Peter Gunn (1914–1995)

Oh, YES! As a huge fan of gothic horror, this sublime novel hits all the right notes. Beautifully written with an artist's eye for descriptive detail, the story has that deliciously slow building suspense I love to find in old stories of this genre. Add in a mysterious family history and the hints of a spectral being lurking the halls and grounds of a marvelous Kentish manor house and this reader was left deeply satisfied by a story well told. My only regret: as a novella (a mere 64 pages in length), this story ends all too soon. Not in the context of the story itself - that is complete in its character/plot development and unrushed in its delivery - but in that I was enjoying the story so much I did not want it to end. Yes, I am gushing about this one.

I downloaded this ebook as part of the Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction "Reclaim Her Name" series of books by women authors originally published under male pseudonyms. I am now on the hunt for more Vernon Lee/Violet Paget stories to fill my ereader with.… (mere)