The White Devil

The White Devil by Justin Evans
review copy provided by Harper
Description from Goodreads:
 Sex, Death, and Boarding School

When seventeen-year-old Andrew Taylor is transplanted from his American high school to a British boarding school--the English, hypertraditional, all-boys Harrow School--he finds his past mistakes following him, with an added element of horror: visions of a pale, white-haired boy from Harrow's past. Either Andrew is losing his mind, or the house legend about his dormitory being haunted is true.

When one of his schoolmates dies mysteriously of a severe pulmonary illness, Andrew is blamed and spurned by nearly all his peers. In his loneliness and isolation, Andrew becomes obsessed with Lord Byron's story and the poet's status not only as a literary genius and infamous seducer but also as a student at the very different Harrow of two centuries ago--a place rife with violence, squalor, incurable diseases, and tormented love affairs.

When frightening and tragic events from that long-ago past start to recur in Harrow's present, and Andrew's haunting begins to seem all too real, he is forced to solve a two-hundred-year-old mystery that threatens the lives of his friends and his teachers--and, most terrifyingly, his own.

My Take:
I must state first thing that any book that deals extensively with Lord Byron will definitely be on my To Read List. A ghost story that involves Lord Byron in any way will be at the top of my To Read List. So, naturally, The White Devil was a book I just had to read.

There were so many things about this book that worked for me and only a few that kind of bugged me. I really think that what bothered me the most was the fact that the so-called experts on Lord Byron in the book kept saying that he was a spoiled rich kid. He was never really what we would consider rich -- he had a title and was able to trade on that and his fame and amazing looks to borrow money, but he was not rich.  Right after reading the book, I would also have said that I didn't like the ending very much. But after some reflection, I have to admit that the ending does work especially within the context of a Gothic novel. I had to think back on some of Mary Shelley's more obscure novellas and remember how dark and unhappy the endings were. 

The White Devil is an amazing, dark, haunting story that stayed with me long after I had finished reading it. It has everything a story about an extremely old, haunted, exclusive British boarding school needs. The atmosphere of the school as described in the book is almost palpable. The emotions run high and the story is very fast paced. I read it in just a day or two.  

There are many quotes of Byron's poetry -- which I love -- and I think it really worked in the story. Andrew is supposed to be a Lord Byron look alike and he is to play Byron in the school play, so we get to watch him discover Byron's poetry and learn a lot more about Byron's life than he had ever anticipated. The research into Byron's life is due to trying to figure out what exactly is going on at the school. I thought the ghost story plot line worked pretty well in the novel. It wasn't really what I was expecting, but it did surprise me at first and I guess that is a good thing. I enjoyed the descriptions of the extensive research involved in solving the mystery and I especially loved the development and growth of poet/housemaster Piers Fawkes' character throughout the book. 

I was very happy to see that the author quotes from "Darkness", one of my favorite Byron poems in the novel.

I had a dream, which was not all a dream

The bright sun was extinguished, and the stars

Did wander darkling in the external space,

Rayless, and pathless, and the icy Earth

Swung blind and blackening in the moonless air;

(Now that Byron has you in his grasp, you'll have to do a quick search to read the rest of the poem.Go read some Bryon.)

Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling

Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling by Michael Boccacino
review copy provided by William Morrow/Harper Collins
Description from Goodreads:

Debut novelist Michael Boccacino invites readers into the world beyond the realm of the living in Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling, a Victorian gothic tale of the strange and supernatural. But all who enter this house must beware--for there is a price to pay for visitors who wish to save those they love. The story of a British governess and her young charges seduced by the otherworldly enticements of a mysterious mansion in the forest following the inexplicable death of the former nanny, this Tim Burton-like tale of dark fantasy is a bewitching treat for fans of horror and paranormal fiction, as well as readers who love creepy gothic tales and mysterious shadowy English manor houses. Not since Suzanna Clarke introduced Jonathan Strange to Mr. Norrell, and Neil Gaiman's Coraline crawled through a secret door into a twisted and sinister mirror world, has there been a journey as wondrously fantastic and terrifying as Charlotte Markham's adventures in the House of Darkling.

My take:
Charlotte Markham and the House of Darkling was just as deliciously creepy and wonderfully Gothic as the cover description and blurbs state. I enjoyed every dark, creepy, haunting minute of reading this book.This was such an interesting book. I found it to be very Victorian Gothic but not really a horror story, although there is much that is disturbing and kind of startling in this laced-up Victorian village.


I can't really even begin to try to explain the story -- it would give too much away and might ruin the discovery for the potential reader. There is a very otherworldly feel to the book that just pulled me into the story - much like Coraline or any movie by Tim Burton. The basic premise is that Charlotte Markham has lost her husband and has taken the position of governess for the young sons of the widower, Mr. Darrow. When their nanny dies under mysterious and violent circumstances, she takes on that role as well - and then during the process of helping the boys deal with this new loss, finds herself in a very strange situation between the real world and another, shadow world that is somehow influencing the real one in some very negative ways. Any more explanation would just ruin things.


Suffice it to say, if you enjoy dark, Gothic tales of  the Victorian variety, this would be a great choice. I really loved this book -- despite - or because of some of the very creepy, disturbing events and ideas in it. This would make a great read for October - to set the mood for the month.

The Legacy

The Legacy by Katherine Webb
review copy provided by Harper Collins
Description from Goodreads:
A fresh and exciting new voice in contemporary fiction, Katherine Webb debuts with a haunting novel about a secret family history. Already a sensation in the United Kingdom, Webb’s The Legacy is a treat for every fan of upmarket women’s fiction and literary suspense in the vein of bestselling authors Kate Morton, Sarah Waters, and Diane Setterfield. Taut, affecting, and surprising—a story that ranges from present-day England back to the American West in the early twentieth century—The Legacy embroils two sisters in an investigation into the strange, never solved disappearance of their cousin, a dark mystery that opened deep family wounds that never healed.

My Take:
To be quite honest, this book had me in it's grip from the very first page -- and I'm not even exaggerating. After finishing the Prologue, I was completely hooked.  I had to find out what was going on. The Prologue takes plce in 1905 and then the first chapter take place in modern times. Two sisters are dealing with the death of their grandmother, the handling of the estate and dealing with their own past at their grandmother's home.  There are more than a few dark secrets in the past - some from their own past and some from their great grandmother's past that haunt this family. 

Some things I loved about the book:
I really enjoyed the family history aspect to the story. The younger sister, Erica, becomes fascinated with the distant past as she tries to remember or solve the mystery of what happened to her own cousin one summer during her childhood. Being the youngest of the cousins, she doesn't remember (or won't let herself remember) the events of that day and no one who does remember will tell her. The going through old family trunks, letters, photos, etc. is just the perfect vehicle for finding out family secrets and I really enjoyed the slow reveal of the sad family story.  It was also fun that the reader is priy to information that Erica is not. I thought it demonstrated just how much of our family stories can be guesswork. I work on our family geneaology and this is an important subject for me.

Part of the great grandmother, Caroline's, story takes place in Woodward, Ok in the very early 1900's. I am originally from Oklahoma and my husband's family is from Woodward so it was fun to read about turn of the century Woodward.  The descriptions of the heat were so uncannily accurate, it was amazing.

She did not get used to the heat, which increased with each passing day. By noon the sun was a flat, white disc that seemed to press like a giant hand on her head whenever she stepped outside, pushing her down, making her heavy and half-blind. When the wind blew it seemed as hot as the blast from an oven. p. 151

I loved the way the grandmother's hatred of the Travellers family that lived on the end of the property was gradually explained. The sisters grew up knowing that their grandmother detested this family, but they were never really sure exactly why. Despite strict instruction not to, they became fast friends with Dinny, the son of the family.  The various and changing relationships between the two families  members are important to the story and is wonderful to read.  And again, we see the damage that secrets and lack of explanation can cause in a child's perception of people and cause such unhappiness.

Note: I did figure out what happened to the cousin before the big reveal in the book, but it absolutely did not deter from my enjoyment of the story as a whole.

I don't want to give away any big plot points because this book should definitely be read and enjoyed on its own. The mysteries should be savored and relished for the lush gothic story that it is. I have been recommending this book to all my friends.