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Snow Shadow
Being able to step back into the past seemed like a wonderful stroke of luck for Erica Jansen. Northanger Abbey was like another world. And her introduction to the family there had come from a charming man, Preston Donner. She felt very fortunate indeed.
But from the moment she became a guest at the Abbey, she felt like a prisoner. First there were the arguments she couldn't avoid...then the murders she could not ignore...and then the man who stepped out of her own buried past to entwine her in a terror from which she saw no escape.
But from the moment she became a guest at the Abbey, she felt like a prisoner. First there were the arguments she couldn't avoid...then the murders she could not ignore...and then the man who stepped out of her own buried past to entwine her in a terror from which she saw no escape.
255 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 12, 1979
21 people are currently reading
131 people want to read
About the author
Andre Norton
696 books1,388 followersAndre Norton, born Alice Mary Norton, was a pioneering American author of science fiction and fantasy, widely regarded as the Grande Dame of those genres. She also wrote historical and contemporary fiction, publishing under the pen names Andre Alice Norton, Andrew North, and Allen Weston. She launched her career in 1934 with The Prince Commands, adopting the name “Andre” to appeal to a male readership. After working for the Cleveland Library System and the Library of Congress, she began publishing science fiction under “Andrew North” and fantasy under her own name. She became a full-time writer in 1958 and was known for her prolific output, including Star Man’s Son, 2250 A.D. and Witch World, the latter spawning a long-running series and shared universe. Norton was a founding member of the Swordsmen and Sorcerers' Guild of America and authored Quag Keep, the first novel based on the Dungeons & Dragons game. She influenced generations of writers, including Lois McMaster Bujold and Mercedes Lackey. Among her many honors were being the first woman named Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy and SFWA Grand Master. In her later years, she established the High Hallack Library to support research in genre fiction. Her legacy continues with the Andre Norton Award for young adult science fiction and fantasy.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
July 12, 2021
Andre Norton was a prolific writer of science fiction and fantasy at a time when the genre was dominated by men. I remember my delight when I discovered that the person who wrote Witch World was actually a woman despite the misleading name. I still have an entire shelf of badly battered paperbacks she wrote that I can’t bear to get rid of, even though I haven’t read any of them in more years than I care to admit to.
But Norton also wrote romantic suspense stories – not as many as her other books but still a significant amount (I wasn’t exaggerating when I called her prolific). When I came across Snow Shadow while perusing my shelves the other day I felt I had to pick it up and give it a whirl.
The book was published in 1979 and is a modern Gothic. All the tropes are there in spades: the old house, the mysterious graveyard, the inexplicable noises and a wealth of off-kilter characters to cast suspicion upon when the inevitable murder is exposed. And, of course, there’s a brooding hero reappearing from the heroine’s past and generally playing havoc with the thick skin she tells herself she developed after her previous unhappy romance with him.
The story is all about the heroine. It’s written in the first person and Norton takes pains to make the voice authentic for the particular character she has created. Erica Jansen was raised by a stern and rigorously Victorian aunt and even her internal voice is a tribute to that upbringing. She’s out of sync with the modern world – a proper, and I mean that in more than one way, Victorian heroine in looks, manner, words and expectations. But she’s no prig. She recognises her shortcomings and tries to overcome them whilst remaining true to her own beliefs about the right and wrong way to interact with the people around her.
Main characters routinely fall in love in Norton’s stories, but they do it in a pretty non-demonstrative way. This book is no exception. There aren’t any passionate declarations and there certainly aren’t any physical manifestations of the love the main couple feel for each other. If you’re looking for anything even remotely explicit, look elsewhere. But in this case, given the inhibited nature of Erica’s background and the tone of the book, the more repressive the better.
I liked Erica, I liked Mark, the secondary characters were quite well drawn and the mystery was a satisfying one. All in all I have nothing to complain about in this venture into suspense from a woman who made her name writing in a completely different genre. Snow Shadow is not a deep immersive read, and it’s only a good story rather than a great one, but it’s a perfectly respectable way to while away a few hours and come away reasonably satisfied.
But Norton also wrote romantic suspense stories – not as many as her other books but still a significant amount (I wasn’t exaggerating when I called her prolific). When I came across Snow Shadow while perusing my shelves the other day I felt I had to pick it up and give it a whirl.
The book was published in 1979 and is a modern Gothic. All the tropes are there in spades: the old house, the mysterious graveyard, the inexplicable noises and a wealth of off-kilter characters to cast suspicion upon when the inevitable murder is exposed. And, of course, there’s a brooding hero reappearing from the heroine’s past and generally playing havoc with the thick skin she tells herself she developed after her previous unhappy romance with him.
The story is all about the heroine. It’s written in the first person and Norton takes pains to make the voice authentic for the particular character she has created. Erica Jansen was raised by a stern and rigorously Victorian aunt and even her internal voice is a tribute to that upbringing. She’s out of sync with the modern world – a proper, and I mean that in more than one way, Victorian heroine in looks, manner, words and expectations. But she’s no prig. She recognises her shortcomings and tries to overcome them whilst remaining true to her own beliefs about the right and wrong way to interact with the people around her.
Main characters routinely fall in love in Norton’s stories, but they do it in a pretty non-demonstrative way. This book is no exception. There aren’t any passionate declarations and there certainly aren’t any physical manifestations of the love the main couple feel for each other. If you’re looking for anything even remotely explicit, look elsewhere. But in this case, given the inhibited nature of Erica’s background and the tone of the book, the more repressive the better.
I liked Erica, I liked Mark, the secondary characters were quite well drawn and the mystery was a satisfying one. All in all I have nothing to complain about in this venture into suspense from a woman who made her name writing in a completely different genre. Snow Shadow is not a deep immersive read, and it’s only a good story rather than a great one, but it’s a perfectly respectable way to while away a few hours and come away reasonably satisfied.
June 23, 2020
Love Andre Norton
One of my favorite authors since I was very young, I particularly enjoyed the Witch World series, but don't limit myself to that one genre where she is most well known. I find each offering to be a real gem and worth the time spent. Highly recommended.
One of my favorite authors since I was very young, I particularly enjoyed the Witch World series, but don't limit myself to that one genre where she is most well known. I find each offering to be a real gem and worth the time spent. Highly recommended.
Read
July 7, 2010There are several elements of this that raise it above the average gothic romance. One is the setting, which is essentially a museum dedicated to Jane Austen--rather an odd choice, I'd say, for the now-deceased patriarch who thought that women were property.
I should say that I've never felt any nostalgia for the certainty and 'security' of Victorians. What they were sure of was mostly wrong: destructive, immoral, and wasteful. Uncertainty shouldn't be overlooked as a virtue. Being sure of something wrong can do a LOT more harm.
Several points:
(1) The (always offstage) character Roderick is treated with complete lack of sympathy, but it's not clear why. He's described as inherently evil, though he's of the same pedigree as many other characters. And what is he really accused of? Maybe money laundering, possible art forgery (or sale of same), and possibly drug smuggling. Some argue that he was killed because he was trying to make peace with his grandmother. Even if one accepts the basic premise that it's possible to deserve to suffer, these are pretty sparse pickings.
(2) A lot of the misunderstandings in the story are the result of defensiveness on the part of the male protagonist. If he'd just laid his cards on the table from the start, there wouldn't have been so much abasement and mystification. If he wanted the woman as his principal wife, why not just say so?
(3) I've commented before on the essential childlessness of Norton's works. In this case, it's especially noteworthy, because one of the major characters in the book is a sickly infant--who never really appears in the book as a PERSON, at all.
I should say that I've never felt any nostalgia for the certainty and 'security' of Victorians. What they were sure of was mostly wrong: destructive, immoral, and wasteful. Uncertainty shouldn't be overlooked as a virtue. Being sure of something wrong can do a LOT more harm.
Several points:
(1) The (always offstage) character Roderick is treated with complete lack of sympathy, but it's not clear why. He's described as inherently evil, though he's of the same pedigree as many other characters. And what is he really accused of? Maybe money laundering, possible art forgery (or sale of same), and possibly drug smuggling. Some argue that he was killed because he was trying to make peace with his grandmother. Even if one accepts the basic premise that it's possible to deserve to suffer, these are pretty sparse pickings.
(2) A lot of the misunderstandings in the story are the result of defensiveness on the part of the male protagonist. If he'd just laid his cards on the table from the start, there wouldn't have been so much abasement and mystification. If he wanted the woman as his principal wife, why not just say so?
(3) I've commented before on the essential childlessness of Norton's works. In this case, it's especially noteworthy, because one of the major characters in the book is a sickly infant--who never really appears in the book as a PERSON, at all.
April 25, 2008
A 1960s romance set in a Maryland town. Well written, but the story is pretty typical of the genre. An uncertain, somewhat neurotic heroine and a brooding, saturnine hero, who is also native American, which is the extra sexy. Really kind of silly stuff, especially the last two pages. I don't want to spoil this for anyone who might read the book, but I've never ever met a woman who is excited about a marriage that "will be one of few words."
January 3, 2017
Not science fiction. It's a mystery story set in 1940-1950 era. While researching her next book she meets an unusual family and because of a murder, she runs into the man she fell in love with years ago. She discovered that he was married (so the situation seemed) and had dropped him. The mystery is resolved and the romance rekindled.
May 12, 2009
I recommend this to Norton fans if only for the oddness of her characteristic prose in a non-fantasy setting. "I spoke to him of my need," is not the sort of sentence one encounters every day in fiction, and certainly not when the character is discussing finding an apartment.
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September 29, 2013There were a confusing number of people in this fairly short novel, and it was hard to keep them straight. Their personalities all seemed to blend together. The plot itself wasn't all that interesting. (I read the ebook version, and there are a vast number of mistakes in it. Frustrating.)
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews