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Mistress of Mellyn: The Classic Novel of Romantic Suspense
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Mistress of Mellyn: The Classic Novel of Romantic Suspense
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Mistress of Mellyn: The Classic Novel of Romantic Suspense
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Mistress of Mellyn: The Classic Novel of Romantic Suspense

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

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Mount Mellyn stood as proud and magnificent as she had envisioned...But what bout its master--Connan TreMellyn? Was Martha Leigh's new employer as romantic as his name sounded? As she approached the sprawling mansion towering above the cliffs of Cornwall, an odd chill of apprehension overcame her.

TreMellyn's young daugher, Alvean, proved as spoiled and difficult as the three governesses before Martha had discovered. But it was the girl's father whose cool, arrogant demeanor unleashed unfimiliar sensations and turmoil--even as whispers of past tragedy and present danger begin to insinuate themselves into Martha's life.

Powerless against her growing desire for the enigmatic Connan, she is drawn deeper into family secrets--as passion overpowers reason, sending her head and heart spinning. But though evil lurks in the shadows, so does love--and the freedom to find a golden promise forever...

LanguageEnglish
Release dateDec 23, 2008
ISBN9781429994163
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Mistress of Mellyn: The Classic Novel of Romantic Suspense
Author

Victoria Holt

Eleanor Alice Burford Hibbert (1906–1993), better known to readers as Victoria Holt, Philippa Carr, and Jean Plaidy, was one of the world’s most beloved and enduring authors. Her career spanned five decades, and she was heralded as the “Queen of Romantic Suspense.” She continued to write historical fiction under the name of Jean Plaidy and romantic suspense as Victoria Holt until the time of her death.

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Rating: 3.8108553473684212 out of 5 stars
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  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Victoria Holt, Victoria Holt. She seems to pop up at every library booksale, and always with a large number of titles. After awhile I get curious out of sheer exposure to an author's name. Who is this Holt lady, anyways? And why were her books so popular? I enlisted the aid of a Holt fan for a good title to start with, and eventually got my hands on what is apparently considered an important modern contribution to the genre: Mistress of Mellyn.Martha Leigh is a gentlewoman who must earn her living as a governess. The story is told in her voice and opens with her journey to her first post at Mount Mellyn in Cornwall. There she meets her unruly charge Alvean, the halfwitted illegitimate child Gillyflower, and the gauntly handsome master Connan TreMellyn. The lady of the house died under mysterious circumstances not long since, and from the first Martha is haunted by Alice's supernatural presence in the house. What dark secrets lie hidden in the past?As I read, I wavered back and forth on the writing style. Sometimes the phrasing and pacing are quite good and I relaxed a little — only to be brought up short by something so clumsy as "As soon as I set eyes on Connan TreMellyn he aroused deep feelings within me." Ack! Another example is how at one point the heroine talks about her eyes "glistening with envy." How can she tell what her eyes are glistening with unless she has a handy pocket mirror to flip open and check? It's just bad writing, and so disappointing when much of the narrative was quite passable. Not brilliant by any means, but serviceable enough.Though I would consider myself a fan of the genre, in the end I found Mistress of Mellyn just a little too derivative. Jane Eyre stands as the cornerstone of all Gothic romantic fiction, and it's natural that following works should borrow some ideas from it. But Mistress of Mellyn borrows way too much! The entire set-up is just like Brontë's story: impoverished woman must work as a governess, falls in love with the master of the house, and uncovers dark secrets of the past. Martha Leigh is a Jane Eyre wannabe, and a rather inferior one at that. There is a Blanche Ingram stand-in in Lady Treslyn, and Mrs. Polgrey is very like Mrs. Fairfax. Alvean is a little more bratty than Adèle, but the slighting, offhand treatment of their father figures (Connan and Rochester, respectively) is strikingly similar.Mistress of Mellyn also contains hints of Daphne du Maurier's masterpiece of romantic suspense, Rebecca, which of course owes much to Jane Eyre. But du Maurier was able to take some of the same elements Charlotte Brontë uses without creating a near-duplicate of Brontë's book. And that's what is frustrating about Mistress of Mellyn — it could have been so much better.I did like the resolution of the mystery; it was well plotted, if not very well developed. The villain's motivation was a bit of a surprise to me, actually, though it should have been apparent at least in hindsight. I don't want to spoil anything so I won't be more specific here. It was a good solution, but it should have been handled more throughout the story to build plausibility. (Or maybe I just missed when it was!)So I really didn't find Holt as wonderful as the popularity of her 200 novels would imply. But nor do I think it's quite fair to judge such a prolific author on the basis of just one novel, no matter how famous. And I did find this book reasonably entertaining. I certainly wanted to finish it and find out what happened, even as I rolled my eyes at some of the clumsier parts. I scooped up a fair number of her books at a recent sale... Holt fans, of those titles, are there any you would recommend? I'm open to suggestions! I do think I will give Holt another try — as I said, I am certainly a fan of the whole Gothic romantic suspense novel, and apparently Holt loved it too.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was the first Victoria Holt book I ever read (as a teenager) and remains one of my favourites.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I am not a fan of Jean Plaidy (Eleanor Hibbert ), yet I enjoyed this book very much. She made the heroine at times a bit too "modern" for the time-frame of the story, but did not compromise the development of the story.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Mistress of Mellyn by Victoria Holt; (5*)I have long loved this gothic romance, ever since I snuck to read in Ladies Home Journal's monthly installments. That was back in 1960 at the tender age of 12, Oh My!I can't help but to reread it frequently over the years.A young woman, Miss Leigh, is hired as a governess by Connan TreMellyn, a widower, for his daughter, Alvean. She travels to Cornwall and becomes fascinated by her employer and his dead wife, Alice. While struggling with her increasingly romantic feeling towards Connan TreMellyn, Miss Leigh also tries to solve the mystery of his wife's death in the haunted mansion while trying to avoid death herself.The romance between the young governess and her handsome employer is hampered by the mystery surrounding the tragic death of his first wife. Looking to solve the mystery, the young woman starts poking around the gloomy corners of the spooky mansion set on the wild Cornish cliffs.I loved the relationship between Miss Leigh and the housekeeper but my favorite interactions with between the governess and Alvean and the governess and Gilly. Gilly was such a fascinating creature and I still find her so to this day.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I read this novel a few times already... I really like it!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of the earliest romantic suspense genre novel and I'm glad and excited that they are being re-publish again for everyone to enjoy.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What a Gothic! All the elements are here: the isolated location, an orphaned governess, an unruly child needing love, the brooding master, the mystery from his past, and the danger to our heroine. Shades of Jane Eyre, anyone? Still, Holt manages to make the story her own and perhaps makes the story even creepier than Jane Eyre.The mystery from the past was well done! It surprised me, although the clues were all there. And the danger was terrifying for me. But as any experienced reader of Gothics knows, all will come round in the end. It is the story itself getting the heroine from the start to the finish that is the joy to read. And this book was a joy.The book is recommended for casual fans of Gothics. If you've read lots of them, this book may seem derivative. However, since I loved it, I'm giving it five stars.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I picked this up at a local church book sale over the weekend on a whim - I'd read and enjoyed one other Victoria Holt book, was interested in reading more, and the book synopsis sounded good.  It sounded, in fact, similar to a favorite Phyllis A. Whitney book Window on the Square. Indeed, the first third of this book read as though one author cribbed the plot from the other:  orphaned, well-bred, but stubborn woman, forced to seek a position as a governess in a spooky old house, overseeing the education of a troubled young child, and waging a battle of wills against the broody but enigmatic master of the house.  But Mistress of Mellyn deviates from Window; here the wife is dead but haunts those who remain, and from about the 1/3 mark the story goes off in a direction entirely its own. I loved this book right up until the last 20 pages or so.  Loved it.  It was so easy to lose myself in the story... but those last 20 pages sort of let down the side.  They almost worked perfectly, but either the author lost steam or the publisher felt parsimonious.  I never bought Connon's sudden change of heart. In fact, I suspect it wasn't supposed to be a change of heart at all, but a slow growing realisation, but something was missing so it just felt like he flipped a switch.  And the ending... oh man, that ending was good.  I did not see that coming and it certainly put the suspense in the book's romantic suspense tag.  But the motivation of the person (no spoilers) felt incredibly flimsy.  I didn't buy it. Ultimately, these things, along with an embarrassing amount of melodrama on the part of our heroine upon her rescue, dropped my rating down to 4 stars from the 4.5/5 it was heading for.  It's still a very solid, enjoyable read, but it's not quite all it could have been.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    If I had read this book when I was younger, I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more, but I found it to be a rather run-of-the-mill gothic romance. I'm wondering why all the old novels were about ominous widowers living in old victorian mansions on clifts next to the sea. The characters were well developed and interesting, like Mrs. Polgrey, who always takes a sip of whiskey in her tea, but the plot was lacking the suspense needed to hold my interest. I did learn that old houses had peeps, which is very creepy.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Victoria Holt’s ‘Mistress of Mellyn’ is set in a big house near the Cornish coast, some time during the second half of the 1800s. The main character – Martha Leigh – narrates the tale. She is a prim & proper governess who is determined to win the respect of her charge, namely eight-year-old Alvean, who is a difficult girl to get along with.Martha is straight-laced, yet is still open to having a bit of fun, which makes her likeable instead of being an irritating fusspot.During her stay at Mellyn house, Martha has several supernatural dreams; dreams that are also too vivid for comfort at times. Essentially the book’s tone is one of realism, but it carries an eerie edge, creating suspense. Martha sometimes has the feeling of being watched – and she’s usually correct in this assumption.In all the plot is well thought out and the characters are convincing.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Interesting gothic tale told in the first person. The mystery/suspense plot definitely took center stage with the romance falling to the background, but that worked well here, I think.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I almost want to give it that third star, but the melodrama didn't really start until three quarters of the way through. Before the fun stuff was a bunch of occasional musing on Martha's part about Alice, and no real searching. And I have no idea why Connan was such a catch. He was a jerk, Martha disliked him, Martha got a crush, Connan liked her interest, Martha loves children, Martha loves Connan, Connan loves Martha. So unlike the infamous gold-standard Mr. Darcy, Connan's full character arc goes from arrogant sot to besotted without, you know, ever actually overcoming his obnoxiousness.

    And I read a lot of Holt in middle school—I seem to recall a full shelf of them for some reason—and now I'm wondering if I always found the protagonists so vaguely unlikable. Martha does so little, up unto fainting until rescue. She tries for spunky without ever being quite clever enough to manage.

    But Alvean and Gilly were good child characters, which is something I'm sensitive too, and I did like their growing relationship with Martha, though, given this novel is from Martha's perspective, I really could barely tell it was happening on her part. And of course, the melodrama was fun, when it arrived.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of the earliest romantic suspense genre novel and I'm glad and excited that they are being re-publish again for everyone to enjoy.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Wow, I totally recalled the title when I saw it listed here on LibraryThing. Read it when I was about 13 or so. The title and author really stuck with me as a book I loved, but now have no idea of the content. Dying brain cells here! Might be interesting to see if it holds up for an adult reader. Will revise my stars upward if I take the plunge.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This Gothic romance first published in 1960 is one of those rare romance novels I read as a teen that I remember--and remember fondly; it still holds up on a read decades later. These days you find Holt in the general fiction section in my neighborhood Barnes and Noble, not the romance section--indicative of its near classic status as a work of "romantic suspense." Set in Victorian-era Cornwall, the heroine, Martha, is entering a position as a governess at Mellyn. This is a well-written first person narrative, though the prose style isn't the equal of du Maurier or Stewart, it's better than all but a handful of the books found on the romance aisle. There are some memorable lines--Martha to someone flirting with her: Since I resemble a hedgehog, at least I'm not spineless. And she isn't, although I think she harps too much on her lowly social status as a governess. Comparing her again to Stewart (and there are a number of similarities to Stewart's Nine Coaches Waiting) Holt strikes me as melodramatic--but certainly atmospheric and spooky. I liked Martha's relationship with the two children in this story, Alvean and Gilly--the last so striking a character she's the clearest memory I had from my first read decades ago. The book works well as a mystery with a good twist.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Victoria Holt, Victoria Holt. She seems to pop up at every library booksale, and always with a large number of titles. After awhile I get curious out of sheer exposure to an author's name. Who is this Holt lady, anyways? And why were her books so popular? I enlisted the aid of a Holt fan for a good title to start with, and eventually got my hands on what is apparently considered an important modern contribution to the genre: Mistress of Mellyn.Martha Leigh is a gentlewoman who must earn her living as a governess. The story is told in her voice and opens with her journey to her first post at Mount Mellyn in Cornwall. There she meets her unruly charge Alvean, the halfwitted illegitimate child Gillyflower, and the gauntly handsome master Connan TreMellyn. The lady of the house died under mysterious circumstances not long since, and from the first Martha is haunted by Alice's supernatural presence in the house. What dark secrets lie hidden in the past?As I read, I wavered back and forth on the writing style. Sometimes the phrasing and pacing are quite good and I relaxed a little — only to be brought up short by something so clumsy as "As soon as I set eyes on Connan TreMellyn he aroused deep feelings within me." Ack! Another example is how at one point the heroine talks about her eyes "glistening with envy." How can she tell what her eyes are glistening with unless she has a handy pocket mirror to flip open and check? It's just bad writing, and so disappointing when much of the narrative was quite passable. Not brilliant by any means, but serviceable enough.Though I would consider myself a fan of the genre, in the end I found Mistress of Mellyn just a little too derivative. Jane Eyre stands as the cornerstone of all Gothic romantic fiction, and it's natural that following works should borrow some ideas from it. But Mistress of Mellyn borrows way too much! The entire set-up is just like Brontë's story: impoverished woman must work as a governess, falls in love with the master of the house, and uncovers dark secrets of the past. Martha Leigh is a Jane Eyre wannabe, and a rather inferior one at that. There is a Blanche Ingram stand-in in Lady Treslyn, and Mrs. Polgrey is very like Mrs. Fairfax. Alvean is a little more bratty than Adèle, but the slighting, offhand treatment of their father figures (Connan and Rochester, respectively) is strikingly similar.Mistress of Mellyn also contains hints of Daphne du Maurier's masterpiece of romantic suspense, Rebecca, which of course owes much to Jane Eyre. But du Maurier was able to take some of the same elements Charlotte Brontë uses without creating a near-duplicate of Brontë's book. And that's what is frustrating about Mistress of Mellyn — it could have been so much better.I did like the resolution of the mystery; it was well plotted, if not very well developed. The villain's motivation was a bit of a surprise to me, actually, though it should have been apparent at least in hindsight. I don't want to spoil anything so I won't be more specific here. It was a good solution, but it should have been handled more throughout the story to build plausibility. (Or maybe I just missed when it was!)So I really didn't find Holt as wonderful as the popularity of her 200 novels would imply. But nor do I think it's quite fair to judge such a prolific author on the basis of just one novel, no matter how famous. And I did find this book reasonably entertaining. I certainly wanted to finish it and find out what happened, even as I rolled my eyes at some of the clumsier parts. I scooped up a fair number of her books at a recent sale... Holt fans, of those titles, are there any you would recommend? I'm open to suggestions! I do think I will give Holt another try — as I said, I am certainly a fan of the whole Gothic romantic suspense novel, and apparently Holt loved it too.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Mistress of Mellyn succeeds fabulously as a Gothic romance. The story of a governess who has come to educate the daughter of a wealthy widower at their home on the Cornish coast certainly takes cues from Jane Eyre and Rebecca. An enjoyable voice, a likable heroine, a mysterious leading man, a nice dose of suspense, and the perfect old stone manor blend together splendidly making for a most delicious read.

    1 person found this helpful

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Victoria Holt reminds me of high school, where I first found friends who had the same love for reading and writing that I did. I remember one of my friends having a fondness for Holt novels. I just knew they were historical fiction; I wasn't really into that at the time, so I didn't explore any further than that. Since then, I've heard Holt's name mentioned more than a few times, but I never got around to picking up her novels.So I got a late start, but I think I understand the fondness now, if "Mistress of Mellyn" is indicative of Holt's writing in general. The atmosphere and overall feel of the book reminded me of "Rebecca," never a bad thing. I love that the heroine actually has a brain that works well, and the story is interesting and kept me guessing, for the most part. I mean, I had a hint that the villain was up to something, but I didn't see the whole picture until I was almost done with the book.The only thing I didn't get, that really bugged me, was the romantic plot. It didn't seem believable to me at all, but maybe I am just a horrible cynic. Or maybe I missed something. Or maybe I should learn to suspend my disbelief when it comes to romances, even good ones.Anyway, I enjoyed it. But then I always knew my friends had good taste.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I really enjoyed this book I had always thought Victoria Holt was a romance novelist so I have not read any of her books.So I was pleasantly surprised to find a good gothic/victorian story. I did not guess who the culprit was and this kept me guessing right along with Miss Leigh as to just what she was getting herself into. Well written and would recommend to fans of gothic or victorian tales.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I was not really thrilled to start this book, as it started a little slow. But once I got into it, I could not wait to see how the story ended! It has all of the elements of a great story - romance, suspense, and a little adventure. I was intrigued be the main character and the mysterious, complicated children that she took under her wing. The main male character was a bit predictable, but still made for an interesting storyline. I recommend it to anyone looking for a good mystery/romance story.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I officially love anything Victoria Holt/Jean Plaidy/Philippa Carr. I was very excited when I found out they would be reprinting some of her gothic romance novels. I am a sucker for all things english, especially when we are talking prim governesses and brooding lords, dark family secrets and large familial estates. This book has all of those things and more! Holt draws you in with her descriptions and her ease of character building. While this isnt my favorite of all of her books I have read (On the Night of the Seventh Moon) and as Jean Plaidy her historical fiction (Royal Road to Fotheringay). That being said, if you love gothic romance, there is no better author to go to than Victoria Holt.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I've been binging a bit on Gothic novels with the approach of Halloween. I remembered that I liked another book by Victoria Holt, The Legend of the Seventh Virgin when I was in high school so I thought I'd pick this one up since it's frequently on lists of definitive Gothic literature. It's definitely got all the elements - the brooding mansion, the mysterious and tragic older man, the plucky noblewoman down on her luck and forced to earn her way as a governess. It's sort of the daughter of Jane Eyre and Rebecca with a bit of Wuthering Heights thrown in for seasoning.This is not a read that will get you points with your snooty Literature reading friends, but it's a quick read and kind of fun in an old-fashioned sort of way. Yes, it's genre fiction and yes, it's formulaic, but that's not always a bad thing(tm).
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    "Mistress of Mellyn" is a classic gothic romance-- the story of Martha Leigh, who becomes the governess for a young girl whose mother died under suspicious circumstances. There's plenty of page-turning suspense, a forbidding mansion on the coast of Cornwall, and the young girl's mysterious father, Connan TreMellyn. An enjoyable read, and a good introduction to Victoria Holt, gothic romance and romantic suspense.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is probably my favorite Victoria Holt book. I've read it over and over. I really hope they make it a movie. I can't believe that her books still haven't gottan on screen. They would make great films!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    "Mistress of Mellyn" was wonderful. It reminded me of "Rebecca" and "Jane Eyre", two of my favorites. I'd always heard of Victoria Holt and hadn't had the chance to pick her up until I got this ARC from LT a few months ago. I'm a little behind, but I wanted to finish this before it got to be embarrassingly late. I really enjoyed the characters, especially Martha, and was only half surprised by the twist at the end. The language and settings were wonderful, and appropriately atmospheric for a romantic suspense novel. I look forward to reading more of Ms. Holts' work in the future!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is the first book that I have read by Victoria Holt, that is the pseudonym for Eleanor Alice Burford who has written many books in different styles and under different names.Mistress of Mellyn is very much a romantic suspense novel. The reader follows Martha Leigh as she takes up the position of governess at Mount Mellyn House in Cornwall. The house itself is central to the story; it is a spooky, cliff-top mansion hiding many secrets within it's walls. Connan TreMellyn is the master of the house who has recently lost his wife and so he has employed Martha Leigh to take charge of his young daughter, Alvean. Martha feels the presence of the previous mistress of Mount Mellyn immediately and sets out to uncover some of the secrets surrounding her untimely death.This book has many aspects which are similar to some of the classics. Connan TreMellyn has many similarities to Mr Rochester of Jane Eyre and there are comparisons with Daphne Du Maurier's Rebecca with the mysterious death of the first wife and the mysterious house on the Cornish coast. Some of these similarities annoyed me slightly but I still enjoyed it and I have to say that I really had not predicted the twist at the end.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It's been roughly 30 years since I'd read a Victoria Holt novel & I'd forgotten how completely engrossing they could be! Mistress of Mellyn was full of Holt's characteristic aura of moodiness and treachery. Like the moors the story appears surrounded by fog, a glimpse of something here and there, but never a clear view until it's almost too late.I thoroughly enjoyed loosing myself in the pages, walking alongside the heroine as the mystery unraveled and the truth was revealed. Definitely a classic romantic suspense novel and one I am thrilled has been re-released!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Review I had to write for class:Martha Leigh is a woman of class but has gone a whole season without an offer of marriage. The only other respectable thing for a young lady in her predicament to do is to be a nanny for another wealthy family. This is how Martha came to Mellyn Manor: a dark, ominous castle on the craggy rocks of Cornwall. Here, seemingly at the end of the world, Martha is given charge of Alvean Tremellyn, the only daughter of the dashing yet cold-hearted Connan Tremellyn, recently widowed master of the house. Determined to win over her willful charge, Martha gains her trust. She also befriends Geoffrey, the handsome neighbor from the next castle over; Gillyflower, the shy granddaughter of the housekeeper with a big secret; the reclusive great-aunt who knows the secrets of Mellyn Manor, and the others who live amongst the fog and mystery that surrounds the haunted Cornwall coast.What I really thought:Okay, I've really become hooked on these silly books. They're cheesy gothic romance novels from the sixties - Victoria Holt really corners the market on Nannies in Peril. The stories are predictable and I rolled my eyes quite a bit, but I just enjoy losing myself in it so much that I'll keep reading them. I figure everyone has to have some method of escapism, I like that mine is so far removed from reality that there's no chance I'd get them mixed up. And with me - that's a real concern! :)
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Victoria Holt was largely responsible for my addition to gothic romance novels when I was a teenager, and so it was with great relish and nostalgia that I re-read "The Mistress of Mellyn." The book is delightful and perfect for a young adult reader. Holt writes with a sense of proper behavior that is sadly lost today. It was rather refreshing to have a character be flustered by a kiss.The plot is typical of the genre: well-reared young woman becomes governess for naughty/misunderstood/ultimately sweet girl. Girl's father is handsome/vaguely dangerous/ultimately wonderful. Love ensues after the requisite difficulties and murder mysteries. Highly recommended.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    “Because there is some secret here. Because I want to solve it. Because I want to help those two bewildered children. But perhaps that was not the only reason. Perhaps I was a little more than interested in the master of the house. Perhaps if I had been wise I should have recognized the danger signals. But I was not wise. Women in my position rarely are.”The Mistress of Mellyn is gothic lit at its best! This book has it all, the brooding and mysterious master of the house; the practical and naive governess and the wife who died under mysterious circumstances. I highly recommend this book!