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.

There's a new book by a new author-- Veil of Night, by Lydia Joyce

I just started it and it's definitely good, but it's not quite as gothicy as I'd like. YgothicMV

Connie, you're mooshing up two sisters, which is easy to do.

Grr, and I spent time going "Joan or Jane, Joan or Jane, you know this, you own most of her books." Bah.

Have you read what I think is her most recent (blanking on the title), where she went back to a book she put aside in the 50s and finished it in the late 90s? It completely twists all the expectations you'd have of a gothic, because she left the first half alone and finished it very much in the mode of a modern romance. People even swear! Of course, people swore in "Strangers in Company," too. I first read it in high school, and my mind completely skipped over the villain snarling "Fuck your feet" to his complaining cohort. I stared at the page for a good minute when I re-read it a year or so ago, wondering how I'd missed it.