Saturday, June 08, 2019

THE SILENCE OF HERONDALE





The Silence of Herondale, Joan Aiken, Doubleday & Company, 1964, 185 pp
 
I first discovered Joan Aiken in 1991. That was before the internet, so my method for finding books was the library. Remember those days? Ever since I first read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn I had dreamed of following Francie's method of reading all the fiction in the library from authors whose names started with A all the way to Z. I never finished the A's! I did get to AI and there I found Joan.
 
I read eight of her novels for adults in the 90s and remember many of them fondly. Now all the rest of her books are on My Big Fat Reading Project lists. 

The Silence of Herondale was her second stand alone novel. It is a Gothic mystery with the requisite creepy elements and romance. The storytelling is just as smooth as I have always found in her books. Though reminiscent of early Mary Stewart and somewhat in the style of Agatha Christie, it has its own flavor and does not feature a detective. 

Deborah Lindsay, originally from Canada, is down to her last few pounds. Her parents died tragically a couple years ago so she is trying her luck in London, living in a boarding house, attempting to make a living writing for magazines. Her room was recently pillaged by a robber. 

She has accepted a job as governess to a teenage girl, Carreen, a prodigy who has already written several plays produced on the stage to great acclaim. Everything seems just a little off, especially Carreen's guardian who hired her, but she has taken the job simply to survive.

Soon enough all goes quite wrong. Deborah and Carreen land in a crumbling mansion outside the small English town of Herondale, where the girl's uncle has just died, where her slightly shady cousin has turned up, and where nobody in Herondale is talking.

The characters are great, the several mysterious aspects of life in Herondale create suspense and both Deborah and her charge find themselves in danger. It was another refreshing palate cleanser from the rigors of Sisters In Law. I could let Deborah take all the risks and let Joan Aiken explain it all to me.

16 comments:

  1. I don't think I've read anything by Joan Aiken yet, although I've read some of her sister Jane's books (including one I've reviewed today). This sounds like a book I would probably enjoy!

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    1. I think you would enjoy her books. I am about to go read your review of the Jane Aiken Hodges book I got a response on Twitter from Joan's daughter who runs a website about her mom. That was pretty cool!

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  2. Good review. It's a great book.

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    1. Thank you Louise and thanks for stopping by!

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  3. Sounds like good, chilling gothic fun!

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  4. I had never heard of Joan Aiken but this sounds good. I think that in particular my wife would like her as a writer so I will recommend the books to her.

    Though I never tried to read the entire library. I have fond memories of searching through the library for books long before there was an internet.

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    1. Great Brian. Those library memories are some of my favorite ones.

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  5. Very decidedly creepy cover. I've never heard of this author, but I will keep this one in mind. I too need palette cleansers every so often and fiction does the trick!

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    1. Palette cleansers are vital for us who read lots of hard and heavy stuff. She also wrote great kids books such as The Wolves of Willoughby Chase series.

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  6. Ha, I liked that you followed Francie's reading method. If anyone could get thru the alphabet at the library, you could. The mysterious silence of the town makes it intriguing to me. Is it a spooky mansion too?

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    1. Finally I realized that library collections are way bigger now than they were when Francie was using that method. Ha Ha. Everything in this little novel is spooky, that's why I liked it so much.

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  7. This sounds good! You can never go wrong with a good gothic mystery novel!

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  8. Fascinating. I have to admit, I had not heard about this author

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    1. She is a somewhat old-fashioned one but so good.

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