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Castle Cloud
EVIL, PASSION, ENCIRCLING DOOM!
The magnificent staircases were overgrown with ivy. Her hostess was gone without warning. Her hose was grown sullen and coarse. And David Field, a tall, broad-shouldered stranger, seemed to know her at once, though they had never met.
What had befallen the Castle? What part was Mary to play?
A fear surged within her such as she had never known and something stronger, a rapturous love that called to her very soul.
She knew now that she belonged there--to share the tortuous destiny of CASTLE CLOUD!
The magnificent staircases were overgrown with ivy. Her hostess was gone without warning. Her hose was grown sullen and coarse. And David Field, a tall, broad-shouldered stranger, seemed to know her at once, though they had never met.
What had befallen the Castle? What part was Mary to play?
A fear surged within her such as she had never known and something stronger, a rapturous love that called to her very soul.
She knew now that she belonged there--to share the tortuous destiny of CASTLE CLOUD!
598 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published June 28, 1977
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 15, 2016
Clocking in at 600 pages (with teeny-tiny ‘70s Avon type), this is a doorstopper of gothic romance. It's the sort of book COPSI CASTLE wanted to be. The plots are quite different, but there are similar ingredients; unlike COPSI, however, this book is not an epic fail.
For all the cover's pink-lettered promises of passion & lust, CASTLE CLOUD is a clean romance. It has the proper elements for a gothic – also a lovely cover to fit the style -- but there’s absolutely no graphic sensuality of any kind. All the sex is behind closed doors, & none of it involves our heroine. The narrator, Mary, is a product of her time; she’s driven to solve the mystery of her host’s behavior, but she refuses to overstep the bounds of feminine decorum. She recognizes her sexual attraction to David, but she doesn’t want to the freedom to act before they are married. In that way, it's a prudish book.
But despite the lack of heaving bosoms, there are plenty of sensational elements: various murders, a broody & arrogant host, a weepy put-upon mother, death in childbirth, Cinderella inheritances, suicides, underhanded servants, invalids, poisons, etc -- all the ingredients you’d find in M.E. Braddon’s novels. The villain's resolution is one I’ve not seen before (woot!) & the final scene is a bittersweet HEA (more woot!) -- two outstanding details that more than make up for any dragging of the plot.
For the most part, Mary is an intelligent narrator. She’s intuitive toward shady motives, parries with quiet sarcasm, tends not to waffle in monologue, & is smart enough to recognize Edmond’s false sincerity. But she’s incredibly dense to realize the secondary mystery, which was more obvious than the first (or so I thought). Perhaps that blindness could have been solved by a shorter book. You definitely notice the length whilst reading, whereas a smaller quota would have lessened everyone’s bumbling in the middle & propelled the plot more evenly...but I digress.
Overall this was an enjoyable gothic. Positives outweigh its negatives -- the last third, especially, is quite good. I wouldn’t recommend it for a genre newbie, but it’s definitely worth adding if you’re a collector.
For all the cover's pink-lettered promises of passion & lust, CASTLE CLOUD is a clean romance. It has the proper elements for a gothic – also a lovely cover to fit the style -- but there’s absolutely no graphic sensuality of any kind. All the sex is behind closed doors, & none of it involves our heroine. The narrator, Mary, is a product of her time; she’s driven to solve the mystery of her host’s behavior, but she refuses to overstep the bounds of feminine decorum. She recognizes her sexual attraction to David, but she doesn’t want to the freedom to act before they are married. In that way, it's a prudish book.
But despite the lack of heaving bosoms, there are plenty of sensational elements: various murders, a broody & arrogant host, a weepy put-upon mother, death in childbirth, Cinderella inheritances, suicides, underhanded servants, invalids, poisons, etc -- all the ingredients you’d find in M.E. Braddon’s novels. The villain's resolution is one I’ve not seen before (woot!) & the final scene is a bittersweet HEA (more woot!) -- two outstanding details that more than make up for any dragging of the plot.
For the most part, Mary is an intelligent narrator. She’s intuitive toward shady motives, parries with quiet sarcasm, tends not to waffle in monologue, & is smart enough to recognize Edmond’s false sincerity. But she’s incredibly dense to realize the secondary mystery, which was more obvious than the first (or so I thought). Perhaps that blindness could have been solved by a shorter book. You definitely notice the length whilst reading, whereas a smaller quota would have lessened everyone’s bumbling in the middle & propelled the plot more evenly...but I digress.
Overall this was an enjoyable gothic. Positives outweigh its negatives -- the last third, especially, is quite good. I wouldn’t recommend it for a genre newbie, but it’s definitely worth adding if you’re a collector.
June 23, 2016
I read this years ago and loved it.
September 15, 2022
4.5 for Gothic Mystery Romance genre. I read this book as a young teen in the 80's and still remembered it after all these years. I loved the story and gothic drama. I think my entire family ended up reading it on a summer vacation. Recently I found a used copy. I didn't remember the tiny font or the beautiful cover with pink-edged pages. Truly this is a vintage find and quite good to boot. If you love gothic romance (the clean version) this is a read you will want to add to your list. I recommend this with a cup of tea on a rainy day!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews