend. Leigh, like her father is a writer, and an avid fan of Laura Worth’s films. She decides that she will go to Norway to find this woman, if for not other reason than to interview her for a book she is planning to do about great actresses of the past.
And this is where the grand story begins…and what a story it was!
I loved the Norway that Whitney presented to me; the scenery so vividly described that I could almost see it. I was introduced to the unique features of the area, such as the small rock islands named skerries, the funicular cable railway system and the Hardanger, a fiddle that sounds like a bagpipe.
I was also introduced to a number of words and phrases that delighted me, including, caracul, fillip, and scuffed, as in “scuffed my way back to my room.” I also chuckled as I considered the work atilt, as in, “I set the chair atilt beneath the doorknob.” I think I’ll use that one again…
Finally, Phyllis A. Whitney definitely earned the sobriquet, “Queen of the American Gothics,” with this amazing work. I was gripped by her storytelling prowess, amazed by the way the scenes, characters and even the set pieces seemed to develop a life of their own.
Five stars all the way for “Listen For The Whisperer.”
September 12, 2017
Read for Halloween bingo. Not one of Whitney's best efforts, IMO.
January 20, 2016
for Christmas I received a box set of 4 books by Phyllis, as well as several other books, and this book was the first one in the set that I cracked open and began to read: as always you suspect everyone of the murder by the time you realize who actually was the killer. She had me hating people, then falling for them; I wasn't sure who could be trusted except the main character since she is too young to have been the one to have gone to Hollywood and lifted a heavy object and dropped it onto a full grown man while she herself was less than 5 years old.
Mystery, Murder, and romance all rolled into one. Good stuff!
Mystery, Murder, and romance all rolled into one. Good stuff!
March 23, 2017
This book had just the right amount of mystery, suspense & romance. I thoroughly enjoyed it
July 1, 2016
A protagonista deste livro teve como pai um famoso escritor, cujos livros foram adaptados para o cinema e uma famosa mãe, estrela de muitos filmes na época de ouro de Hollywood. Leigh cresceu sem conhecer pessoalmente a mãe, vendo-a através dos filmes que havia feito antes de se retirar do cinema no auge da carreira. A ausência desta mãe e o fato de saber que havia sido entregue ao pai logo após o nascimento fez com que a jovem se tornasse adulta com a amargura e o ressentimento cada vez mais fortes em seu coração. Não lhe faltou o amor de uma mãe, pois seu pai havia casado e ele fora muito feliz em companhia dele e da madrasta, mas jamais conseguira colocar de lado o fato da mãe natural tê-la entregue e nunca mais ter se interessado por ela.
Após a morte do pai Leigh se vê numa situação que a deixa confusa. Havia prometido a ele que iria a procura de sua mãe e que entregaria a ela um peso de papel feito de âmbar que, aparentemente representara algo para o casal. Após a hesitação inicial ela parte para Bergen, na Noruega, ao encontro de um amigo de seu pai que se despusera a conseguir uma entrevista entre ela e Laura Worth sob o pretexto de que ela era uma jornalista fazendo uma matéria sobre antigas estrelas de Hollywood.
Na realidade Leigh tinha intenção de provocar a mãe e atormentá-la, usando como munição a retirada dela do mundo do cinema após a morte, no set de filmagem, do diretor da adaptação do livro mais famoso de seu pai, Sussurros. Este crime jamais havia sido solucionado e aos poucos se torna uma obsessão para a jovem.
Sob o falso pretexto de estar escrevendo a tal história sobre as divas do cinema Leigh se hospeda na casa de Laura e de seu marido, onde também moram a cunhada de Laura e sua governanta. É nesta casa que a moça passa a presenciar coisas que a assustam e enchem de curiosidade.
Laura mantém um quarto com seus vestidos, acessórios e demais lembranças do cinema e dá liberdade a moça para ver tudo a fim de escrever seu artigo. Neste quarto se encontra, trancado a sete chaves em um baú, o vestido que ela usara na cena principal de Sussurros, assim como castiçais usados na cena. Eu confesso que se estivesse no lugar de Leigh daria pulos de alegria! Imaginem estar em um quartos com roupas usadas em filmes da década de 40? Muito legalllll!!!!
Bom, tanto Laura quanto Leigh começam a escutar sussurros pela casa que dizem "Escute... Escute", exatamente como acontecia na sequencia final do filme. Além disso acidentes acontecem e Leigh escapa da morte por pouco mais de uma vez.
Não demora muito para que Laura descubra que Leigh é sua filha. Não esperem por uma cena cheia de lágrimas. Uma é a mulher que abandonou a filha e nunca se arrependeu disso e a outra é a filha mais parecida com a mãe do que gostaria e que se ressente do passado. É interessante ver como as duas convivem e como são forçadas a se unir para descobrir o que está acontecendo com elas e o que aconteceu cerca de vinte anos atrás.
A parte romântica é deixada bem de lado. O amigo do pai de Leigh é seu interesse romântico, mas a coisa mal é citada, os encontros são poucos, etc. Não atrapalha a história, uma vez que o foco está no mistério e no relacionamento entre mãe e filha.
Um bom livro de Phyllis Whitney que eu recomendo.
Após a morte do pai Leigh se vê numa situação que a deixa confusa. Havia prometido a ele que iria a procura de sua mãe e que entregaria a ela um peso de papel feito de âmbar que, aparentemente representara algo para o casal. Após a hesitação inicial ela parte para Bergen, na Noruega, ao encontro de um amigo de seu pai que se despusera a conseguir uma entrevista entre ela e Laura Worth sob o pretexto de que ela era uma jornalista fazendo uma matéria sobre antigas estrelas de Hollywood.
Na realidade Leigh tinha intenção de provocar a mãe e atormentá-la, usando como munição a retirada dela do mundo do cinema após a morte, no set de filmagem, do diretor da adaptação do livro mais famoso de seu pai, Sussurros. Este crime jamais havia sido solucionado e aos poucos se torna uma obsessão para a jovem.
Sob o falso pretexto de estar escrevendo a tal história sobre as divas do cinema Leigh se hospeda na casa de Laura e de seu marido, onde também moram a cunhada de Laura e sua governanta. É nesta casa que a moça passa a presenciar coisas que a assustam e enchem de curiosidade.
Laura mantém um quarto com seus vestidos, acessórios e demais lembranças do cinema e dá liberdade a moça para ver tudo a fim de escrever seu artigo. Neste quarto se encontra, trancado a sete chaves em um baú, o vestido que ela usara na cena principal de Sussurros, assim como castiçais usados na cena. Eu confesso que se estivesse no lugar de Leigh daria pulos de alegria! Imaginem estar em um quartos com roupas usadas em filmes da década de 40? Muito legalllll!!!!
Bom, tanto Laura quanto Leigh começam a escutar sussurros pela casa que dizem "Escute... Escute", exatamente como acontecia na sequencia final do filme. Além disso acidentes acontecem e Leigh escapa da morte por pouco mais de uma vez.
Não demora muito para que Laura descubra que Leigh é sua filha. Não esperem por uma cena cheia de lágrimas. Uma é a mulher que abandonou a filha e nunca se arrependeu disso e a outra é a filha mais parecida com a mãe do que gostaria e que se ressente do passado. É interessante ver como as duas convivem e como são forçadas a se unir para descobrir o que está acontecendo com elas e o que aconteceu cerca de vinte anos atrás.
A parte romântica é deixada bem de lado. O amigo do pai de Leigh é seu interesse romântico, mas a coisa mal é citada, os encontros são poucos, etc. Não atrapalha a história, uma vez que o foco está no mistério e no relacionamento entre mãe e filha.
Um bom livro de Phyllis Whitney que eu recomendo.
May 28, 2011
My mother loved her books and would buy them the second they came out...a new one each year. She would read them, then my sister Sue would read them, then I would read them. They were always a good read, suspenseful and always an interesting setting...like taking a trip to a new place.
I got a little frustrated with her heroines who always seemed unable to sleep and decided to venture into dangerous places no one would go in the daytime alone, let alone at night...and because they never could discern between two men...one of whom they loved and the other who was trying to kill them and got them mixed up several times in the course of the story....but this was the pattern of books in those days, and you take it with a grain of salt and enjoy the story. I have read all her books and now my sister is re-reading them all...maybe I will too.
I got a little frustrated with her heroines who always seemed unable to sleep and decided to venture into dangerous places no one would go in the daytime alone, let alone at night...and because they never could discern between two men...one of whom they loved and the other who was trying to kill them and got them mixed up several times in the course of the story....but this was the pattern of books in those days, and you take it with a grain of salt and enjoy the story. I have read all her books and now my sister is re-reading them all...maybe I will too.
June 2, 2010
This was my favorite and first book I read. I remembered way back in my elementary days when I searched in library and found out this book so interesting. I became a huge fan of Phyllis Ayame Whitney and still missing to read her whodunit or mystery type of story. The story was about a daughter looking for her mom after her dad died and even her mom was very mysterious and didn't really knew her mom well, she still stood up by her mom side.
September 13, 2016
Leigh Hollins has always harbored resentment against her classic film star mother, Laura Worth, who never wanted her. Her father's dying wish is for Leigh to go to Norway and meet her mother. She goes, but with plans of her own, and then discovers herself in the middle of a decades old murder mystery. Can she save her mother or is Laura the murderess? Another great novel for lovers of Whitney's magnificent blend of mystery and romance. No one does detailed settings better than Whitney.
February 2, 2011
Classic Phyllis A. Whitney. Leigh Hollins wants to meet the mother who gave her up as a baby, Hollywood actress Laura Worth. Leigh travels to Norway where Laura has retired to after a scandal stops her career dead decades earlier. Once there, Leigh discovers assorted that amoung the various characters there are further mysteries and dangers awaiting them both. Great atmosphere.
May 7, 2008
A murder that took place decades ago could prove deadly to a newly reunited mother and daughter.
July 21, 2008
This was the first Phyllis A Whitney book that I read. After this book, I became a huge fan of Whitney's writing style... of course, I was 18 at the time.
July 25, 2024
[July/August?] 1996
[December/January] 1997/1998
December 24, 2003
[December/January] 1997/1998
December 24, 2003
Read
September 25, 2008F Whi
August 8, 2009
one of my top 3 fave phyllis a. whitney books.
December 29, 2009
A daughter finds her mom after her dad died and stood by her side even though she never knew her growing up.
August 11, 2010
This is one of the very first books I remember reading. I was in elementary school and I fell in love with books after this. This is a very entertaining read!
March 18, 2012
Written like mysteries used to be written. A true classic style mystery.
May 4, 2012
Very good book! Lots of twists and turns to keep the pages turning!
June 8, 2012
Reading this book was like watching a black and white movie. I love Phyllis Whitney's writing style, but I'm only giving this 3 stars because the subject matter wasn't very interesting to me.
May 29, 2013
Normally I love Ms Whitney's books, but this one was so bad I couldn't finish. Thoroughly unsympathetic heroine and a dull plot. Boo!
March 9, 2013
Phyllis Whitney is one of my all-time favorite romantic suspense writers, and this is one of her best. I read it quite a while ago, but I still recall how it kept my heart-rate rising until the end.
October 1, 2014
A classic...I first read this book when I was a teenager or young adult. I just revisited it, and I completely understand why I liked it so much.
May 18, 2016
Re-read it after 35 years. Not sure why I loved it so as a teen. Must have been a much less sophisticated reader.
June 24, 2016
Loved this book!!
January 22, 2025
One of my favorites from Mrs. Whitney and this entire genre. She was one of the most talented writers of all time.
August 31, 2010
Mystery.
March 31, 2022
Phyllis A. Whitney unites two of her preoccupations in "Listen for the Whisperer": character growth and the often-fraught relationships between mothers and daughters, set against the city of Bergen, Norway, and its surrounding mountains. Leigh Hollins is the child of Laura Worth, a silver screen legend who gave Leigh up as an infant in favor of her career, then fled Hollywood at the height of her fame against the backdrop of scandal. Leigh has nursed grievances against her famous mother all her life, even while she's obsessively made herself an expert on her mother's oeuvre. Now, after her father's death, she finally meets Laura. Leigh's intention is to make Laura suffer. But it seems that someone else already has that goal in mind, with more deadly results. Although the mystery at the heart of the novel, both in the past and present, is not particularly difficult to figure out, Whitney has fun with flashbacks to golden age of Hollywood, bringing alive the atmosphere of "The Whisperer," Laura Worth's ill-fated final film.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 51 reviews