Legend of the Seventh Virgin

Read this as a kid and not at all sure how. Holt's writing style is very convoluted and difficult to understand.

My sister was named for the heroine in this novel, so of course, Kerensa and I had to read it. It's a heartbreaking book, full of romance and drama! The historical background is absolutely breathtaking! It made me a Victoria Holt fan, and since reading this book, I have read more of Holt's books! Great read for a sunny day!

This was one of te most unusual Victoria Holt books I have ever read. You don't really like the heroine, and yet you do understand her. This book reminds me of a saga - you go on this journey with the heroine throughout many years of her life. There are some captivating characters throughout and this is one book that I will never forget.

But I loved it. It's not a perfect, tidy ending, but that was what I liked about it. It had the formula of a gothic novel, but not 100%. It was moodier and more interesting. I wish I knew where all my Victoria Holt's were. But this one was the best

I don't generally read Romance novels. If I accidentally read one, then I generally dislike it. The genre and I are simply not made for each other. Legend of the Seventh Virgin is different, in that it and I have a history together. Between the ages of 8-11 I must have read this book 60,000,000 times, and when I saw it in the store I had to buy it to see if it was as I remember.It may be that Victoria Holt is a formulaic writer. I've never read any of her other books, so I wouldn't know. What I do know is that the same impressions I had as a child came back to me very strongly. I loved Kerensa and I hated Mellyora. I totally supported Kerensa's decision about Nellyphant and would have done exactly the same. The one signal difference, I suppose, is that I felt much less dissatisfied about the ending than I did as a child (her fate no longer seeming so awful to me). I kind of figure that anything that vivid can't be all bad.

I read this book when I was 14; it was the first Victoria Holt book I read, and it was all I could do to put it down!!Truly a fantastic book!