Victoria Holt's Mistress of Mellyn is pretty good. Holt is a blurred photocopy of Stewart, but I like her early stuff.

Oh, gosh, Mary Stewart. Nine Coaches Waiting, Airs Above the Ground, Touch Not the Cat . . .

Madam, Will You Walk suffers a little from "you're troubled and mysterious, I think I love you" itis, but the scene where she's racing the train . . .

I should replace my copies, they're falling apart.

And The Ivy Tree is a wowzer. But Jilli's already said she can't find any Stewart.

And The Ivy Tree is a wowzer. But Jilli's already said she can't find any Stewart.

I sense some time spent on Half.com in my future ...

And The Ivy Tree is a wowzer

Yup.

And may I put in a plug for Joan Aiken Hodge, a touch more contemporary than Mary Stewart and another author I need to find replacements for.

I rather like Barbara Michaels' gothic romances, since she's Elizabeth Peters. They're just Peters novels with more atmosphere and less funny.

Oh, and Madeleine Brent, who's terribly out of print now, but who has fantastically assertive gothic heroines with bizarre backgrounds. One of them was a circus performer, and another one was raised in an orphanage in China. I loved Brent, and I'm sad there are no more to be read, although I should track them all down so I have my own copies.

Jilli!

Scroll down past the first four entries. ALL of these are vintage wonderful Stewart. I need to replace my copies, too. They're all 60s-70s US PX copies from Germany, brown and crumbling. But oh so precious.

What about Charlotte Armstrong? Her cozy mysteries are fun.

For whatever reason, I have a sudden urge to read gothic romances. Creepy manor houses, heroines in flowing nightgowns running down dark hallways, mysterious noises, all that sort of thing. Does anyone have any recommendations for well-written examples of that genre?

There's a new book by a new author-- Veil of Night, by Lydia Joyce--that's getting something approaching universal rave reviews. I just got my copy from the library today, so I haven't read it yet, but here's a review: [link]

Connie, you're mooshing up two sisters, which is easy to do. Joan Aiken and Jane Aiken Hodge both wrote romances; Joan also wrote magnificent kids' books. I prefer Jane Aiken Hodge's romances, at least the early ones.

Alas, Megan, I did not have time this e'en to check. See, I was running for my train, when I had to stop and help a poor little crippled puppy cross the street and find it's momm . . . . OK, not even I believe this. Honestly, I spaced it. I'll try in the morning.