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Dark Winds
A newly wed young heiress's hope to free her husband from his shadowy past is soon abandoned, but her love for him remains--until half her fortune disappears, and his old flame discloses some startling secrets
- GenresGothic
517 pages, Hardcover
First published August 1, 1985
20 people want to read
About the author
Virginia Coffman
104 books41 followersVirginia 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 3, 2014
More of a historical romance with suspense elements than a Gothic, though there are metagothic elements in it. (The Brontes appear as characters and the love interest is rumored to be the physical model for both Mr. Rochester and Healthcliffe, wink wink.) I knew I was wandering outside of Gothic territory when penis size was mentioned several times. (Gothics tend to be "sweets" in romance terms--or they were through the 70's. Mr. Rochester and Maxim De Winter do not, so far as I know, even have male parts. If forced to, I might imagine them as Ken-doll smooth.)
Anyway...The unlikely plot has an obvious outcome from the get-go. For fans of the genre, it may be a three-star book, but not for me. I did a lot of page-flipping in the last third.
Anyway...The unlikely plot has an obvious outcome from the get-go. For fans of the genre, it may be a three-star book, but not for me. I did a lot of page-flipping in the last third.
November 1, 2011
I really enjoyed this book. Premise: what if there were a real life person that served as inspiration for the Bronte's Mr. Rochester and Heathcliff? Well, Dark Wind's Byronic anti-hero is he! Charlotte and Reverend Bronte also make appearances in this novel which seemed very much like an edgier, more romance oriented Victoria Holt.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews