The Gossamer Cord

Daughters of England #18

by Philippa Carr

Dorabella & Violetta Denver
When happy-go-lucky Dorabella Denver marries Dermot Tregarland, a charismatic young Cornishman, her twin sister, Violetta, is haunted by premonitions of disaster. Her worries soon multiply, as rumors of blood feuds and mysterious deaths are linked to her sister's new family. With the arrival of Dorabella's first child, all seems to be well, until Dorabella disappears under suspicious circumstances. Believing her sister drowned and swept out to sea, a devastated Violetta agrees to live with the Tregarlands on their prosperous estate and care for Tristan, her sister's son. But tragedy soon strikes again, claiming another life, before Violetta unmasks the insanity that has plagues the Tregarland family for years.

Love, loss and madness mark the lives of twin sisters in this suspenseful addition to Carr's beloved Cornwall saga.

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

367 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1992

About the author

Eleanor Alice Burford, Mrs. George Percival Hibbert was a British author of about 200 historical novels, most of them under the pen name Jean Plaidy which had sold 14 million copies by the time of her death. She chose to use various names because of the differences in subject matter between her books; the best-known, apart from Plaidy, are Victoria Holt (56 million) and Philippa Carr (3 million). Lesser known were the novels Hibbert published under her maiden name Eleanor Burford, or the pseudonyms of Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow, Anna Percival and Ellalice Tate. Many of her readers under one penname never suspected her other identities.
-Wikipedia

Reviews

[✿ Bri ❀ · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first read this book I was about 10 or 11 years old. Now, several years later, I still come back to it and love it like the very first time. Victoria Holt became one of my favourite authors with this story ♥

[Marie Burton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not her best work

[Phil Syphe · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Gossamer Cord” is a huge improvement on the previous book in the Daughters of England series.

I liked the twins, who were similar only in their appearance. Dorabella is selfish in most respects, yet deep down she’s not all that bad. Her love for her sister Violetta makes Dorabella likable.

The sensible and good-natured Violetta narrates the story, which is set from 1936–39. Events mainly take place in England, and more specifically in Cornwall, though early on the twins take an eventful trip to Germany.

I worked out who the villain of the piece is, and figured out a few other "mysteries", but I’m pleased to state that certain threads kept me guessing.

On the minus side, we get the usual Carr/Plaidy/Holt traits: repetition, writing in the passive voice, “telling” instead of “showing”, etc.

For example, “It was clear that he was delighted to see me” is not only passive, it’s blatant “telling”.

In the most part, though, I found this novel to be a good read.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of a series of mother to daughter generations stories telling the history of England from Henry VIII to WW II. Fabulous to read them all in order. Each one is a gem; each is surprising and well written.

Another set of twin in the mother daughter line up.

[MV · Rating 3 out of 5]

The penultimate book in the Daughters of England series has a nice gothic mystery flare. We're introduced to Lucinda's twin daughters, who are either not identical, or are identical but have such different personalities it's easy to tell them apart. IDK! I was happy to have another book about twins as book 4, Saraband for Two Sisters, is one of my favorites. But here, only one of the twins, sensible Violetta, gets to narrate. The other twin, Dorabella, turned out to be insufferable in my opinion, like Jessica Wakefield from Sweet Valley High but worse because she's a grown woman. I also think we could've been given more time to get to know the sisters as they grew up together, but instead we went right to their adult years.

Not the best in the series, where the scandal and historical thrill level has long since dropped way below that of the earliest books. If you're over the series by this point, you can probably just move on without finishing. If you have to complete the series, you'll enjoy this well enough to make it worth it, I'd say. But, let me add that I hated the ending and thought it was so stupid. I don't know what else to say about that without spoiling it.

[Nova · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of twin sisters, Dorabella & Violetta Denver.
Dorabella marries Dermot a young Cornishman with lots of charisma. Violetta is not as happy-go-lucky as her twin, and starts to be haunted by feelings of despair. Violetta's worries multiply rumors of feuds and mysterious deaths are swirling about her sister's new family while she is visiting.
Dorabella has her first child, and all seems to be well. Violetta visits and after she leaves, Dorabella turns up missing with unusual circumstances. Violetta and the rest of the family are told she has drowned and been swept out to sea. Violetta rushes back to the estate, and agrees to stay with the baby son of her sister. While Violetta is there, another tragedy strikes again, claiming the life of yet another. Violetta helps to unmask the person who has been plaguing the Tregarland family for years. Secrets are told, mysteries are solved, the curse of the family is finally lifted.
I enjoyed this part of the Cornwall saga. It showed love, loss and the next part of the twin sisters life.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

The penultimate novel in the "Daughters of England" series is a straight-up Gothic, full of all the elements that Philippa Carr usually deployed in the novels written under her pen name of Victoria Holt. Twins Dorabella and Violetta Denver deploy the usual twinly qualities that Carr likes to employ in the series: one is serious and one is reckless. When the reckless one, Dorabella, quickly marries a Cornish landowner met during a holiday in Germany, she enfolds her more sensible sister into a web of menace. The mystery that ultimately follows is conventional enough. The novel, the action of which spans 1935–1939, is marked by the encroaching Second World War, which breaks out as the action ends, setting up the story for the final volume in the series, which would be the first one to act as an actual sequel to this installment, by featuring the same characters.

[Jeanne (love2cook) · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a little bit of historical romance, a little bit of mystery, and a little bit of mysticism. All in all an enjoyable read. I like Violetta but I can't say I liked her twin sister Dorabella. Dorabella is impulsive and shallow whereas Violetta is sturdy and practical. After the arrival of her first child, Dorabella disappeared, believed drowned, and swept out to sea. Violetta refused to believe this explanation. She does agree to stay with the Tregarlands to care for the baby and hopes to find the answer to her sister's disappearance.

[Cheryll · Rating 1 out of 5]

I didn't like the repetitive text. Everything was 'interesting' or 'exciting'. How many times did the author need to repeat that they were twins and would never be parted! I thought the prose was weak. Dorabella was a spoilt brat and Violetta was quite pathetic. Not sure why I bothered reading past the first two chapters.

[Denise · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like this author generally. I grew up on Victoria Holt novels. But I found this story to be dull. Not much happens; it is mostly conversations among the characters. And I had the entire plot sussed fairly early on. Not a favorite by any stretch.

[Soraya Cuadrado · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me ha gustafo la historia y el final meha cogido por sorpresa, pero reconozco que esta un poco peor escrito que otros libros suyos.
Puede que este sea de los primeros que escribió, cuando aun no tenía tanta soltura...

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

A complex mystery set in England between the world wars. Is a cottage above the sea haunted or are there sinister humans about?

[ame · Rating 4 out of 5]

me encanto, me sentí cercana a violetta y me atrapó la historia, el final no me gustó mucho pero amo a jowan y violetta💗

[Lester · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent story.
Good reading on a road trip.

[Raquel Terradillos]

Victoria holt

[Theresa Lange · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable

[Kavita · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two twin sisters are inseparable, but then one of them gets married and moves to a mansion in the depths of the country. The setting is just before the second world war. The married twin disappears and her sister decides to investigate what happened.

Halfway through the book, even before she disappears I had realized who was the culprit, so the book was a failure in that aspect. I was also a little put off that the police are not even informed about a person who killed twice and attempted to kill once. I did not feel sorry for the murderer at all, so I don't see why people who had their dear ones killed felt sorry for the person.

Another thing that put me off is Dorabella. If I had been her sister, I would have slapped her senseless. The author seems to wave away her actions by claiming she is impulsive, but only a madwoman would behave that way!

I enjoyed the writing and it was interesting the speculate on who will die next. The various settings were fun to read, but overall it was simply too predictable to actually feel any suspense.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dorabella and Violetta Denver are twins in England in the years before WW2. Dorabella, the flighty outgoing one marries Dermot Tregarland and moves to his estate in Corneall. They live with his ill father and a distantly related housekeeper and her son who actually run the estate, Matilda and Gordon Leweth. Violetta, the sensible one visits frequently and becomes close to Jowan Jermyn, a rival estate owner whose family has always feuded with the Tregarlands. Their adopted brother, Edward married Gretchen, who he met in Germany. He brings her home but they worry about her family as Hitler comes to power. Dorabella is feared drowned, and Violetta stays to care for Tristan, her baby. The superstitious townspeople think it was the ghost of an earlier wife. Matilda tried to kill Tristan so Gordon can inherit from his real father. Dorabella returns - she had run off to Paris.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was okay, typical Philipa Carr/Victoria Holt novel. Not terribly hard to figure out ahead of the ending...but nice for nostalgia. I used to devour Victoria Holt book...I think I've outgrown them. ::sigh::

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mystery during pre World War 2, good story

[Jill · Rating 1 out of 5]

A trite romantic novel/murder mystery set in Cornwall before WWII. Unconvincing plot and weak characterisation made this a disappointing read.

[Frenchie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of the story dealt with the bond between female twins. It was very close to some of my feelings. I didn't quite enjoy the end but the rest was pretty good.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this a long time ago and didn't really know what I was getting into. It was better, though, than I expected.

[Gary Branson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A weaker entry in the series.

[Tammie Elliott · Rating 4 out of 5]

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