Red Velvet

by Carol Hedges

As soon as she walks into the old Tudor mansion, Elly senses that something is wrong, that the house itself is hostile towards her. But why should it hate her when she's never been there before? Then strange things start happening to her - she hears ghostly singing, sees people in the woods
dressed in old-fashioned clothes, and hears threatening voices in the house. And then she learns that the skeleton of a girl, dressed in red velvet, was found in an old chest in one of the bedrooms. She decides to try to solve the ancient mystery, but in digging up the distant past she uncovers
secrets about her own family history which will have a lasting effect on her whole future.

Carol Hedges is an A level tutor, and in her spare time works as a dinner lady at her local primary school. Red Velvet is her second novel for OUP.

160 pages, Paperback

Published March 31, 2001

Reviews

[Xander · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick read. Enjoyable story, albeit with some holes in the plot. A nice way to cleanse the palate due to fondness of having read it when in early teens.

[Sandra Jahnstedt · Rating 1 out of 5]

Never have I ever read a book including racism and abuse of woman in such a wired way. A parallel story from the 1700th century as well makes no sense at all.

[Lissa]

This nice quick read switches artfully from the point of view of Elly, fourteen year old loner visiting a sick relative with her mother, and Eleanor, a peasant girl from 300 years ago. It gracefully turns from Elly observing Eleanor and two rich sibling to Elly living through Eleanor's eyes. It's one of the best done 'ghost' stories/ murder mysteries I've ever read.

The only reason this gets four stars and not 5 is because it wasn't over 200 pages. That being said, the entire story was very neatly wrapped up with a tidy bow at the end, with a promise of hope for the future. There's no point in padding out a shorter novel for the sake of word count alone.

The author very succinctly tried to throw a few red herrings, but I could tell quite early on the answer to the mystery. Reading on to have my estimates revealed as true was quite fulfilling.

As for characters - Red Velvet it told in third person, which is beautiful because it allows us to see through both Elly and Eleanor's eyes - however, one of the biggest things I like a YA fiction is the tendency to write in first person - the voice and the personality of characters come out a lot better that way. I feel I could have identified a lot more with Elly if I was in her head and not being told about her. I felt a bit disconnected from all the characters but only because of the point of view.

It sure was an interesting read and if you can get your hands on it I recommend it because it shows how a story can be told in one volume with no plot holes and a neat ending.

[flajol · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit grisly!