Hyde Place

by Virginia Coffman

In this classic “gaslight” tale of romantic suspense and adventure the setting isSan Francisco, and the year is 1919—just thirteen years after the devastatingearthquake and fire.The City, though, now pulsates with renewed life, as eighteen-year-oldMerideth Hyde arrives after a long absence, anticipation mingled withforeboding, to dispose of valuable, inherited property and to search for hermother—who might or might not have died in the 1906 debacles. Before she can accomplish these tasks, her life is endangered by the plottings of imposters,fortune hunters, and deadly assault by an unseen stranger.Merideth realizes her mission is fraught with peril. How then should she interpret the cryptic warnings of her handsome, yet strangely mocking new friend? And what is the hidden childhood event, too traumatic to recall, that will unlock these mysteries and finally put an end to the menace that threatens her life?Hyde Place is an enthralling tale of romantic suspense and adventure from Virginia Coffman, the author of The Lombard Trilogy and The Orchid Tree, which are all available from Severn House.

Genres: Gothic, Historical Fiction

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Virginia Edith Coffman aka Jeanne Duval, Diana Saunders, Victor Cross, Ann Stanfield, Virginia C. Du Vaul, Kay Cameron.

A native of San Francisco, Coffman contributed movie reviews to the Oakland Tribune from 1933-40. She graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1938 and was a movie and television script writer for Columbia, RKO, and other Hollywood studios in her early writing career (1944-56). She had her first success with writing novels in 1959, when Crown Publishing decided to take a chance on Moura, and the novel was showcased by Library Journal. By the 1980s, Coffman was recognized as "the author largely responsible for setting off the Gothics craze of the 1960s, "earning her the reputation of "Queen of the Gothics."1

She quit her day job in Reno and became a full-time writer in 1965. While historical romance novels seldom find their way into the literary canon, Coffman, who was both prolific and dedicated, took her writing seriously. Her research for historical fiction was meticulous. She also drew upon personal experience as a world traveler when setting some of her novels in Hawaii, Paris, and other romantic locales. Several of her historical romances and gothic mystery novels were translated into other languages, and many have been published in large print and audio editions.

She was recognized by Who's Who of American Women and Who's Who in the West. She was a member of the Authors League of America and the Mystery Writers Guild of America. The Reno Gazette-Journal featured Virginia Coffman and her sister in a biographical story on April 4, 2002. In 2003, she donated a collection of her gothic mystery and historical romance novels to the University of Nevada, Reno Libraries.

Reviews

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1919, just after the end of the First World War, Meredith Hyde returns to the San Francisco she'd left as a child after the Earthquake. She is there to claim property left her by her grandfather and to discover if the mother who'd abandoned her back in 1906 is still alive. Meredith soon finds herself surrounded by people and places from the past, but is everyone what they seem? Or is she being gaslit? And which one of two suitors will she choose? By the time of "Hyde Place," the contemporary craze for gothic novels Coffman had helped create just over 15 years previously with "Moura" was morphing into romantic suspense. "Hyde Place" suffers a little from a clunky love plot and a certain lack of suspense as to who its primary villain is. But Coffman's affection for her native city shines through this novel, and the author takes a great deal of pleasure in describing the bustling modern city that had risen from the ruins of the earthquake and fire, complete with motor cars, skyscrapers, urban expansion--and the lingering remnants of Spanish influenza, which of course strike a chord, reading during the continuing COVID-19 pandemic. All in all, if not one of her best efforts--for those, I'd recommend "Moura," "The Beckoning" or "The Alpine Coach"--"Hyde Place" reminds us that Coffman can still take the reader on an enjoyable ride.

[Kristina Coop-a-Loop · Rating 4 out of 5]

Virginia Coffman's Hyde Place is pretty decent romantic thriller first published in 1974. The heroine is smart and independent for 1919 and the mystery is complicated enough to keep the reader guessing. Well, I don't guess anymore. I've read this book probably five or six times.

Meredith Hyde, after living most of her life in Reno, NV with her singer/performer father, returns to the city of her birth and childhood--San Francisco. Her father has died and her grandfather's will makes her the heiress of a house and property she hasn't seen since she was a child. Her parents were both singers in San Francisco but her mother was an alcoholic and one day she left her husband and young child to go enjoy a life free of responsibilities. Mery and her father moved to Reno and lived on his wages as a singer, and hers as a waitress/house maid when she became older. He refused to return to claim his inheritance so Mery didn't expect much when she returned to San Francisco. Before she left Reno, she'd contacted her father's lawyers and had them place an advertisement in the city paper looking for information about her mother, Polly Hyde. That advertisement brought her unwanted attention--and her inheritance, worth hundreds of thousands of dollars--almost brought about her death.

I like this book because the author describes San Francisco very well. The ocean cliffs, the sea, the rolling fog, Chinatown, the streetcars, the hills. I've never been there, but Coffman's writing creates a city that is very real. I also like that she includes the Victorian Baths, a large indoor bathing pool that brings in water from the ocean. It sat overlooking the Pacific Ocean and seems somewhat scary and awful to me--all that water, the great height of the diving boards, the yelling and screaming of voices bouncing off the water and the glass ceiling.

The main characters are interesting and, aside from Mery, it's easy to see Neil Burnham, the sexy, sardonic reporter as a suspect along with Mery's newfound family. Reading the book this time around I noticed how patronizing the men are. They are constantly telling her what to do, what she should think, who to talk to...it's irritating. Because of the early 20th century setting, Mery doesn't argue too much, but usually defies them anyway because she is (as she says) "contrary by nature." I like that, because I am also contrary by nature. If someone tells me to do something, my immediate urge is to do the exact opposite.

This is a good book to read if you're in the mood for a romantic thriller. The pace is good, the characters entertaining, and Mery is fairly level-headed and despite all these brawny, "I know what's good for you" men, she solves the mystery herself. My only complaint is that the romance happens very quickly. How can these people fall in love after meeting only twice? Maybe I'm just cranky, but the speediness of love in these books is exasperating/amusing.

[Robert Fontenot · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fun gothic, and a rare one in which the heroine almost seems to know that she's in an a gothic. She is fully aware that people are trying to gaslight her and just has to figure out how to prove it.

This is my first Coffman book and her writing is clear and descriptive. San Francisco of 1919 is lovingly portrayed and her treatment of the Chinese-American population is well handled for the period it was written.

I will definitely read more of her work.

[Mike Garzillo · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're into San Francisco and/or Gothic romances, you have to read this one. It's set in 1919, a look at the secrets and changes within a resurrected San Francisco. Virginia Coffman's legendary writing skills as well as her love for her hometown make it one of the best Gothic romances ever.