The House of Three Sisters

by Virginia Nielsen

Janice first sees the old Spanish mansion in the gloomy grey light of dusk, Casa de las Tres Hermanas...The House of Three Sisters. The eerie sight of the tangled gardens and peeling walls sends shivers up her spine.

Janice never feels at ease at the Casa. She is grateful to Marita Folsom for inviting her there for weekends while her mother is away, and yet - something seems wrong. Rick, Marita's nephew, frightens Janice with his sinister, dark eyes and his strange smile. And then there are the ''accidents", the prowlers, and the unexplained death of Janice's dog.

Janice doesn't admit anything is really wrong until the terrifying day she finds herself a prisoner of the Casa...

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult

171 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1982

Reviews

[Erica Leigh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the writing (and the setting!) in this one, although it is a bit sleepy until near the end and then all of a sudden it gets CW teen drama level crazy

It was amusing reading about the main character getting cultured at the casa, eating flautus and guacamole for the first time🥑, and then she low key gets kidnapped, nearly forced into being a child bride, AND almost murdered in a crazy attempt at an inheritance hijacking.

Teen soap but with a Mexicali flair.

TW: there is a sad animal death in this one 😭, and an older guy tries to force himself on our protag a couple of times.

[Finnja · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joaa, interessantes Setting, aber alle Erwachsenen unfassbar verantwortungslos gegenüber der 16 jährigen Hauptperson und das mit dem Hund hat mich ein bisschen gekillt :(

[Meghan]

The storyline jumps around a lot, and the characters’ emotions really don’t seem appropriate at times, considering everything that they are dealing with. The plot seems a bit too far-fetched.

[Sarah Thornton · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my usual fare but a really decent modern (at the time) gothic horror novel. Will probably come back to review once it's sunk in properly.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is another of those Windswept books. I would like to give it a higher rating because it did keep my interest but it was sort of a suspense story that was a bit over the top in credibility. It had some of the properties of the old Gothics but when I say Gothics I mean those stories set in the 1960s and earlier. This one was set in the 1980s, l think, but the mind set of the supporting characters was more like the early 20th century.

Janice, age 16,is left home alone in the motel unit where she lives with her mother when her mother goes on a honeymoon. The landlady seems too nosy. A woman where her mother works takes a sudden interest in her and takes her home weekends with her to the rambling Spanish villa that she inherited. At first the people who visit seem sophisticated but the darkly handsome nephew keeps trying to kiss her and makes Janice uncomfortable with his remarks. I thought he was creepy! By the time Janice figures out what is going on she is in deep trouble.

[Melinda · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ridiculous.