Helpful Score: 1
Once called the Queen of American Gothic by the New York Times, the novel is a classic example of Whitney's work with such themes. Her writing style is slow, tantalizing, and very smooth. Both writing style and character actions reflect the period in which the novel was written. Violence isn't graphic, and romance is likewise typical of the period. Called a romantic mystery, this book is really a mystery because romance exists only in the earliest and latest pages.
Sharon Hollis, the key character, is an innocent and sheltered individual who marries a much older man, Ross Logan. A friend of her parents. he came to her rescue after her parents are killed by a bomb in the theater in which her mother was performing. Her mother was a famous actress whose life focused on the stage with little time for Sharon. Her father, Ian, lived to promote her mother's career. Lonely and starved for affection, Sharon turns to Ross for what she needs.
A refreshing and enjoyable tale, the reader finds surprising plot twists amid a tense atmosphere. The couple return from their honeymoon to the ancestral home, Poinciana, to find an uneasy atmospherer. (The mansion's name is from the flame tree called Poinciana which Rossâs mother loved.) Several incidents make Sharon uneasy. She is shoved down stairs but emerges largely unhurt, only bruised and frightened. Dismayed, she finds a decaying coconut laden with ants on her dressing table and begins receiving notes letting her know that there are those who resent her presence at Poinciana and asking her to leave. With the suspicious deaths of Ross and his daughter, Gretchen, suspense builds. Who is doing all of this and why?
Sharon Hollis, the key character, is an innocent and sheltered individual who marries a much older man, Ross Logan. A friend of her parents. he came to her rescue after her parents are killed by a bomb in the theater in which her mother was performing. Her mother was a famous actress whose life focused on the stage with little time for Sharon. Her father, Ian, lived to promote her mother's career. Lonely and starved for affection, Sharon turns to Ross for what she needs.
A refreshing and enjoyable tale, the reader finds surprising plot twists amid a tense atmosphere. The couple return from their honeymoon to the ancestral home, Poinciana, to find an uneasy atmospherer. (The mansion's name is from the flame tree called Poinciana which Rossâs mother loved.) Several incidents make Sharon uneasy. She is shoved down stairs but emerges largely unhurt, only bruised and frightened. Dismayed, she finds a decaying coconut laden with ants on her dressing table and begins receiving notes letting her know that there are those who resent her presence at Poinciana and asking her to leave. With the suspicious deaths of Ross and his daughter, Gretchen, suspense builds. Who is doing all of this and why?
