The Beckoning from Moura

Moura #2

by Virginia Coffman

When Anne Wicklow is employed to care for the lonely young Maurie at her home, an isolated castle set high on an Irish cliff, she little suspects that evil will walk beside her through its gloomy halls. To save her, Anne must uncover a secret, even if it means betraying the man she loves.

Genres: Gothic, Romance, Horror, Gothic Romance, Fiction, Historical Fiction

312 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

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

[Terri Edwards · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coffman did it again; threw a twist in at the end that totally caught me off guard. Yes, it may have been a tad far-fetched, but we read to be entertained, right? Another atmospheric, richly plotted and highly recommended book, the second in the Moura series, by Coffman.

[Christine Honsinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not anywhere near as good as Moura, still, it has such a gothic-y atmospheric feel to it...that along with Virginia Coffman's undeniable talent for a plot twist at the end...I had to give her credit for these and award it at least 3 stars...I love this character Anne Wicklow, and will read the rest of the books in the Moura series, no doubt, but does any sequel ever reach the level of thrill and appeal of the original? Probably not, so I won't expect them to...just take each for what they are...and I will definitely be looking for more Virginia Coffman novels in this genre...she really has talent for writing them!

[Tiffany · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐️⭐️ (just okay)

Halloween Gothic Vibes. 🍂 This book was published in 1965! And it shows. The writing reads much like a classic book. The gothic descriptions are honestly what make this book for me. Rich details of a haunting landscape and dark mystery.

But as much as I love the eerie details here - the way this book is written makes me feel like I’m modernized. At the risk of sounding like a dummy— I’m 💯 just a girl that needs slutty smutty details alongside rich history or dark eerie descriptions. I want a fast pace story that feels fulfilling. Writing today 🫣 isn’t the same as writing then. Obviously. But I’ve adapted to these spicy - relaxed - fun - mindless reads that leave me high. This 1965 story read like a literal classic (which isn’t a bad thing) but made for a drag of a read. The romance is nonexistent. 💤

This is one of the books I got from the grandma basement that I met with from marketplace. (If you are my bookstagram friend then you’ll know what the hell I’m talking about 😅)

This is a story of a widow returning back to Ireland and taking on a job as a housekeeper at a decrepit castle on the seaside. The man of the house is locked away upstairs, (much like Jane Erye vibes) the invalid suffers an attempted murder, the beautiful but eerie stepmother seems to have taken on control of everything despite being a woman, against the wishes of her gambling son-in-law and his child-woman bride.. (ick at the term child woman😐) This castle is full of secrets and when there is a murder.. Anne starts fearing for her own life.. and her sanity.

Dysfunctional Family is the main trope here.

I wish I could have liked it more. I feel like I’ve become so accustomed to reading a certain thing and this just dragged for me. If this were a movie— I probably would eat it up. All the Halloween haunted gothic vibes of a dark historical fiction.

Reading is, however, wasn’t my favorite thing. 😐

But beautiful cover. 💚

[Aimee]

My main question is, what on earth are they doing with all this kelp???

Loved the book but the question abides. I finally googled it. Our Irish heritage dot org says, “The harvesting of seaweed and its use for various purposes appears to be quite an ancient practice in Ireland. In addition to its longstanding role as a fertilizer and fodder for livestock, seaweed has been an important raw material for the chemical industry since the 1700s and possibly longer.”

Gather on, ye merry gatherers!

[Robert Fontenot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Putting aside the perversity of making a sequel to a gothic romance by having the HEA love of the first novel die between volumes, this book is kinda bonkers. Normally that's a good thing but here everything is a bit much. There's no real romance but boy is there Gothic. The setting is very confusing to try to picture but is damp, old, and possible haunted. There are so many possible apparitions, so very many corpses, particularly for a story that takes place over less than a week, and every character is pushed into caricature. Maureen in particular is difficult to swallow. Her antics are meant to be suspicious but also charming. I just found them tedious. I liked the MC but at times she was willfully obtuse. At one point she is knocked unconscious by a blow to the head and despite the wound on her scalp she decides she must have just passed out due the sun. It is infuriating. I'll still read the next one. I may be becoming a Coffman completist.

[elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only saving grace of this book for me was the incredible ending

[Margaret · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Bookcrossing book and my review may be read here:

https://www.bookcrossing.com/journal/...

[Paige Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not entirely sure whether the title of this novel is 'The Beckoning from Moura', or simply 'The Beckoning'. My copy had it as the latter, which stylistically seems to make more sense: though evidently intended as a sequel to 'Moura', this novel has no real connection to the events of its predecessor save the reappearance of the main character, Anne Wicklow.

It was this break from the first novel that made 'The Beckoning' start on something of a dull note for me. I read the novel directly after finishing 'Moura', as my copy took me straight into it. Perhaps if I had taken a rest from the series and come back to it some months later, the sharp shift from the central relationship of 'Moura' to Anne's now-single status might have been softened; as it was, it was a real jolt to find that the romance which ended 'Moura' on such a high had already run its course.

It is clear why the author took this decision for the second novel: it permits Anne the freedom, tragic as it is, to start an entirely new gothic adventure in a new setting, and sets the scene for a plot brimming with forbidden romance. Certainly, once I overcame my initial shock at the sudden turn of events since 'Moura', I found 'The Beckoning' an excellent read: compelling, layered, and with characters so deliciously sinister that I felt it was actually a stronger gothic mystery than its predecessor. The setting is fantastic: I loved the descriptions of the sea-lashed mansion bedecked with its serpentine kelp, simmering with intrigue, malice and mystery, and I continue to find the main character, Anne, one of the most likeable heroines I have come across. As with 'Moura', her down-to-earth, no nonsense approach to the chaos around her is endlessly refreshing.

All in all, a fantastic gothic mystery, though take the concept of a 'sequel' with a large dose of salt(water)!

[Hafiza · Rating 2 out of 5]

Published in 1977
Now available as an ebook.
Anne Wicklow's story from Moura continues- her husband from Book 1 is dead and she is now a housekeeper for the Conner family in Ireland.
All Gothic mystery and no romance-skimmed to finish.

[I Read · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wasn't overly impressed - I've read better books, but maybe it was the subject matter rather than the quality of writing, so perhaps it would appeal to others.

[Gena Lott · Rating 3 out of 5]

From my "romance" period.