Victorians! discussion

Okay, I'm going to try to get this train back on the tracks! I am so sorry for my absence! I'm afraid that my sporadic posting has completely destroyed your pleasure in this reading, and again, I apologize. I have been a moderator in this group for several years, and this is NOT typical behavior, so if you're new to the group, please rest assured that it is unlikely that you will experience this again.

I am afraid that I underestimated the demands on my time of the final semester of grad school when I agreed to lead this discussion. Having taken my state certification exam this morning, I find myself in the eye of the storm at the moment, so I'm going to use it to get caught up. I'm posting Week 5 here today and Week 6 tomorrow, and then the final post will be on time next Sunday. I know that many of you have already finished the book, but maybe you will see something that you wish to comment on.

It is in Chapters XVII-XX that we begin to see the origin of the title of the book. Mr. Henry Westwick stays in the luxurious Palace Hotel only to experience disturbed slumber, a feeling of dread, and complete loss of appetite. After a couple of days of this, he leaves, unable to explain it but unable to deny that it is directly linked to the hotel. He also learns that he was inadvertently sleeping in the room where his brother breathed his last. Mrs. Norbury then arrives, is put into the same room (the coincidence may be a little contrived) but has a very different experience. She is haunted by dreams of her older brother dying horrible deaths. She, too, ends by fleeing the hotel.

Francis Westwick arrives, seeking to stay in the same room, convinced that he is made of sterner stuff than his brother and sister. He is also defeated by the unseen presence in the room, manifested this time into a ghastly, unendurable odor. I do like how Collins mixes it up like this--each person has a different experience in the room, although all are thoroughly unpleasant.

We also see the return of the former Lady Montbarry, now having resumed her previous name of the Countess Narona. She reveals herself to Francis, who is not a fan. There are more mysterious allusions to the hand of fate and her own helplessness in resisting it, and to Agnes's role as Nemesis. Francis (who had not yet had his own encounter with the room at this point) is highly skeptical of this. When he relates the story of his brother and sister's experiences in the room to the Countess, she is first struck dumb and almost senseless by it, then determined to stay in the room herself, then to put Agnes in it. The implication from the Countess's manner is clear--she has insider knowledge about the events in that room and why this is happening now, but whether she was the cause of those events is not revealed. Her tortured demeanor, however, seems to betoken culpability on some level.

Chapter XX ends with the Countess (now traveling incognito as "Mrs. James") established in the room and presenting all appearances of being dead inside. She only shows animation when she speaks of Agnes, and we end with Agnes standing at the entrance to the hotel, with the Countess watching her through opera glasses (not creepy at all, right?).

So we're starting to see some low-key paranormal activity in these chapters. I do like the notion of everyone having different reactions to the room. I wonder if the activity will kick-up now that we're getting some of the major players under the same roof? I feel like Collins has a pretty good handle on this because I don't feel at all as though I am sure of the outcome. Signs point heavily to the Countess's guilt, but is that really a thing, or just a red herring? What are your thoughts?

It was at this point that I realized I would be finishing the book sooner rather than later.
I thought the hauntings were very effective and really grabbed my attention.
I still don't know what to make of the countess-but I don't trust her!

I'm glad you're getting a bit of a break in your hectic schedule, Cindy.