Darkhaven

by Dorothy Daniels

The secret history of Darkhaven lay buried the awesome pink marble tomb of Leland Ward that stood on the grim mansion's wide front lawn.

Why did visitors still lay garlands on the grave every Sunday? What made Leland Ward's beautiful wife give up her career as an actress to spend her life caring for the marble tomb? Why didn't death destroy Leland Ward's unearthly influence over everyone at Darkhaven? Beth Harrington had to know - and quickly.

Someone in the shadowy vastness of that fearful place pursued her relentlessly.

Was this hidden enemy readying another pink marble tomb - this time for her?

Genres: Gothic

159 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

According to a mini-biography, accompanied by a photograph, on the rear cover of one of her many gothic novels, Dorothy Daniels was born in Connecticut but by the time she was a full-time writer, in the middle 1960's, was living in California. She was initially an English teacher at a state college but later wrote articles that appeared in national magazines, which led to her career as a writer of mostly gothic paperbacks. Lancer books, which published more than twenty of her novels, proclaimed her "America's Most Popular Gothic Novelist" while Pocket Books claimed her gothic novels had sold over eleven million copies by the middle 1970's. Her approximately 146 novels were published by a dozen paperback publishers, some had as many as four printings while others were printed only once. Lancer and Warner Books together published more than sixty of her novels. The vast majority of her novels were written in the first person and this was a trademark of sorts with Dorothy Daniels, as she rarely strayed from this pattern. Several of her novels take place in the Old South. Her novels were also considerably more involving plot-wise and contained more character development than other gothic novels. She published her last gothic novel, "House of Silence", in late 1980. Afterward she wrote a handfull of historical romances and her last published novel appears to be "Crisis at Valcour" in 1985.
The aforementioned photograph on the rear cover of her 1965 book "Cliffside Castle" contradicts some claims that Dorothy Daniels was male, and at least one internet website's author insists that Dorothy Daniels was actually a man named Paul Hugo Little who lived in Chicago and wrote over 700 books under at least a dozen pseudonyms. We may never know for certain who Dorothy Daniels was. Several of her gothic paperbacks, credited to Dorothy Daniels or Suzanne Somers, were copyrighted by Norman Daniels. She published one novel, "House of False Faces", under the pseudonym Helen Gray Weston, but this book was later reissued as "Dorothy Daniels writing as Helen Gray Weston". She wrote three nurse romance books in addition to her many gothic novels.

Also wrote under the names:
Angela Gray
Cynthia Kavanaugh
Helaine Ross
Suzanne Somers
Geraldine Thayer
Helen Gray Weston

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Reviews

[Rob Imes · Rating 4 out of 5]

DARKHAVEN by Dorothy Daniels was published by Paperback Library in October 1965 and was billed as "A Paperback Library Gothic Romance" on the cover. The back of the book contains an ad for 22 more gothic novels from the publisher, which indicates the popularity of the genre at this time. There's also an ad on the last page for books #1-6 of the short-lived "Paperback Library Romance" line of contemporary romance novels, apparently an early attempt at competing with Harlequin's category romance line. This was the first Dorothy Daniels book that I've read, and one of her early gothic novels; she would go on to write over a hundred more in the 1960s and 1970s, usually thin books under 200 pages (this book runs 160 pages counting the ads).

The story takes place in 1890 and is narrated by 18 year old Beth Harrington following the death of her mother. She leaves her home in Virginia to stay at the mansion of her aunt, former actress Celeste Ward, in New York. When Beth arrives, she finds that every Sunday visitors make a pilgrimage to her aunt's estate to pay their respects at the tomb of her late husband, Leland Ward, a beloved benefactor. Celeste's obligations in greeting the well-wishers on her lawn each week prevents her from hosting Beth for long, and the married couple who run the house are unfriendly towards Beth. During her overnnight stay, Beth hears footsteps on the terrace above her room, but when she investigates she sees no one making the sound, although she does hear laughter in the distance. Celeste later changes her mind and convinces Beth to stay, although the nighttime disturbances continue and twice there are attempts on her life.

The "romance" aspect of this novel isn't introduced until page 68 when a young man named Clay Fleming appears one Sunday to enquire about the disappearance of his father Stewart who knew Celeste during her acting days. Clay and Beth become fond of each other and he enlists her help to see if she can learn more about his father's whereabouts since he suspects the inhabitants of Celeste's mansion know more than they are saying. This story is primarily a mystery novel with the spooky trappings of a mysterious and malevolent figure haunting the place. But the conclusion wraps things up with an HEA and wedding for our couple which should satisfy romance readers as well. I was amused to see on page 44 that there is a moment of literal bodice ripping, though not while the clothes were being worn: "Marie spoke as she attended to the ripping of the dress, separating the bodice from the waistline." I read this novel in only two days, partly because I was eager to see how the mystery would be solved and partly because it was well-written. I won't spoil the ending here and will only say that I guessed a little of the solution, but not all of it, and was happy to see one of the suspects innocent of any crime. The writing style is pleasantly old-fashioned, which adds to the gothic atmosphere. It's not exactly scary, although I admit that I deliberately avoided reading it after midnight just in case! I rate the novel 4 out of 5 stars.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I absolutely love gothic romances with all of the mystery and the strong female characters. Dorothy Daniels is an amazing author incorporating an unforgettable story with amazing characters.