Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Search - Grange House

Grange House
Grange House
Author: Sarah Blake
Maisie Thomas spends every summer at Grange House, a hotel on the coast of Maine ruled by the elegant Miss Grange. In 1896, when Maisie turns 17, her visit marks a turning point. On the morning after her arrival, local fishermen make a gruesome discovery: drowned lovers, found clasped in each other’s arms. It’s only the first in a se...  more »
Info icon
ISBN-13: 9780312280048
ISBN-10: 0312280041
Publication Date: 6/1/2001
Pages: 376
Rating:
  • Currently 3.3/5 Stars.
 30

3.3 stars, based on 30 ratings
Publisher: Picador USA
Book Type: Paperback
Other Versions: Hardcover
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review

Top Member Book Reviews

thameslink avatar reviewed Grange House on + 723 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 5
Very Victorian Gothic tale, reminiscent of the Brontes. Fabulous read...extremely well researched and the writing is pure music. Great tale that grabs you and the writing is a delight to read. I loved this book!
reviewed Grange House on + 23 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
Grange House was once the family home of a prosperous quarry owner, but a spinster daughter, reclusive one-time "authoress" Miss Nell Grange, is the only Grange left on the premises; a formidable lady cook and a managing hostess run the hotel. Accompanied by her parents, 17-year-old Maisie Thomas has been a guest at Grange House every summer of her life. She's enthralled with Miss Grange and dreams of being a writer herself. This summer's visit augurs ill, however. A pair of lovers are discovered drowned on a foggy morning, there is a mysterious grave in the woods, and Miss Grange drops strange hints about babies and deaths, drawing Maisie into an examination of the past and conjuring up ghosts. Meanwhile, Maisie's parents are pushing her toward a marriage to Jonathan Lanman, her father's young associate. Maisie's father asserts that marriage "puts solid ground beneath one's feet...a place. You can not have a history without a place." But Maisie is drawn to another guest, imaginative, bantering travel writer Bart Hunnowell. The format is a story within a story: as Miss Grange recounts the often improbable events of her life, Maisie is lost in a blur of fantasy and reality until she begins to doubt even her own identity. The fog, the dense woods and the sea itself are virtual characters in poet Blake's (Full Turn) gothic debut, reflecting the gloom of long-kept secrets. A nighttime assignation in a rowboat finally threatens tragedy, and the narrative plunges to a two-hankie finale.
reviewed Grange House on + 149 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3
Very intriguing story - a family secret and a romance at the same time. Keeps you guessing about the outcome until the very end.
dinah avatar reviewed Grange House on + 11 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
A very entertaining, turn of the century tale. Its nice to get lost in that time period once in awhile.
Read All 11 Book Reviews of "Grange House"

Please Log in to Rate these Book Reviews

mom2nine avatar reviewed Grange House on + 342 more book reviews
This book was too wordy for no reason, meaning I didn't find the writing style lyrical, just overblown. It would have been nice to know why the opening scene of the couple in the water happened. I enjoyed Postmistress, but this one didn't seem to be the same author.
reviewed Grange House on + 426 more book reviews
I rarely ever give up on a book, but I did on this one. I had read the good reviews on her second book and prefer starting with an author's beginning work.

It had brief periods of interest and good writing, but it lagged terribly.
reviewed Grange House on + 5 more book reviews
Great book. Very intriguing, surprise ending, awesome historical fiction.
WhidbeyIslander avatar reviewed Grange House on + 713 more book reviews
Way too slow for my tastes, although as others say, prose is interesting. Never finished it, so I can't say is the plot turns out to be interesting or not.


Genres: