Grange House: A Novel

I love stories like this that have complexity of character and storyline, from a bygone era plus a little mystery. This was not an easy read. Difficult to plow through, didn’t keep my attention, odd choice of words and sentence structure. A shame as maybe it was the editing or maybe the author tried to use Victorian old English. Storyline has promise as does character development. I’m an avid reader with eclectic tastes but sadly this missed the mark. I had hope for a Kate Morton type of flow.

this is an awesome novel. i am not normally a reader of books in the gothic style (i usually stick to mysteries and hard boiled fiction), but this book clearly hooked me. it was evocative, powerful, totally gripping. the story was compelling and the writing was both sharp and beautiful. i know it's a cliche, but i think i would recognize grange house immediately if i happened upon it. very highly recommended - enjoy!

Grange House is a beautifully written, almost haunting tale of a young girl's coming of age summer. It takes place during the time when families of means spent summers at resorts on the coasts of Maine and other northern states. It unfolds slowly, deliciously, and keeps you guessing even after you've finished the book. Miss Grange, a somewhat mysterious woman thought to be a poor relation who lives in the attics of Grange House, is advancing in years and has a great need to have the family stories told. She wants the young "heroine" to be the teller of those stories. The reader is drawn into the stories, and at times it can be difficult to tell what is story and what is present reality. As the stories are passed on, there is also a friendship and understanding developing between these two women, one young and one old. At the same time, suitors are vying for the heroine's attentions. There are suspenseful moments and ones where the reader will heave a sigh of relief. This book is filled with imagery which will take you back to a past time. It's well worth the trip.

I have loved reading this book, which was recommended to me by the staff of an excellent, erudite and selective bookstore in DC. The story is intriguing without being overdone (a concern with gothic fiction) and is extraordinarily well written. There's a touch of Henry James to the story. Something not mentioned by other readers: Grange House is one of the few books I've read in years that have given me such vivid imagery that I truly savored reading each passage slowly. This isn't just a Victorian-style thriller; there are several social and interpersonal issues brought out concerning women, marriage, social status, tradition, and family as well. You care what decisions the narrator makes.

"Grange House" is a good, solid gothic novel, worthy of comparison to "Wuthering Heights", "Jane Eyre", etc. The author, Sarah Blake, deals with identity of the individual. What makes us who we really are? Are we defined by the history we inherit or by the history we choose and create? Perhaps it is our environment? The central character, Maisie Thomas, is a young, intelligent and independent thinker somewhat hedged in by Victorian mores. But is she who she thinks she is? Is anyone who they appear to be?The famous line by Emily Dickinson -- "Tell all the truth, but tell it slant" popped into my head and stayed as I read this book. In "Grange House" the truth is "slant", subjective and unique to each individual.A novel of power, manipulation and guilt, it is classically gothic, offering chilling apparitions, deep forests, a cold, unrelenting ocean, madness and ill-fated love. Truth and reality are entangled with deceit and illusion. Past, present and future bleed into each other for a truly wild, entertaining tale.

This is an exciting and beautifully written story. I came to this book as a fortysomething businessman who knows nothing of Victorian fiction but who vacations each summer on the Maine coast. Grange House is a mystery story seen through the eyes of a likable young woman struggling to find her place as she reaches adulthood in 1896. The characters, whether rustic Maine natives filled with humor and irony or more pretentious summer visitors from Boston and New York, are engaging and perfectly drawn. Yet, while summer parties and jokes and romances are pleasant diversions, the core of this book is a complex mystery that builds suspense and excitement as it is carefully constructed and then swiftly and perfectly unwound - I had no idea how this story was going to end. With much of the Maine coast little changed since 1896, I'd love to see a movie version of Grange House.