Harlequin Gothic Romance Series No. 32006 - Double Masquerade

"She was unaware of the bizarre web of deceit being spun around he - until it made her its target..." (cover blurb)

 

This is the second of the two Harlequin Gothic Romance novels written by Dulcie Hollyoak, the other being published just two books prior to this one (An Innocent Madness).  Hollyoak is the first author in this series to have two books published in it (although there are other authors who have more than one book in the series - Hollyoak is simply the first).  As with the first book, this one is set in Ireland during the 19th Century, during the great potato famine that occurred between 1845 and 1852, which resulted in mass starvation, disease and emigration in the country.  As with Hollyock's prior entry into this series, the story is dark, and the young lady in distress faces some what appears to be inescapable circumstances!

 

Double Masquerade (the title made me think of the Nancy Drew mystery, The Twin Dilemma) is the story of Hannah McCabe, an adopted peasant on the Irish countryside during the harsh conditions of the potato famine in the year of of our Lord, 1848.  Hannah's adoptive father has died, and her mother is being evicted from their home.  Hannah assumes she will go with her mother, Anna, and her two adopted sisters; however, fate has other plans.  It seems Anna has willingly given Hannah to be returned to the Big House, Balaleigh, where she was born to a lady's maid to the countess who resided therein.  The house is run by Mr. Scott-Ryan and his wife, Mrs. Scott-Ryan, with the overly stern housekeeper, Mrs. Rundle, and her nosy maid, Katie.  The countess, who will 103 this particular year, only returns to Balaleigh on special occasions.   Hannah is uncertain why she was brought back to the great house, and no one will tell her - but one thing is crystal clear - no one wants her there, and everyone things she is up to some devious trickery.

 

Poor Hannah is a lot like Victoria Winters was during her tenure on Dark Shadows - completely clueless as to what is going on around her, and sadly naive enough to believe the things she is told. Hannah even has the same dark hair as Victoria, and the disclosure of her ultimate true identity bears a striking similarity to the revelation that would have occurred with Victoria had she remained on the show.  But in the early part of the book, Hannah is filled with questions that remain unanswered and succumbs to the fact that she has no other choice but to do as she is told in a household of people who appear to resent her.  Well, not everyone does.  There is Richard Ralston, a man whose position in the house is unclear, but to whom, Hannah finds herself becoming attracted, even if only because he treats her with some small level of respect.  It does not take long, however, for the terror to begin.

 

Hannah gets tricked into being locked in a dungeon, only to escape with the help of a wild-haired old man that she thinks may be a ghost! She is nearly crushed by a rock that comes crashing down from the high wall of one of the turrets (p. 39).  This seems to be a common trope in these gothic novels, as I can recall several books other than this one where someone pushes a rock, a gargoyle, or some other heavy object from a high wall in an effort to do away with the young ingenue.  She is sexually assaulted (but thankfully not raped!), and she is tricked several times into wearing clothes that belonged to the master's dead wife or going into places where she has been warned never to go.  Ultimately, she learns the truth behind the countess' longevity and Mr. Scott-Ryan's plans for her, which all lead to her being locked up like Rapunzel in the high tower room with no hope for rescue.  And even after all this, Hollyock is not content to give her a reprieve, for when she does find a way of escape, Hannah is tricked a final time, where she finds herself trapped in a workhouse with other orphan girls, all of whom will be shipped off to Australia to become servants to the upper class living there!  Does the poor girl have any chance at a future?  Well, this is a typical gothic, so what do you think?

 

Hollyock keeps the story set entirely in Ireland, and in particular, the slowly dying area around Balaleigh. While no such house exists (that I was able to find), there is a townland in Ireland called Balally in County Dublin.  There is also the Thoor Ballylee Castle near the town of Gort in County Galway, Ireland.  Thus, Hollyock may have taken her name from either of these Irish settings.  However, Hollyock does make several mentions of Australia in the story, as Richard Ralston is establishing a life for himself there and intends to take his new bride (will it be Lady Caroline or Hannah?) to live there as well.  Yet, Hannah seems to have no knowledge of Australia, and Richard must tell her about the koalas and kangaroos and the fight for survival there.  Some research reveals that Hollyock based her workhouse girls on historical facts, as it seems more than 4,000 young female orphans from Irish workhouses were deported to the Australian colonies during the years of the potato famine to be sold as household servants for the wealthy.  As for Hannah's lack of knowledge of Australia, that is somewhat odd to me, since the research shows that Irish were going to Australia as early as the late 18th Century; however, in the early years, a large portion of those transported were convicted criminals - free settlers did not really start emigrating there until the 1840s when the famine began.

 

Another factual reference in her story is Hannah's reading of the serial, "Vanity Fair," in Punch (p. 60). As it turns out, Punch was a weekly British magazine which began publication in 1841, just seven years prior to the setting of this story.  The story, "Vanity Fair," written by William Makepeace Thackeray, was a 19-episode serial published from 1847 to 1848 in Punch, and therefore, when Hannah is said to be reading the issue (Spring of 1848), she would have been near the end of the story, since it concluded in the July 1848 issue.  Thus, once again, Hollyoack is accurate in her use of factual instances, whether it be historical events or published works.

 

I do like the fact that the author uses a locket as a key focal point of the story.  From the moment Anna McCabe thrusts the locket into Hannah's hand just before she is whisked off to Balaleigh, to the time when it is taken from her and she is accused of stealing it from the Scott-Ryan family, the reader knows that the locket holds something vital that could change everything.  The gold locket seems to go from hand to hand and person to person (sort of like that pesky bleeder valve in Dark Shadows), and when the contents are finally revealed and Hannah learns the truth, it comes as a huge relief to the reader - a sign that, in the end, everything is going to work out and Hannah will finally get the happiness she deserves.  There always seems to be some inanimate object that is the focal point of these gothic stories - whether it be lockets, broaches, letters, albums, or other items - and they manage to become the clue that provides a solution to whatever mystery is lurking behind the ancient walls of the dark, brooding homestead where the young, innocent woman finds herself.  It is part of what makes the gothic mystery so enjoyable, and it is something that carried over into the early children's mysteries of the first half of the 20th Century, such as in Nancy Drew (The Clue of the Broken Locket, anyone?), the Dana Girls, and their contemporaries.

 

Another great win for both the Harlequin Gothic Romance line and for Dulcie Hollyock, librarian and author!

 

RATING:  10  plates of stale bread and cheese out of 10 for spinning a gothic tale of terror, mystery, and suspense that keeps the reader fully engaged from the first page to the last!

Harlequin Gothic Romance Series No. 32004 - An Innocent Madness

"What strange dark presence transformed the majestic Rathmay into a prison?  Charlotte only knew it must be destroyed..." (cover blurb)

I definitely have to hand it to Harlequin - whey they made the decision to publish this Gothic Romance line of books, they definitely sought out some great writers and some fantastic stories.  Four books into the series, and I have found each and everyone of them to be engaging, well written, and thoroughly enjoyable.  This fourth book is written by Dulcie Hollyock, which is the author's real name and not a pseudonym.   Hollyock (1914-2004) is an Australian author who served as the Chief Librarian of the Victorian Teaching Training Colleges for more than twenty years.  She authored a number of short stories and articles, and it was not until she was in her 70s that she had her first two novels published, both in the Harlequin Gothic Romance line.  Ironically, both of her stories are set in Ireland, and both books feature a male protagonist by the name of Richard.  More information about Hollyock can be found at University of Melbourne Archives - Dulcie Hollyock.

An Innocent Madness, the first of Hollyock's two gothic novels, is the story of Charlotte Bolton, a young British woman whose grandmother has decided she is of the age where she must be married. Charlotte wants to marry for love, but her grandmother arranges a marriage with one Richard Chivers, the heir of the Chivers' fortune and homestead, Rathmay, better known as Rathmaiden.  The only problem is, Charlotte arrives in Ireland and is unceremoniously dropped at a crossroads with her large trunk of belongings. Leaving the trunk behind, she makes her way to the small town of Newton Maiden, only to discover that no one at the old house knows who she is, nor are they aware of the arranged marriage.  She is reluctantly allowed to stay the night at Rathmaiden until the matter can be sorted out.  Charlotte soon learns that her intended is deceased, and the new heir is actually her betrothed's cousin.  To make matters worse,  the cousin (also named Richard) lives in the tower house behind the Raithmaiden, as the original Lord Chivers lost the main house in a gambling debt to a not-so-gentlemanly man by the name of James Giles, who is the new lord of the manor.  His housekeeper, Mrs. Kirby, makes it clear she does not want Charlotte there, but Mr. Giles seems to have other ideas (none of which appeal to Charlotte at all!).  When her trunk is not only not brought to the house, but is said to have disappeared, Charlotte is left with no clothes, no money, and nowhere to go!

Hollyock definitely puts poor Charlotte through the ringer in this mystery.  Giles and Kirby doubt Charlotte's story, and even Sarah (who makes it clear she is not the maid!) has her doubts.  When Dorothy Giles arrives, Charlotte thinks everything will be cleared up, as she had met Miss Dorothy a number of times at various social functions in England - but her hopes are dashed when Dorothy looks at her and claims to have no knowledge of her!  (She later recants and admits she knows who Charlotte is, not that it seems to matter to James Giles or Mrs. Kirby!)  The housekeeper continues her taunts to get Charlotte to leave, and Charlotte wonders how far the woman will go. A ruined dress, a warning note, and the discovery from the post office in town that someone at Rathmaiden had picked up Charlotte's trunk days ago leads Charlotte to suspect something much more sinister is going on in that house.  Charlotte manages to get a secret message mailed off to England, in the hopes her grandmother, or perhaps her grandmother's attorney, will see it and send help - but before that help can arrive, Mrs. Kirby plays the ultimate trick and accuses Charlotte of stealing Dorothy's clothes!  Charlotte is sent to jail, and there is an interesting turn of events as her godfather's nephew, Jeremy Carstairs, arrives with Lord Chivers to help prove her innocence - and Dorothy herself proves to be the very witness that could gain Charlotte her freedom.

The further one gets into the story, the more the readers begins to think that everyone is exactly who they say they are.  The wicked, nasty ones are just that - the evil villains; while the more reserved, caring ones are those who can be trusted and believed.  But after the trial, the continued delays in taking Charlotte home and the secrecy of some of the characters makes one think that perhaps everything here is not what it seems.  And one of the characters suddenly reveals themself to be Charlotte's ultimate enemy, the one that has been working behind the scenes the entire time to get rid of her - and the climactic scenes definitely take a very dark and twisted turn that makes this story well worth the read!

A few factual tidbits about the book.  While Hollyock refers to the town in Ireland as "Newton Maiden," it turns out the town of Maiden Newton is actually in Dorset, England, not Ireland.  There is, however, a Rathmaiden in Ireland, which is likely where Hollyock pulled the name for this story.  Hollyock also makes use of the real novel, The Widow Barnaby by Frances Milton Trollope, which Charlotte picks up in the library and reads while she is trapped at Rathmaiden (p. 38).  She refers to the book as being "just published" - and since the book was originally published in 1839, that would set this story taking place around that time.

For once, we do not get the standard two men - one good, one evil, but which is which? - story; no, Hollyock plays the tale different for this gothic mystery.  Instead, we get one man with a secret past that haunts him - a past that ultimately comes back to haunt poor Charlotte as well and nearly costs her her life!  I love the payoff at the end of the book, and Hollyock knows how to not only shock and surprise her readers, but also to provide her protagonist with a well-deserved resolution.  If Hollyock's second gothic in this series is half as good as this one, it will still be worth the read.

 

Finally, no idea who the cover artist is - but I love the scene and expression on Charlotte's face.  This depicts a scene near the end, when Charlotte is held captive and opens her long-lost trunk, only to discover it contains something other than her clothing!

RATING:  10 black taffeta skirts and cashmere shawls out of 10 for spinning a new take on the typical gothic tale with way more villainous characters than one would expect to find!