Castle Barebane

by Joan Aiken

As Val searches for her brother in nineteenth-century London and Scotland, she encounters danger, terror, and tragedy beyond anything she had expected.

Genres: Gothic, Mystery, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Romance, Suspense

Hardcover

First published June 1, 1976

About the author

Joan Aiken was a much loved English writer who received the MBE for services to Children's Literature. She was known as a writer of wild fantasy, Gothic novels and short stories.

She was born in Rye, East Sussex, into a family of writers, including her father, Conrad Aiken (who won a Pulitzer Prize for his poetry), and her sister, Jane Aiken Hodge. She worked for the United Nations Information Office during the second world war, and then as an editor and freelance on Argosy magazine before she started writing full time, mainly children's books and thrillers. For her books she received the Guardian Award (1969) and the Edgar Allan Poe Award (1972).

Her most popular series, the "Wolves Chronicles" which began with The Wolves of Willoughby Chase, was set in an elaborate alternate period of history in a Britain in which James II was never deposed in the Glorious Revolution,and so supporters of the House of Hanover continually plot to overthrow the Stuart Kings. These books also feature cockney urchin heroine Dido Twite and her adventures and travels all over the world.

Another series of children's books about Arabel and her raven Mortimer are illustrated by Quentin Blake, and have been shown on the BBC as Jackanory and drama series. Others including the much loved Necklace of Raindrops and award winning Kingdom Under the Sea are illustrated by Jan Pieńkowski.

Her many novels for adults include several that continue or complement novels by Jane Austen. These include Mansfield Revisited and Jane Fairfax.

Aiken was a lifelong fan of ghost stories. She set her adult supernatural novel The Haunting of Lamb House at Lamb House in Rye (now a National Trust property). This ghost story recounts in fictional form an alleged haunting experienced by two former residents of the house, Henry James and E. F. Benson, both of whom also wrote ghost stories. Aiken's father, Conrad Aiken, also authored a small number of notable ghost stories.

Reviews

[``Laurie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've given this excellent novel 4 and 1/2 stars.

Joan Aiken is a master of creating a gothic atmosphere for her heroine in much distress as she deftly negotiates her way through many dangers and drama - a whole lot of drama if you're in that kind of mood.

Joan and her sister,Jane Aiken Hodge were popular authors back in the 1960's and 70's and I devoured every one of their books I could get my hands on. Sadly, after the advent of the racy, bodice ripper during the 70's the sister's books went out of style and seem to be forgotten.

Jane Aiken Hodge books were mostly set during the Regency era and the gothic atmosphere she brought to that era was unique and much different from the more light hearted Regency romances that are beloved by fans of Jane Austen and Heyer.

In Castle Barebane, set during the Victorian era, our heroine Valla Montgomery, a young American woman living in New York, is independent and loves her job as a freelance writer submitting her work to several newspapers. She's lost both of her parents though which leaves her open to male predators scheming to take advantage of her.

Her handsome and rich American fiancée is mad about her and can't wait to set the wedding date but free spirit Valla is having second thoughts when she realizes she will have to end her writing career once she marries into high society.

Her wayward, half brother enters the picture and talks her into visiting his family in Scotland since his wife and 2 children need her help.
Valla jumps at the opportunity as she needs more time to consider if she's ready to marry and give up her career.
Although she's never met her brother's family she answers the call to duty and is soon on her way to Scotland to help take care of her niece and nephew.

Valla arrives to find the children alone and their parents missing. As she tries to find the children's relatives and locate their missing parents she faces many trials and tribulations... but perhaps love as well?

Unfortunately for Valla, Jack the Ripper is terrorizing London at this time and soon Valla has to face the horrible fact that her wayward brother just might be the Ripper.

There are 2 other male characters that might be the Ripper as well and Valla uses her newspaper experience to hunt down the maniac that is trying to kill her and the children.

The Ripper is onto Valla now as she retreats to Castle Barebane to protect the children - and he's not far behind.

Upon their arrival we meet the hilariously, grumpy housekeeper, who isn't exactly thrilled to have another woman in her kitchen, but soon Valla and her charges are accepted into the very small community.

This is one book you won't be able to put down until the last page. Aiken has created many characters with distinct personalities as well as an atmosphere of terror and suspense that I found enthralling.

There were many moments when I was so caught up in the story that I would almost shout:

NO!

DON'T !

WHY? WHY? WHY? !

as I rooted for Valla and the children all the way. Some decisions Valla made would drive me absolutely crazy at times as the young and heedless heroine didn't seem to realize what danger she was facing.

Joan Aiken's books can have a very dark tone and all doesn't necessarily end well but you can count on the heroine finding romance with the right person in the end.

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a wild concoction. A young woman is engaged to marry a lawyer from a wealthy family in 1890s New York. Instead, she goes off to England to look after her half-brother's children, finds the children abandoned in a seedy boarding home, takes them to their mother's ancestral home in Scotland -- a mouldering old place nicknamed Castle Barebane in the nearby village, itself called Wolf's Hope -- and there's a crazed killer in London, and more plot turns in the last 1/3rd than I can narrate without sounding mad. A couple of unexpected and shocking deaths, and somehow a tidy ending for those who survive. It's all very contrived and unlikely, and oddly paced, quite mad in a way, but entertaining if you just roll with it.

[Clover White · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel was much more complex than the typical Gothic romance. Once I really got into the book, it was hard to stop. I don't know exactly when this novel is set, but I think the late 1800s. It follows a NYC woman journalist who goes to London to care for her half-brother's children, whom she has never met. When she arrives in London, she cannot find the family. Her search for them, and her subsequent time spent in Scotland, makes for interesting reading. This book does NOT tie up all the loose ends happily, but it was a somewhat realistic and definitely very interesting ending.

[Marina Maidou · Rating 4 out of 5]

Διάβασα αυτό το βιβλίο στ' αγγλικά και το μετάφραζα στα ελληνικά (για δική μου ευχαρίστηση φυσικά, όχι για επαγγελματική χρήση) έτσι μου πήρε πολύ χρόνο να το τελειώσω.
Είναι η πρώτη μου επαφή με τις ιστορίες της Τζόαν Άικεν και πρέπει να πω ότι είναι ένα καλό γοτθικό, ιστορικό μυθιστόρημα, το οποίο διαδραματίζεται στα τέλη του 1880. Αν και ξεκινάει σαν βικτωριανό ρομάντσο, γρήγορα γίνεται φανερό ότι η κύρια ηρωίδα είναι μια έξυπνη, ανεξάρτητη (εργάζεται ως δημοσιογράφος) και αντικομφορμιστική γυναίκα (για παράδειγμα, δεν της αρέσουν τα παιδιά, αλλά αποδέχεται την παράκληση να προσέξει τα παιδιά του αδερφού της, μένοντας σε μια ξένη χώρα). Η ιστορία γίνεται πραγματικά συναρπαστική όταν ο αδερφός της και η γυναίκα του εξαφανίζονται και η ηρωίδα περιπλανιέται για να βρει τους συγγενείς της, από την 'πολιτισμένη' Νέα Υόρκη στο ζοφερό Λονδίνο, μετά στο μυστηριώδες Εδιμβούργο και στο τέλος στο πλασματικό, απομονωμένο και άγριο Αρντνακάρριγκ στη Σκωτία.
Όλη η ατμόσφαιρα του βιβλίου επικεντρώνεται στη μάχη που δίνει η Βαλ προσπαθώντας να εκλογικεύσει τα ζοφερά και κακόβουλα προαισθήματά της για τa μυστηριώδη γεγονότα που συμβαίνουν και τα πρόσωπα που συναντά από σύμπτωση ή όχι.
Μερικά σημεία που δεν τα βρήκα και τόσο πειστικά ήταν τι τράβηξε αρχικά τη Βάλλα στον Μπένετ, όταν αργότερα ελκύεται πολύ περισσότερο από τον μεγαλύτερό της, σερ Μάρκους; προσωπικά δεν βρήκα καθόλου ελκυστικό τον σερ Μάρκους με τη γκρίνια του και τη μικροβιοφοβία του, αλλά ποια είμαι εγώ για να κρίνω;
Στο τέλος της ιστορίας συμβαίνουν μερικά σοκαριστικά πράγματα μη το διαβάσετε αν θέλετε να συνεχίσετε να απολαμβάνετε το μυστήριο καλά λοιπόν, εσείς το ζητήσατε: το μόνο που πρόκειται να πω είναι: καημένε Ντέιβι, κανένας δεν νοιαζόταν τελικά και τι να πει κανείς για εκείνον τον ηλίθιο σερ Μάρκους που είπε στη Βαλ, να μην κλαίει τόσο πολύ για την Τζάννι; και μέχρι το τέλος δεν υπάρχει τίποτα δεδομένο.
Γενικά μου άρεσε όλη η ιστορία και ο τρόπος που η συγγραφέας έχτιζε τις ιστορίες της, με τη στοιχειωμένη ατμόσφαιρα και τις σκιές που απλώνονται στα φωτεινά μέρη και τις σκοτεινές πλευρές των χαρακτήρων της.
I read this novel in English and I was translating it in Greek (for my own pleasure, not for professional use, of course) so that took a long time to finish it.
It's my first contact with Joan Aiken's stories and I must say it was a nice gothic, historical novel which is set in the late 1880s. Though it begins like a Victorian romance, soon it becomes clear that the main heroine is an intelligent, independent (she's a journalist) and non-conformist woman (for example, she doesn't like children, but she accepts the request to take care of her brother's children, staying in a foreign country). The story becomes a real page-turner when her brother and his wife disappear and the heroine is wandering to find her siblings from 'civilized' New York to bleak London, then to mysterious Edimbourg and at last in the fictional, isolated, wild Ardnacarrig in Scotland.
The whole atmosphere of the story centers on Valla's struggle to rationalize her gloomy and wicked premonitions about the mysterious events that happen and the persons she meets by circumstances or not.
Some points that I didn't find very convincing, so I wished to have more details was, why Valla got attracted by Benet, while next, she likes more the older than her, sir Marcus? I understand about the latter because probably he reminds her father. personally, I didn't find ser Marcus at least attractive, with his grumbling and his fear for germs, but who am I to judge?
At the end of the story there are some shocking things that happen don't read this if you want to continue enjoying the mystery well, you asked for it: all I'm going to say is: poor Davie, nobody cared at last and what about that idiot sir Marcus phrase to Val, not to cry so much for Jannie? and until the end, there is nothing considered about.
Generally, I liked the whole story and the way the author was building her stories, with the haunted atmosphere and the shadows that lay on sunny places and the dark sides of her characters.

[Dorcas · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

An independent young woman takes a break from her fiance and travels to England to help her stepbrother with his children to clear her head. However, when she arrives, her brother and wife are missing and she is left alone to care for two neglected children in a city ripped apart by the "Bermondsey Beast".

Her adventure takes her to Scotland and the old family home, Castle Barebane where all seems to settle into a pattern of normalcy until... her brother returns.

Though there are some truly chilling moments, this isn't riveting suspense from page one. It's more like a normal story with some scary side points which culminate into a crescendo of suspense, but I'm puzzled at how little time was actually spent with the villain(s). I don't know. I feel like a lot more could have been made of this. Some questions, not terribly important, are left unanswered.

But I enjoyed it still.

[Molly Ringle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Takes its time--I'd say it's more a leisurely-paced drama than "suspense," until the last couple dozen pages. But Aiken's writing is lovely and I enjoyed the Victorian England-and-Scotland setting, so I stuck with it and basically liked it. Though I did have to consult a Scots dictionary for some of the dialect!

[Ania Gaska · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this on the couch, drinking tea with my cats lounging around me. It was perfect for the gloomy fall weather, and for my stressed and frazzled mind.

[Wuutroe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't've chosen a better book to read for my vacation to Edinburgh

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book when it was first published in 1976 but didn't remember it. I'd say that the suspense was drawn out and the last few chapters were actually suspenseful when it tied it all up. I was also not quite happy with the ending because I wanted Valla to end up marrying someone else but I wasn't the author and I didn't quite get the happily-ever-after that I wished for.

Valla is an independent young woman living in New York City and earning her living as a writer for publications in the 1890s. Her estranged half-brother Nils comes to visit her. She doesn't have any fond memories of him but is persuaded to come to London to watch his two children while Nils and his wife Kirstie go on the sailing of a yacht owned by a nobleman. But when Val arrives in London, after an arduous sea journey, she finds her brother and sister-in-law missing and the children lodged with a temperamental vindictive slatternly woman. Val visits Kirstie's rich aunts who hated Nils and wiped their hands of the couple. But Val is offered to take the children to the ancestral castle called Ardnacarrig in Scotland, which is commonly called Castle Barebane. Valla finds the threadbare castle almost in ruins and very chilly with the Scottish winter approaching, and with only one old woman for the upkeep. Luckily Val does have a few friends when the horrible life her brother led brings it all to the castle doors.

[Christine Honsinger · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just loved this book...Joan Aiken's writing style is superb, and sometimes I would just stop and re-read entire paragraphs or sentences over and over and jot them down in my journal...wonderful prose. I think this novel is really a step above the normal gothic suspense book in many ways, including the fact that it ended more realistically than most, which, truthfully, I was sorry for, because I love me a big happy ending, lol. Ah well, as a story teller, Aiken is right up there, and I will continue to read her gothic suspense books. One more thought, the heroine in this book was stronger, smarter, and more emancipated than in any other gothic suspense book of the Victorian era I have ever read. A real feminist for the time period. It accounts for one of the reasons why this book worked so well and was so unpredictable. Quite nice change if you are a fan of gothic fiction of the 60's and 70's but are looking for something a little different.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aiken has a real problem with pacing, I'm noticing. This book is styled "a novel of suspense," but only in the last 30 pages or so does anything really happen (and happen it does!) The rest of the novel is spent meandering from one dead end to the next and raising two small children. Handled well, and edited down, this could be just fine--I don't need constant action in my books--but I'm not entirely sure who the audience was for this book. Someone who is interested in the slow domestic narrative would be put off by the violent ending, and someone who wants a novel of suspense would be bored for the majority of the book. It could have used a heavy edit, and more suspenseful elements throughout the text (the ONLY suspenseful thing doesn't even pay off!)

[Lucy Lennox · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is plenty to enjoy here but this is not Joan Aiken's best work. Like most of her other novels, there is a creepy Gothic setting, villains both realistic and outrageous, an undercurrent of feminism, and cultural references, in this case the opera Lucia di Lammermoor. But the pacing is off and the tonal shifts are jarring.

The novel starts out in New York upper-crust society of the 1890s, the Gilded Age (like in the TV series). Our heroine Val, a self-supporting journalist, does not fit in but is determined to marry her well-meaning fiance. This could have been one entire novel in itself, although not very Gothic. It takes forever for Val to reach the titular setting in Scotland, where she must take charge of her young niece and nephew. Then in the final pages, there is a truly shocking amount of violence and death that I was not prepared for, given the sedate pace and focus on social commentary in most of the book.

But the bigger problem is that the plot points are far too obvious. As soon as a Jack the Ripper style murder is mentioned in the newspaper, it's clear who did it. A missing heir is mentioned, and it's also easy to guess who it is. Val is concerned that something is wrong with her niece, but it's obvious that she's deaf . The fact that Val never catches on to any of this makes her seem a bit dull, even though she is supposed to be highly intelligent.

Val is not as appealing as Aiken's usual plucky young heroine. She's more plodding, unimaginative, and more duty-bound, allowing things to happen around her rather than taking much action herself. There's also quite a lot of stereotyping of Scottish people and unintentional ableism.

[Andrea George · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Castle Barebane" by Joan Aiken is an older novel (published in 1976). The jacket cover and synopsis intrigued me. The novel was very well written. The plot, characters and setting were well thought out. A real "page turner" as I actually read the entire novel in two days.
The main character, Val Montgomery, is young, kind-hearted and confident. She is a women well ahead of her time in the 1880's. She has a promising career as a newspaper reporter in New York City. She is also engaged to Benet Allerton, a society lawyer. Due to extenuating circumstances, she finds herself in London. Hence, the plot of the novel begins. The only reason that I did not rate "Castle Barebane" 5 stars was due to the ending. It felt rushed and took away from the overall story.

[A.A. Abbott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Val Montgomery and her brother both followed her father into journalism. After investigating a series of Ripper-style murders in London, her brother has disappeared. Val finds herself looking after his small children in a crumbling Scottish mansion. Yet are they really safe in the sarcastically nicknamed Castle Barebane?

Although published in the 1970s, the story is set in the 19th century and written in a Gothic style, with suspense mounting steadily. Like all of Joan Aiken's books, it's a light, engaging read. I picked up an ex-library book for pennies, and it's available on the Kindle too.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A heroine called Valla short for Valhalla. Who could resist that?
Starts off slowly and more realistic in tone with the dreary minutiae of society gatherings in 19th century New York.
Concludes with melodrama in a crumbling Scottish castle with an increasing body count.
Some of the deaths are disturbing even though happening off stage.

Worth a read, though some of the details don't add up. If her brother was so terrible, then why traverse the world at his whim?

[Rosa M · Rating 4 out of 5]

80% of this book was slow and confusing, and I thought I could tell what was about to happen .....then everything went up in flames in the last 20% of the book and I was just left to cope with my feels....so yeah.....Also I didn't like the love interest in the end. But this feels very classically Aiken, and I did enjoy it when it got exciting.

[Tony Peck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yet another Aiken delight.

Such an enjoyable but dark story. Yet again Aiken is able to write a riveting story with a clever, like-able and strong woman in its lead role. The support cast are all interesting, some infuriating. Great read and highly recommended.

[Anne]

We have strayed so far from god's light, by which I mean it's a damn shame that our sentimental garbage isn't half as well written as the sentimental garbage of yesteryear. I enjoyed this, although I found myself wishing for an Angela Carter style bite.

[Robin · Rating 4 out of 5]

First adult book of hers I have read and enjoyed it a lot. Ready for more.

[Pamela Baird · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a fabulous story

Very dramatic and romantic with lots of twists and turns. Definitely well worth reading. I can't wait to read more.

[Rena · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was unexpectedly immersive, sometimes shocking, and wonderfully atmospheric. My first foray into Aiken for grownups, and it will not be my last.

[vivi · Rating 4 out of 5]

fascinated with how as soon as lord clanreydon showed up it turned into the final scene of nbc hannibal season 3. what does joan aiken know

[Barbara Parrish · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good I read it twice.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almost as horrifying as being served a plate of faggots in a hipster cafe and finding a pubic hair in the mashed potato (yes this is a thing that happened).

[Emily · Rating 1 out of 5]

don’t read unless you can handle violent child death (rated for the way the book handles it)

[Abby · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really struggled to get into this and I'm not sure why as I was really excited to read it

[Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this book on the shelf in the library, in so fragile a condition that they may retire it when I bring it back.

Joan Aiken's novels always make me smile. This one starts in Victorian New York (but apparently will soon move over to London). Our heroine, Val Montgomery, is a modern thinker, an idealist, a professional journalist (freelance, I think), and engaged to be married to a New York gentleman of society. I smell trouble from her in-laws-to-be, they are already pressuring her to give up her career.

Her tall blond semi-angelic looking half-brother Nils has just arrived on the scene. He will be a catalyst.

Mysteries that I can see so far:
- How on earth did Val and her fiance hook up in the first place (nothing cagey on her side, but I wonder about his, especially since he is obviously still interested in his cousin Lottie).
- What caused Val's mother to abruptly leave her second husband (Val's father) and take her older boy with her to England, to die "off screen" some years later.
- Nils is just mysterious. I'm sure there will be more there.

[Booklady · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first of Aiken's books that I've read. I liked it! She hails from a family of writers and tells an interviewer in one account that coming from a family of writers is why she writes...as if she has no choice about the matter. This is a gothic romance and I discovered after I'd read it that it was indeed a Harlequin or something like that, but well done, at any rate. It tells of a young woman journalist, a rarity in mid-nineteenth century history and that makes it all the more interesting because she is so restricted by society. I look forward to finding more Aiken books to read

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Joan Aiken does an update on the Jane Eyre trope here, and does it very well. A clever story set in 1880s New York and Scotland, with a strong-willed, plain heroine who makes her living as a journalist. She ends up caring for her ne'er do well brother's children in a crumbling castle in Scotland, where tragedy, menace and gloom abound. Aiken offers a most unusual solution to the Ripper murders here - I won't give it away, but the final scenes of the novel are horrifying and come as a total surprise.

[Anne · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had a strange sense of de ja vu upon realizing that I'd read this book before, but then and even stranger feeling when I only recognized the first couple pages. I'm afraid that it wasn't worth a second read. I've read other works by Joan Aiken and enjoyed them, but this read too much like a paperback romance.