The Spring of the Tiger

by Victoria Holt, Philippa Carr, Jean Plaidy

When her famous mother's acting career suffers a serious setback, Sarah accompanies her to Ashington Grange, learns more about the father she has never seen--the owner of a tea plantation in Ceylon, and becomes increasingly attracted to Clinton Shaw

Genres: Romance, Gothic, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Historical Romance, Historical

356 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Eleanor Alice Burford, Mrs. George Percival Hibbert was a British author of about 200 historical novels, most of them under the pen name Jean Plaidy which had sold 14 million copies by the time of her death. She chose to use various names because of the differences in subject matter between her books; the best-known, apart from Plaidy, are Victoria Holt (56 million) and Philippa Carr (3 million). Lesser known were the novels Hibbert published under her maiden name Eleanor Burford, or the pseudonyms of Elbur Ford, Kathleen Kellow and Ellalice Tate. Many of her readers under one penname never suspected her other identities.
-Wikipedia

Reviews

[Sarah Mac · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5, actually. Be warned that hero Clinton was a douche & I wanted to punch him every time he opened his mouth. :P But otherwise this is a fun, multi-layered story; everything builds on everything else, & nothing is overlooked so far as fitting into the entire picture. It starts somewhat oddly & finishes with an equally unorthodox twist, so far as genre tropes are concerned -- but speaking as someone who reads a crapload of gothic romances, that isn't a bad thing.

The first half focuses on heroine Sarah's teenage years with her actress mother Irene, who abandoned Sarah's father when she fled his Ceylon (Sri Lanka) plantation. Despite their unconventional household, mother & daughter live a comfortable life thanks to Irene's upper-crust lover. His money management allows them to keep two servants & an afternoon tutor for Sarah (the sweetly named Toby, who also plays an important role in Sarah's adult life). But when Irene's lover is revealed in the papers, their relationship becomes scandal & he commits suicide, & the suddenly destitute pair are forced to move in with two haughty Ashington aunts.

Neither of the aunts are fond of Irene, & consider it an unpleasant family duty to look after their brother's wayward wife-in-name. But they welcome Sarah...namely because she has the potential to bear children to inherit a family tradition: the Ashington Pearls. Gothic legend surrounds the Pearls -- supposedly a gift from some Ceylon prince, the necklace will bring bad luck if it leaves Ashington possession. Both sisters are inordinately concerned with keeping the tradition; they shed no tears when Irene withers away from sheer depressive emoz, but are thrilled when Sarah's father comes to collect her. Traveling with him is mystery man Clinton Shaw, who owns the neighboring plantation back on Ceylon....and so begins the second (more suspenseful) half.

Clinton is a classic Alpha Asshole. For those who've read The Demon Lover, he's of that mold -- not quite so bad-in-a-good-way, but a definite nod to jackass ripper heroes. He manipulates Sarah into marrying him, then makes no secret of the fact that he's out to join the two plantations & turn over heaps of money. He also keeps a mistress & has no qualms against flaunting her to flame Sarah's pride into the copious (though veiled) scenes of violent sex that they both enjoy. Sarah knows her attraction to Clinton is unhealthy & they'll never have a calm, supportive marriage...but she's got bigger problems than Hate!Sex with an asshole husband. Someone within their Ceylon sphere -- including Sarah's long lost half-sister -- is trying to drive our heroine insane, if not kill her outright. What's the deal with the Ashington Pearls' dark history? What really happened to Irene? And who can Sarah trust, if not Clinton?

Oh, the suspense. ;)

This is a good example of VH’s mid-70s/early-80s period, aka her most bodice-rippery gothics. Though I didn't like it as well as The Demon Lover, it was a fun read & I enjoyed it -- the ending was especially good, both gothic-wise & romantically, & made the book worth finishing despite a slow start.

[Misfit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wow. When VH is off, she's really off. This book should have had everything I want to see in a Holt novel. Exotic setting, check. An ancient (and valuable beyond price) pearl & emerald necklace that legend says is cursed - check.

So what went wrong? The first 50% of the book was nothing but set-up for that happens after our heroine's mother and father die and she's married off to the gent who owns the adjacent plantation in Ceylon. Instead of beginning at the heroine's marriage and moving to Ceylon and then covering the back history in bits and dribbles, the reader gets 200+ pages of my mother was a famous actress who scandalized the country by having an affair with a married politician and was banished from proper society. Died mysteriously when mother and daughter are taken in by first husband's family. On and on and on and on and on.

You would think things get interesting once the action does move to Ceylon, and it does pick up, but not enough to fill the 250 or so pages of the second half of the novel. On and on and on with the heroine getting gaslighted by the mysterious baddie. Oh, and the husband is the jerk type that will definitely trigger the PC minded set, but he's not bad enough (and it's all behind closed doors anyway) to entertain the non-PC bodice ripper minded set.

Give it a miss.

[Manybooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

So yes, I did end up finding the Sri Lanka (Ceylon) setting and even the always formulaic and often rather overwrought and frenzied featured storyline interesting and perhaps even engaging enough once Sarah Ashington marries Clinton Shaw and actually locates to Ceylon. However and that having been said, the entire chapters long set-up of Victoria Holt's 1979 novel The Spring of the Tiger (with Sarah's actress mother, the political scandal, the Ashington manor house and the mother's a bit mysterious death) really does (in my humble opinion) meander and drag on and on and on, and so much so that by the time the action of The Spring of the Tiger in fact moves from England to Sri Lanka, to the Ashington and Shaw Ceylon tea plantations, yes indeed, I was certainly and definitely pretty much majorly bored and losing patience with Sarah Ashington and finding her rather naive and not really all that enjoyable and likeable as a main narrator and protagonist (not nasty or mean-spirited in any way, but indeed and certainly rather colourless and just not all that internally engaging and my interest retaining).

And combined with Victoria Holt's rather stereotypical attitudes towards the Sinhalese (including Sarah's half sister Clytie), that Clinton Shaw (even though he does end up sacrificing himself in order to save Sarah's life) is really too obviously a jerky cad and sexual predator for my reading likes and expectations, and furthermore, that right from square one so to speak, I could also and indeed much too easily and rapidly figure out that Celia should not be trusted, while I definitely have not in any manner actively despised The Spring of the Tiger, I have also found Victoria Holt's text (aside from its to be expected formulaity) much too monotonous and tedious and with far too many niggling little issues for me to consider The Spring of the Tiger with more than two stars (and definitely only to be recommended with some very serious reservations and to so-called Victoria Holt completists).

[AgentScully · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this back in the 80's in my teen Victoria Holt phase. Unfortunately it's not one of her best. I was too new to her then to realize that when the heroine marries before page 50, hubby has the average life expectancy of a fruit fly.

So who's your hero? I did not like hubby #1, he veered too much from alpha man to bastid. And he never seemed to really love the heroine, just lust after her. Which makes his final selfless act all the more unbelievable. I did not like hubby #2 either. Mind you, I didn't dislike him. He was just too beta and bland for my taste.

So I couldn't get excited about the "romance(s)" in this one. There was no big, compelling mystery to enthrall me either. The writing was good quality as always from VH, and the scenery was nice. But overall it's a dud.

[Jewel · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would have given this book three stars, but the ending made me so angry. Clinton, you were such a shady asshole but I didn't want you to die. Though your deathbed speech was hilarious, I will say. "I was too much of a jungle cat to ever stay committed to you, Sarah..." Oh my gosh, get out of here. I can't take you seriously.

You cut yourself shaving and that's why you died... I can't. I hate this ending so much.

Also, why is the mild mannered governess ALWAYS the murderer? It was an awesome twist in The Demon lover, but not so well executed in this novel.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of my fave Victoria Holt's, and a great reminder of my youthful reading pleasures!

TSotT has a fantastic twist not often seen in this genre, and raises the bar a notch over some of Holt's similar offerings.

Good fluff weekend reading!

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book years ago and don't remember a whole lot about it, but I do remember having a hard time believing that a book with such a lovely cover could be so mediocre. Heroine spends most of the book married to a cad who regularly cheats on her with his mistress, but they still have lots of Hate!sex <-------behind closed doors, because Victoria Holt. In 1979. Not my kinda romance. The pearls part of the plot was an interesting twist, but otherwise it's a pretty standard who-is-trying-to-kill-our-heroine? plot.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book with plenty of adventure elements, gothic romance, seduction, revenge, poison, suspense and murder. What else? A quite enjoyable reading for a free afternoon.

[Malin Nordbeck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Om jag hade fått välja hade jag bara legat i hammocken och läst Victoria Holt 🥲🥲

[Vishy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I discovered 'The Spring of the Tiger' by Victoria Holt through my friend's recommendation. I've never heard of Victoria Holt before and so I was very happy to discover a new-to-me author.

Sarah lives with her mom. Her mom is a famous actress in the theatre. Sarah's mom is separated from her husband, but they are not divorced yet. Sarah doesn't go to school but is taught by a tutor at home. She and her tutor become best friends. Things are going beautifully like this, when some unforeseen things happen in Sarah's and her mom's lives and they lose everything and Sarah's dad comes back into her life, and suddenly Sarah is hurtling into the unknown with things looking exciting and dangerous at the same time. Whether Sarah survives this is told in the rest of the story. This is the barebones spoiler-free plot. Can't tell you more 😊

I used to read a romantic suspense novel once in a year. But I haven't done that in a while. So I was happy to get back to that tradition again. 'The Spring of the Tiger' is probably a combination of romantic suspense and gothic romance. The events are set probably in the 19th century, and so there are no planes and cars, but we have horses, horse-drawn carriages, trains, boats and ships. It is very charming and it feels like a Victorian novel. Victoria Holt's writing is beautiful and smooth and flows like a river. The pages just fly. There is a kind of dread or rather uncertainty throughout the novel, and we don't know who is good and who is bad till the end. We know that our narrator and heroine Sarah is a good person, and maybe one of the other characters is good. But we are uncertain about nearly everyone of the rest of the characters and Victoria Holt keeps us on tenterhooks till the end. It is a great accomplishment to pull that off. One of the main characters whom I hated for most of the story, suddenly talks their way out of the situation in the end in a very convincing way – that was totally unexpected and great storytelling. The revelation of the villain in the end was very surprising and I didn't see that coming. The first half of the story is set in England and the second half of the story is set in Srilanka and the description of Srilanka in that second part was very beautiful (it seems Srilanka means 'Resplendent Land' – very beautiful!) The title of the book is taken from a Lord Byron poem. It was very interesting and it has a deep connection to the story, but you've to read the book to find out what it is.

I enjoyed reading 'The Spring of the Tiger'. I tried to find out more about other novels Victoria Holt has written and discovered that she has written 32 novels. Hoping to dip into her work and read some of them.

Have you read 'The Spring of the Tiger'? Which is your favourite Victoria Holt novel?

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is my most favorite book of all times. The male character has this totally bad side to him in order to get the girl he wants. But in the end I swear everyone will fall in love with him. It is a must read!!!!!

[Cathleen · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first Victoria Holt! I really enjoyed it! It kept me on my toes wondering what was next! I think a few parts were too long and drawn out. The first half was so different than the second. I kind of felt like I read two separate novels. But the ending pulled it all together.

[Bree Lewandowski · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only reason I docked one star from my rating was because of red herrings. I'm not sure if there were too many of them or if it was that they were scattered so strangely. Either way, in reading this I could not, for the life of me, figure out where the heck this book was going. Everything that was happening was exciting but nothing fit together.

Am I dense? Maybe. Don't answer that.

Here's where my stars are coming from: Holt has this crisp way of writing that is at once very descriptive and very clear. Think autumn leaves on a bright October morning. You've got hot cider in a mug and the world is vibrant. Isn't there a book called On a Clear Day You Can See Forever? Or is that a movie? Either way, I love that aspect of Holt's writing.

I want to tell you about Clinton. About how I knew he couldn't possibly be the actual bad guy but then I'd have to notate spoilers in this review. So, I'll say that the main character had her doubts about him but I couldn't believe it. Holt wrote this force of a man who had moral grayscale seeping from his beard but his core and love for her was true-blue. He was the clear hero in this book for me. Not Toby. Toby was too little too late.

This wasn't my first Holt book and it won't be my last. Without undue frills, she takes you through the pages on a memorable ride.

[Cecilyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when I was a teenager and I wasn't sure what to expect as an adult so many years later. It was a little surprising, and while I can't say I adored it as much as I did when I was younger, I did enjoy it and it'll be memorable.

The descriptions and settings were well-done and easily imagined. From England to the island of Ceylon it was easy to join the heroine in her travels. Holt is also very good at building suspense, and really grabbed hold of me in the last quarter of the book (even if I were irritated at the heroine half the time).

I also thought the gothic plot well thought out and it tied up very neatly, even giving impact to the title of the book. On the other hand....character development I found lacking, especially where the women were concerned.

[Pamela · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I started this book I thought it dragged in the beginning. Now, having finished it, all the pacing makes sense.

[Meleena · Rating 2 out of 5]

So far, it's probably my least favorite VH book. The plot had promise, but the second half was....a lot.

[nat! · Rating 3 out of 5]

HATE clinton loved sarah. the poor thing

[CM · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've no fucking clue what I just read, except for the fact that the "love interest" (if you could even call him that) basically exploits the main character's conflicting feelings for him. From the moment Clinton Shaw arrives, Sarah Ashington's already getting uncomfortable vibes from him. She's in this weird in-between of disliking him and possibly being attracted to him.

What made me DNF this book, aside from the slow sloooow sloooow progression and unnecessary slice-of-life passages, is Mr. Nasty Fuck forcing himself on Sarah during a snowstorm, in which they have to take refuge in a cottage. (I think, I only skimmed, pardon me.) Clinton Shaw basically gets Sarah drunk, kisses and takes her virginity without her consent, and thoroughly confuses her in how she's supposed to feel about the whole situation.

We find out later that it was all a ploy for him to get them married so he could try to get Sarah's father's plantation under his name. (I think? I really didn't read through the rest thoroughly enough - nor do I even want to.)

That scene just left a bad Bad taste in my mouth. Not only is he 12 years older than her (she's 19 at this point in the book), but just how it was creepily it was written and how Clinton didn't even let her get a say. He took advantage of her.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sarah's mother was a famous actress. When it's revealed that she was having an affair with a married man she ends up leaving London due to the scandal. They go to live with Sarah's aunts. The aunts on her father's side of the family. Sarah's mother had left her father in Ceylon when she was little. While at The Grange, Sarah's mother takes a turn for the worse and dies. In the mean time Sarah had begun corresponding with her father. She is hoping to meet him and eventually go see his plantation in Ceylon. The book has mystery, intrigue and of course romance. Sarah ends up married to a man that takes her to Ceylon where strange things begin to happen. I love books like this where there is just enough suspense to keep you reading. And you wonder if it is something supernatural or will the mystery be solved.

[bookyeti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Heavy on the cheese

3 stars for being entertaining

2 stars for storyline and lead character

The plot was all over the place! I'm not expecting Holt to be fine literature or anything, but this one was just a bit too much... heavy on the cheese! I was often frustrated by Sarah, one of the lead characters of the novel. I found her annoying and unbelievable. She was supposedly "strong willed" and yet when it came to the man who used her and treated her ill, her will went out the window. All the loose ends are tied up just a little too neatly and quickly at the end. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at it all. Blurgh.

[Summer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Books written by Victoria Holt are so cheesy, but sometimes that's exactly what you need. I've read a loooot of her books when I was 14/15 years old..that was the last time I've read them. I absolutely loved them at the time. I'm thinking of reading one of her books just for the old times sake! =)

[Kshydog · Rating 4 out of 5]

The cover of the book I read led me to think this was a romance book. It was but so much more about friendships, relationships, and suspense during last quarter of book.

[Tracy Carolan · Rating 3 out of 5]

As one might expect from a book by an author born in 1906, much of the characters’ behavior is quite messed up in many ways. I can’t tell you most of them because the effed-up stuff mostly advances the plot but I can say that this book, like many other Victoria Holt novels, contains inappropriate age-gap relationships, multiple acts of r@pe (marital and otherwise) spun to actually be a good thing (WTF Vickeigh??), Asian/Indian people viewed paternalistically / patronizingly, abusive acts by a spouse, and of course, lots and lots of misogyny.

Some of the misogyny comes with the territory of reading books set in the 1800’s but there is a little extra sprinkle of “women as property” and “women are perpetually in need of protection and guidance from men” in this book as compared to other books by Vickeigh.

Is it still entertaining? Yes. Vickeigh is a good writer and will keep you guessing until the very end. However, this book has more clichéd phrases / plot devices than Vickeigh’s other books and I found myself rolling my eyes at the attempts at building drama / suspense because the support for some of the attempts at building anxiety wasn’t there.

For example, the protagonist describes feeling “threatened” by the locals but said locals haven’t done even one thing that was suspicious! Instead of building the suspense, it just comes off as paranoid and ignorant: scared of people just because they come from a different culture.

This is more of an annoyance than a WTF but the kid in the book is six years old but is unable to converse normally with anyone. He is lost in a fantasy world and seems incapable of setting the imaginary aside and living in reality. Like if he were to tag along with his dad for part of the day and when he comes home they want to know when he last ate I fully believe that they would never be able to get that information out of him.

I’m sure this character was intentionally set up this way because his inability to distinguish his memories from his imagination serves as a plot device on a few occasions, but I swear to g0d if I were his mom I would have sent him to bed without dinner (or whatever they did back then) every night until he could learn to answer a simple question with a straight answer!! It’s not endearing like with Anne of Green Gables—it just makes you want to reach into the book and slap every single person there.

Bottom line: not a horrible read. There are better books out there but there are also ones that are a lot worse (Danielle Steele books, for example) so if you can suspend your aggravation this book will hold your attention for a few hours. The twist(ish) ending is still fun.

[MV · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm going to give this one a 3.5. It's tempting to round up to 4, as I love pretty much everything I read by Victoria Holt even when it's not up to par, but I can't quite do it. Where it came up short for me was the "hero" (total douche, as Sarah Mac noted!), as well as the story of the villain which to me was extremely predictable. I think I've read too many VHs because I correctly guessed who the villain was the second they appeared in the story (before they even did anything), and I also had an idea of what their story would be (which turned out to be right on the nose). Our heroine seemed like such a fool in places near the end when she still wasn't getting it. I also found some of the aspects of the fate of the pearls kinda hard to swallow.
Loved the characterization, the beautiful setting of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) and the surprise ending. I genuinely wasn't expecting what ultimately happened, and I'll leave it at that. Still, something keeps me from giving this a full 4 stars. There are much better VHs, although this one certainly isn't bad.
This book also caused me to add a few items to my dream wish list: a realistic toy cobra, a walking cane that holds liquor and whose top unscrews to make a drinking cup, and the Ashington Pearls complete with that clasp!

[Liana9 · Rating 2 out of 5]

When reading Victoria Holt's novels as a teen, I used to be fascinated with all the exotic, beautiful locations she used for her novels. I still think that most of her stories have a very satisfactory mixture of suspense, danger, and good writing. One thing that I just accepted as a teen but that I find increasingly annoying upon reading her books as an adult was how unlikeable and flat many of her male characters are. Clinton Shaw is just one example. Another disappointment is her portrayal of the local culture. I know the exotic new location where the heroine arrives is supposed to be intimidating and brooding in a Gothic novel. But surely not all locals need to be presented as sinister (even if it's also the case with locals in rural English settings in Gothic novels - a fault of the genre, I guess). Overall, "The Spring of the Tiger" is not Victoria Holt's best novel, in my opinion.

[C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. There were aspects of this book that I particularly enjoyed, which is why it has the three stars. I always love a good cursed jewellery storyline and the pearls in this title do that well. I also have no real complaints about the ending.

But I am never a huge fan of the “he could be named Gaston” brute of a romantic interest and Clinton just did nothing for me. I didn’t even really believe she was that interested in him - even with some sort of physical only attraction.

As I work back through VH I am realising that her 60s novels are almost always enjoyable. In the 70s she definitely is influenced by some the bodice ripper romance trends and it’s super hit and miss. I don’t dislike this one as much as some of the others with these aspects, I think because the story itself is more interesting, but it won’t be one I’ll pick up again.

[Antoinette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another classic Victoria Holt with a complex plot that seems simple as you read it, is tightened with subtle suspense, and covers many years but all comes together neatly. In this particular novel, I love how all of the characters except the heroine herself are unsavory.

I also enjoy how this was written in 1979, after the trend of the bodice ripper had started and Victoria Holt had been told to sex up her novels. So she tries, but she just can't bring herself to deal in smut, cutting away right when one ought to at the seduction scene and then leaving the rest to the heroine telling us that she can't resist her husband. I love that about her! But then, also, her romance novels aren't really romantic, nor are they supposed to be: they're gothic novels, or, if you prefer: novels.

[Jacqui H. Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally read most of Victoria Holt gothic romances in my teens. I'm 70 now, and still enjoy her books as a light read whenever I need one.
She always had a tidbit of history or travel info surrounding the settings of her stories. In this one, lots of period detail about Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) in the Victorian era... British oppressive rule, the burgeoning tea industry.
The major irritant in this story was Clinton, an egotistical pig who I wanted to punch ever time he opened his mouth.
A few surprise twists with the mystery, and even Clinton surprised me at the end.

[Veronica · Rating 4 out of 5]

First ever Victoria Holt book I've read! I enjoyed it so much. Stumbled across it at a junk shop as well as another one of her's, "The Curse of the Kings", which I am now beginning to read. I'm such a sucker for these gothic romances. Still mourning for my beloved Clinton Shaw! I know, I know, I'm supposed to despise him right?!? Maybe I should be concerned about the fact that I find his character so charming... Can't wait to hunt for as many more Victoria Holt novels as I can find! RIP

[Els Willems · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een heerlijk oudje: Victoria Holt, schreef in de jaren 60-70 heel populaire ‘historische’ gothic romans -oude huizen, familievloek en romances. Bijzonder voorspelbaar, maar ook wel eens fijn. Hou ik erg van, beetje een guilty pleasure… Fijne omslag ook 😉. En leuke info over koloniaal Sri Lanka en de theeplantages, waar het verhaal zich voor een deel afspeelt.