Amberstone

by Margaret James

Lalage Ashmore visits her cousin, Prudence, and finds herself caught up in a mysterious and frightening web. She has never been to Amberstone before, yet the house is strangely familiar: she has not met Prue's husband, Conan, before, but she knows without doubt that at some time in the past they had been lovers. There are uneasy rumours. Conan Kilmartin's family is said to be cursed: once every fifty years an heir is born who is not as other children are. Three women have disappeared in Devil's Dip, and villagers say they were taken by something which lives under the pool.

Prudence's baby has been taken from her because Conan says she is not fit to look after it, but no one is allowed to see the child: there are unnatural noises from behind a door in the disused north wing: Prudence swears Conan's first wife comes into the house at night, but she has been dead for two years.

The Comte de Lys, a childhood friend of Lalage's, comes to visit acquaintances nearby, and she finds herself torn between her longing for the harsh, handsome master of Amberstone, and her growing love for the Comte which she cannot stifle despite her suspicions of him. In a dark folly in the grounds, where a malicious wise-woman reads the Tarot cards, Lalage hears the blood-chilling noises again, and turns to face the dreadful truth of Amberstone's secrets.

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Please see: Margaret James


Margaret James has been a member of the RNA for 22 years. She has written thirteen published novels, many short stories, and she also teaches creative writing for the London School of Journalism. Margaret's first novel was A Touch of Earth, a family saga set in Herefordshire where she was born and grew up, and her most recent is The Penny Bangle, set in Dorset and published by Robert Hale. But her personal favourite among her novels is Elegy for a Queen, published by Solidus, a small independent which has a varied and fascinating list. Margaret now lives in Devon, which she loves.

AKA Pamela Bennetts

Reviews

[H. Givens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread from my childhood -- just as great as I remembered! It's scary and sexy and interesting, really effective writing, and very appropriate for October. A magnificently convoluted romance with supernatural and human wiles, keeps you guessing all the way through.

[Lu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read and liked it years ago.