Farramonde

by Katherine Troy

They told Lisa she should not marry the man who called himself Marius Delraven. The past of this strong and handsome man was darkened by mystery - a strange and terrible secret barely glimpsed in the sudden tightenings of his mouth, or the fleeting glint of private agony in his eyes.

But how could Lisa, so young, so lovely, so inexperienced, resist Marius' charm, his worldly wisdom, his clear adoration? Then he brought her as his bride to the ancient and isolated manor called Farramonde. And slowly another side of Marius Delraven began to appear - and with it a monstrous suspicion that turned a dream of love into a never-ending nightmare . . .

Genres: Gothic, Pulp, Mystery

206 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Edith Arundel Buxton
aka Edith Arundel, Anne Maybury & Katherine Troy

Her maiden surname was Arundel. Her ancestors were said to have come to England with the Norman Conquest and she was proud of the heritage which did seem to imbue her with a perceptive appreciation of history. The love of poetry which remained with her always was inherited from her father, a distinguished poet of his time. Her mother was a musician who died at an early age.

She was a writer of romantic suspense whose novels earned her world-wide acclaim and an enormous following. She was particularly popular in the United States. Her finest gift was for lyrical prose and she used her delight in colour and drama to such effect that the reader was immediately plunged into the story and held enthralled.

Her early novels were written also under the pennames of Edith Arundel and Katherine Troy, but it is as Anne Maybury that she will be remembered. She was a true professional who did not believe in wasting time. A promised deadline was adhered to and all social engagements regretfully cancelled. She developed early in life the profound interest in human behaviour and intrigue which was to prove a valuable asset to her writing. Also in good measure she retained the attribute so necessary to an author, a lively curiosity. She travelled widely and brought a sense of adventure into her books derived often from personal experiences of a bizarre kind. She seemed to attract excitement and used to say that she had met more than one murderer during her travels around the world. As a writer she was stylish, and this quality extended to her personality, which was full of vivid charm, lightened by a sparkling sense of fun.

Generous with her time to aspiring writers, she also loved literary chat with her peers. She was interested in new writing as well as the classics and read widely, keeping up with developments. She was a vice-president of both the Romantic Novelists Association and the Society of Women Writers and Journalists. Almost until his death she regularly attended meetings and gave time and care to helping the members and the causes in which they believe. She was a remarkable writer and a good friend and companion.

Reviews

[Sarah Mac · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent pulp. It's more of a pure romantic suspense gothic than a pseudo-paranormal and/or WTF gothic. But this particular story treats the rom-suspense formula even more delicately than usual, as it's light on physical menace & relies more on the heroine's psychological trust issues.

The heroine, Lisa, is 20 years old & recently married to the 30-something Marius Delraven. While they're waiting for a swanky new apartment, Marius decides they'll spend the intervening months at Farramonde, his family estate. But said mansion is ancient, drafty, & empty except for his elderly cousins Barbara & Gemma. Lisa is dreading their stint at the place; she got a bad vibe from their earlier visit, & now dotty old Gemma is dropping hints that Marius is dangerous & doesn't love her as much as his dead fiancee or his dead fiancee's glamorous sister Sidonie. Oh noes! Lisa must decide whether Marius really cares for her, or if he's having an affair with Sidonie -- and what's with her new friend Doctor Paul's bitchy wife? Is she somehow connected to the Delraven family, or is it purely coincidence that she & Paul are having marriage problems at the same time?

I thought the heroine was a sympathetic narrator; some might find her a bit sugary, what with her unfailing devotion to Marius, but honestly? I can understand why she was sugary. How much can one trust & forgive before demanding reassurance & open discussion of the past? A good question, that. The author didn't spell everything out in her dialogues, & even included some gentle sex scenes (very tame, but still more than usually in pulps). Lisa is refreshingly open re: her physical attraction to Marius & how that ties them together even when they're fighting.

Apparently "Katherine Troy" is a pseudo of Anne Maybury -- so I'm surprised that I liked this, given my extraordinarily lackluster response to other Maybury novels. Go figure.

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

The American edition of "Night of the Enchantress," written under Anne Maybury's other pen name, "Faramonde" wraps a story about marriage and obsessive love in Gothic trimmings. 21 year-old Lisa falls in love at first sight with 32 year-old Marius Delraven. They're both out of sorts: He's on the rebound from the death of a fiancee; she has been working in a newspaper office as her family prepares to emigrate to Australia. So why not marry? And then why not move back to his family's estate, where his spinster cousins live? Their new home is complicated by Marius's family and, in particular, by his dead fiancee's sister Sidonie, who's still around and who seems to be carrying a torch for him. No shrinking violet, Lisa does her best to navigate the murky relationships and make sense of it all. The novel is an interesting combination of the author's earlier published works as a writer of straight romance, combined with the mystery and gothic overtones that were in vogue at the time. The British edition has a longer prologue and epilogue that sets up the story and sees it out; while the American one compresses it to give it a "haunted house" theme that actually isn't reflective of the actions of the novel, which are really more of a "haunted family."

[Erica Leigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like a too long soap where nothing happens.