G Books

I first found Gooberz over 10 years ago at a local bookstore. Since then I have purchased 3 more copies for loved ones.

It's quite random, not for those wanting a straight Point A to Point B story, but that's really the glory of it. No matter who you are, how or where you grew up, there's a part of Gooberz that will call to you and make sense to you. After all, life is quite random, no matter how much we want it to be otherwise.

Whenever I feel lost or just want to "go back to a happy place" I read some Gooberz.

It has been awhile since I have lost myself in the treasures of this book.I know my review may sound strange to some, but if you are a Linda Goodman fan you may understand. Linda Goodman both shaped and changed my life. Having gone through a very traumatic time in High School living with a drug addict and alcoholic, with very little love and attention I found a true comfort in the writings of Linda Goodman. I bought this magical book when I was 18, lost and scared, and her sorrow and pain her poetic magic, honestly made me feel that I was not alone. There are not words to describe this book. This is where I may sound a little odd, but it isn't like a book really but a journey. I am not kidding about this, I sware to you that the book will transform itself to your life. I know this doesn't make sense and I wish I could fully articulate what I mean, but it truelly does. I remember one thing that truelly stood out, was I was reading a passage, about how life is a Carousel and we go round and round. I was reflecting on it, that seemed to have meaning to me. And I remember my high school boyfriend, absolutely having nothing to do with that book, not even knowing I was reading it said to me out of nowhere, "You know life is a carousel, we just keep going round and round." Now this isn't something people tend to state everyday. It is not a typical statement at all. This is only one of many, many magical things that happened when I was in the book. It is now many years later, and the book is on my shelf, forever a part of me, a treasure that saved me at a time when I thought nothing could. I grew up, got married, went to college, got a respectable job, but the magic of Linda Goodman forever lives in my heart.

I can't believe I only just found this book. I started reading Linda's books when I was about 12-13 or so. I'm 35 now. For years I longed for Gooberz, which she hinted at in Love Signs, to be published, and now finally I've found it, after having forgetten Linda for so long.

I just wish I could give this book more than five stars.. :(

Thing is, I've barely even started it yet(just finished the first Canto) and the magic is already working on me.

Ok, here's a game(none to serious) I suggest playing. See how far you can get before this book makes you cry. Clearly I will never be a winner. I teared up before I even finished the credits. I hadn't even started on the Prologue! And believe me, it takes a lot for a book to move like this.

Everything everyone here has said so far is true, this really, truly IS a magical book. I wish I could buy a copy for everyone..

Love to you, Linda, wherever you are now.. Xx

After reading the less than glowing review of "Gooberz," I realized that we are not all reading the same book. We put into the book as much as the book "puts out" to us.

It *is* everyone's story and I think that's scary for some. It saved MY life when I was in high school and then I bought it for all of my closest friends. I continue to have a relationship with Linda Goodman to this day, even in the Spirit realm. This book touched a lot of lives. Just go to www.linda-goodman.com and you will see hundreds, thousands of Linda Goodman lovers gathered together for a common purpose.

I wish more people would read "Gooberz" ... not because it's about "new agey stuff" or because she compares a woman in a restaurant to Madame Butterfly, but for the sheer fact that it's humanity. This book is about humanity, besides love found, lost, then found again.

Trust your Higher S-elves. Read this book.

I too searched for this book, but until recently could not find it. I suppose, "when the student is ready the teacher will come!" This book is without a doubt the most magical, deep, & unique book you will ever read. Just remember that if you do find yourself with this book, there is a reason you did. You must know that you should open your heart & your "third eye" to such profound truth. It is amazingly universal in its Oneness with the reader. A TRUE love story.

A sweet book (sentimental from my childhood) about how we all should treat others. "Love thy neighbor as thyself". Excellent book for children.

This book teaches a very impotant pinciple from the Bible. It is adorable and told in a way that a child can understand and delight in and any adult can be encouraged, too. It is a MUSY BUY for your child!!
Matthew 25
35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

If Jesus Came to My House

This is an excellent book for children. I have now purchased 4 copies of this book. One for a baby gift, one for my niece's birthday and two for my grandchildren. What a great way to introduce Jesus as a friend. I think I will now include a copy of this book with all baby shower gifts. It has made a big hit and others have purchased it since being exposed to it.

If Jesus came to my house and knocked upon my door.....
This is a wonderful book I remember verse for verse from my childhood. In simple, heartwarming verses, it describes all the lessons necessary to lead a Christian life. Praying, giving, sharing, trusting, helping others and putting others first, just as you would do if your guest was Jesus himself. A message to remind us to treat others as Jesus would. A perfect model for living for children and adults.
I given numerous copies as baby gifts. Including my own children.

The book is wonderful but in shipping or otherwise the books (3 copies) that we give away as gifts were dirty and looked used (but purchased as new!!
Not happy!!

A sweet book (sentimental from my childhood) about how we all should treat others. "Love thy neighbor as thyself". Excellent book for children.

This book teaches a very impotant pinciple from the Bible. It is adorable and told in a way that a child can understand and delight in and any adult can be encouraged, too. It is a MUSY BUY for your child!!
Matthew 25
35For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

If Jesus Came to My House

This is an excellent book for children. I have now purchased 4 copies of this book. One for a baby gift, one for my niece's birthday and two for my grandchildren. What a great way to introduce Jesus as a friend. I think I will now include a copy of this book with all baby shower gifts. It has made a big hit and others have purchased it since being exposed to it.

If Jesus came to my house and knocked upon my door.....
This is a wonderful book I remember verse for verse from my childhood. In simple, heartwarming verses, it describes all the lessons necessary to lead a Christian life. Praying, giving, sharing, trusting, helping others and putting others first, just as you would do if your guest was Jesus himself. A message to remind us to treat others as Jesus would. A perfect model for living for children and adults.
I given numerous copies as baby gifts. Including my own children.

The book is wonderful but in shipping or otherwise the books (3 copies) that we give away as gifts were dirty and looked used (but purchased as new!!
Not happy!!

This is an excellent novel about the Sepoy Mutiny in India in 1857. The focus of the story is the siege of the British Civil Service enclave at Krishanpur (historically this was the siege of Lucknow). A group of Sepoy soldiers was given new rifle cartridges that were wrapped in greased paper, and the paper was removed by biting it off with one's teeth. The word spread was that this grease was animal grease, which was an insult to religion. The sepoys mutinied, killed their superior British officers, and started marauding across India.

Hearing about the mutiny the (tax) Collector in Krishnapur had ramparts built around the British buildings in Krishnapur. Shortly afterwards the Sepoys attacked in waver after wave for a period of several months. Surprisingly author Farrell describes the sufferings of those besieged with a good deal of humor, humor that pricks holes in the pompous beliefs and attitudes of 19th century British colonizers. We bring them progress, a superior civilization, yet they turn on us marvels the Collector. The condescension doesn't stop with the Indians. At one point the Collector speaks to the British women in the enclave, and silently thinks that in reality women are really useless creatures. It is the men of the world that shoulder the responsibility of getting things done. The padre runs around telling everyone that God is punishing them for their sinful behavior. A new school and an old school doctor constantly disagree over medical treatment. In perhaps the funniest scene of the book the old doctor contracts cholera, and instructs his aides to cover him with mustard plasters. The young doctor, who is aware that cholera victims die from dehydration, initiates a saline IV every time the old doc sinks into a coma. The IV brings him around, and he immediately pulls out the IV and insists on getting his mustard plasters, following which he soon sinks back into a coma. Back goes the IV and the doc becomes conscious again. This cycle goes on and on and becomes hysterically funny.

The British thought they were doing wonderful things for the Indians, but the harsh reality of it is they were creating harsh lives for their colonial subjects. The sepoys, for example, were paid near starvation wages. This is an important novel about the misguided philosophy behind imperialism. Perhaps there is a lesson here for us Americans. Should we really be focused on bringing our way of life to other countries?

Chapatis. It is always difficult to start a novel convincingly, but it's a long time since I saw it done better than it is here. The harbinger of the brutal and bloody Indian uprising of 1857 was, in this narrative at least, the secret distribution of chapatis to the intended victims. I have long forgotten what little I may ever have known about these events, and I would actually be delighted to discover that this detail was not an invention of the novelist's but what actually happened.

If paraphrased, the amount of gore and squalor that is detailed here on page after page would seem grotesque and even intolerable. As told by Farrell, it manages to be neither. This was the Victorian era, and the story is a scenario of British Victorians subjected to pressure and strain of near-incredible ferocity. The author does not spare us the specifics, and it will be a long time before I forget the spongy piles of corpses, the sense of near-unbearable heat in which I for one would have had difficulty in even wearing the stuffy formal clothes let alone dancing let alone battling for my very life, the pervasive stench, the outbreak of cholera and the indelible vignette of the lapdog chewing the face off a fallen defender. Even more extraordinary, to me, than the way they keep going is what they don't do and in particular what they think and don't think. There is no real instance of irrational panic whatsoever, and although the Padre for one has clearly gone slightly round the bend, the way this manifests itself is in an obsessional fixation with denouncing Sin and Heresy, and largely with his frantic concern to prove that great Victorian preoccupation The Existence of God from something like Aquinas's Argument from Design.

At the height of the horror, the Collector is still thinking in Victorian vocabulary and expressing himself in subordinate clauses. Staring death in the eye, the young intellectual Fleury is still concerned with his theories, whether in respect of the operation of guns or of the progress of rationalism. The ladies themselves, who might have been expected to be in a state of blind terror, are still weighing up the niceties of how the matrons and widows on the one hand, and the Fallen Woman on the other, are expected to comport themselves. Most amazingly of all, when the cholera first breaks out the two doctors conduct a lengthy and articulate debate on its causes and remedies, keeping the attention not just of each other but of an attentive audience.

The book abounds in unforgettable incidents - the smothering cloud of cockchafer beetles, the snowstorm, the slaughter of one rebel contingent with silver forks from the dining-room and marble busts of Socrates and Keats - but what is distinctive and extraordinary about this book is its tone. Its tone is quiet, detached and wry without being aggressively ironic. No heavy lessons are preached (although it's not hard to see which side the author is on when it comes to religion). No particular political standpoint is adopted either, the nearest we get to that being the shoulder-shrugging last paragraph. The whole saga ought to have been a filthy nightmare, but instead the reader feels rather like the onlookers who have come along with picnic lunches to watch the events as if they were watching a game of cricket. It has all been Virgil's `plurima mortis imago' - the omnipresent face of death, and yet it has been a bit of a spectator-sport too. I'm actually rather glad I'm no historian in this instance. I don't know what set off the uprising, and once the relief forces turn up so far as I know things went back to much as they were before. The author offers us no theories or explanations: he just leaves us having witnessed wholesale and insensate slaughter and wondering what it can all have been in aid of.

Its rare to find a book that combines a fascinating story with great character studies and development and meticulously researched history to make a point about our civilizing impulses. It took me a bit of effort to get into it, and then couldn't put it down. The introduction by Pankaj Mistry provides a great synopsis of the themes, and I really enjoyed rereading it after I finished the story.

"The Siege of Krishnapur', the second of J.G. Farrell's now classic works on the British Empire, (see also Troubles (New York Review Books Classics) and The Singapore Grip (New York Review Books Classics)) is a fictionalized account of the Siege of Lucknow during the Great Mutiny of 1857-1858 (aka the Sepoy Rebellion). The mutiny or rebellion, depending on one's point of view, was ultimately defeated by the British and led to the replacement of East India Company rule by direct British governance under the Raj.

Farrell masterfully recreates the insular British upper-class life in India - and the siege only intensifies this insularity. As the siege drags on and on, the inhabitants strive to maintain expected standards of behavior and decorum. Farrell populates his book with interesting characters who debate and dispute morality, religion, progress, and civilization.

Excellent introductions are a hallmark of the New York Review of Books Classics and the introduction to this volume by Pankaj Mishra places the book in historical and cultural context and adds significant value.

Highest Recommendation.

At the climax of this magnificent novel, the book's protagonist, Hopkins, the British civil administrator or Collector of Krishnapur, finds himself trapped in a Union Jack whose flagstaff has been shot down, knocking him to the ground. He recognizes it as the scenario of a persistent nightmare that had been troubling since his small enclave had been put under siege several months before. But it is also a symbol for the entire book.

The initial set-up here is similar to that of the author's TROUBLES: a group of British colonialists crammed together in a decaying building while the threat of native rebellion comes closer. But this is larger in scope, with a bigger cast of characters, grander themes, and a rebellion which is much more than some background disturbance. Unlike the violence in TROUBLES, which is seen at first hand only in the hallucinatory final chapters of the book, this one (the Sepoy Mutiny of 1857) takes center stage about a third of the way into the movel, leading to harrowing scenes of death, starvation, and disease. On the level of a simple war story, these events (based on the siege of Lucknow) make for a stirring story of heroism and courage -- especially where these qualities are unexpected, is in the formerly stuffy Collector who discovers hidden talents for generalship and strategy, and the young poet George Fleury, fresh out from England, who proves to have a strong practical streak and a remarkably cool head.

Also as in TROUBLES, there is a pervasive eroticism to this book, centering around three of the younger woman besieged in the Residency: the debutante Louise, chaste belle of Calcutta balls; Miriam, George's young widowed sister, tired of being assigned to stereotypical female roles, and Lucy, whom everybody knows as a "dishonored woman" although nobody is entirely clear as to the extent or agency of his dishonor. As the siege persists, the courtship conventions of colonial society are turned on their head by proximity and deprivation. There is one almost surreal scene in which Lucy, attacked by a huge cloud of otherwise harmless flying beetles, rips off her clothes and promptly faints, leaving two young men to scrape the insects off her, in the process discovering the differences between a real female body and a marble statue.

For, despite the bloodshed, Farrell's characteristic tone of comedy is present here too, but now his targets are as much institutional as personal: the hypocracies of colonialism, trivia of class and culture, and Victorian attitudes towards faith and science. As we meet the cast of characters, we find many different points of view: the Padre who believes that the rebellion is God's punishment for sin, the cynical Magistrate who is a confirmed atheist, the Opium Agent who believes only in profit, rival doctors from older and newer schools of thinking, bluff soldiers who do not think much at all but who can yet be excellent at their jobs, the aesthete Fleury whose first reaction to being under fire is to assemble phrases for an epic poem, and the Collector, who believes in progress, but attempts to strike a balance between all points of view. And to a remarkable extent, the author also manages to retain that balance. The siege is a crucible in which every kind of received attitude may be tested, and for the most part found wanting. But Farrell is never preachy or polemical; he does not make everything subservient to a single point of view, even the anti-colonial one. His great gift is to keep you thinking, even as you turn the pages with bated breath. A brilliant achievement!

This is the best book on ADHD that I have read! Sometimes the scenarios were so right on that I felt like the author must live in our house. I feel like I have a much better understanding of my daughter since reading the book. I put into practice some of the tips right away and noticed results immediately. Before reading this, I was still questioning my daughter's diagnosis but not anymore. This book may have saved my daughter's self-esteem as I now feel confident with how to help her get through her hard times.

My daughter's pediatrician recommended this book. It is a look into my daughter's present struggle with an explanation of "why" & how to help. It gives insight into her future struggles & how to prepare & possibly even avoid some situations. It explains the DIFFERENT way ADHD affects girls than boys! Highly recommended!

would have helped me understand my daughter, and myself, better. This book presents the research in a way any parent can understand. It also let me know what to expect for the future. Most of the books I've read ignore the differences between ADD in boys and girls-- not this one. This book should be handed to parents of ADD girls as soon as the diagnosis is made, if not sooner.

Whoa! Easy to consume and lots of documentation. As a mom of a newly diagnosed AD/HD inattentive type daughter, I am glad I got this book.

After being frustrated and watching my daughter start to fail I was finally able to convince teachers that she had a problem with add, just because your daughter is not bouncing off the walls doesn't meant there isn't a problem. This book help me to explain many painful experiences so that the staff was able to finally step in and help. My daughter is now in excelled classes, not on meds and yes we still have our interesting days but we are able to handle them better. Our social worker used this book to give an inservice during the summer. Teachers are often taught to identify boys who cause problems as add candidates. Girls who are day dreamers or chatty cathys are overlooked, and often highly intelligent children mimic add qualities, and are just 'hardwired' differenly, they can be seen as challenging authority and problems, too often used as tutors to their classmates, when they get home is when they have a melt down, but being people pleasers somehow hold it together all day at school and save it for mom. Get the book! It saved our family.

The 41st Century is full of mysteries. Like what happened to Ancient Yankees who lived in North America? Why did they die out and how did they live. One day a tomb, untouched, is found and it gives us a glimpse of what these Ancient Yankees were like in the 20th Century. Sacred items, musical instruments, and the sacred point will make you laugh and wonder how much of OUR knowledge is based on such conclusions?

Motel of the mysteries is a fun, easy read.
Everyday items are seen in the light of future archeologists, with interesting, funny and sometimes insightful interpretations. Good book to share with others.

My students are looking at ancient cultures and what a great book to start with. We learn about making inferences from observation and our own prior knowledge. This book is great on teaching this.

Absolutely enjoyable, all age readership done with genuine style and that utterly necessary dose of humor so lacking in our modern world. Motel of the Mysteries truly does show what happens when we, the "modern" researchers, imprint our beliefs and values on a prior culture. It is most definitely worth reading. I bought several copies for my friends.

Archaeologists spend so much time thinking about the past, and it's inevitable that occasionally we wonder just what those in the future will think about us. This does, of course, poke some fun at the profession and the logic employed in how we come about our conclusions, while making you wonder just how wrong we might be in that regard. A must-read for archaeologists with a sense of humor, though just about anyone will find this humorous and entertaining.

Another wonderful Georgette Heyer romance which can be read over and over. A definite keeper.

Though I never read a Georgette Heyer romance I didn't like, "Cotillion" was the first one that I wanted to immediately start over from the beginning and read all over again. What wonderful characters, what a clever plot, what a delightful (and only slightly predictable) ending. I'd love to read a sequel.

Absolutely my favorite book by Georgette Heyer. Smart, very humorous,
delightful.
Her characters are completely believable and the quandarys some of them find themselves in are hilarious. That's what makes the novel so brilliant.
My best wish is that everyone could discover the works of Georgette Heyer. Because she will make you laugh!

I first discovered Georgette Heyer when I was a teenager. I read her book Friday's Child and was completely hooked. Cotillion is one of my favorites. The interweaving of the romances of four different couples is delightful. By the end of the book, you feel as if you have spent time with friends.

I cannot recommend Heyer's books too highly. She, in my opinion, created the Regency romance genre (Ms. Austen's books were the contemporary novels of her period.) Heyer created a fictional, glittery, aristocratic world which which is still being utilized by historical romance and regency novelists today. It is interesting to note that she is being republished under historical romances - a genre that relies heavily on sexual escapades. Heyer's books are romantic but not sexual. She is able to build a tension which culminates with a kiss rather than a bed romp.

These are books you can enjoy and still pass to your younger daughters, sisters, etc. without worrying that the subject matter is too mature.

I can only wish that Ms. Heyer wrote twice the number of books she did. I own each in hardcover and am purchasing my set of "reader" copies as Sourcebooks republishes her works.

This is the first Heyer book I have read and I couldn't put it down. It was a little more difficult for me to read and required more concentration because I'm more accustomed to Barbara Cartland's style of writing (a favorite of mine for over 16 years), however it was an entrancing book filled with wonderful characters. I greatly look forward to reading "Cotillion" again soon and also indulging in Heyer's other works as soon as I can.

With a bit of pathos mixed in (the Missing Cat)

I would have LOVED to make those rounds with him!!

Dr Camuti was a doctor with a caring Heart and Soul and had a special bond with those animals he loved and cared for.

A wonderful book!!

I had heard about Louis J. Camuti through my membership in the Cornell Feline Health Center. This story about Dr. Camuti's experiences as a NYC vet providing house calls for his feline patients is thoroughly engaging. The stories have a timeless appeal to those of us who are 'owned' by our cats.

A vet who specializes in house calls for cats from the 1940's through the 80's writes in a witting and engaging way, telling charming stories about the cats (and people) he treated over the years. A pleasant read.

I wish my cats had such a wonderful vet.

Kind of like an "All Creatures Great and Small" about cats in the city.

This collection of wonderful true stories written by a New York City Vet specializing in cats tells of his heartwarming and entertaining experiences with his patients and their owners.

If you love cats, you will love this book.

This is one of my daughter's favorite books read when she was 10 yrs old. An adult friend also loved reading the author's humorous experiences as a vet in NYC.

Judged from a man's point of view, Mistress of Mellyn succeeds on a number of levels, most of them tied in with the "whodunnit" factor of the book.

It is almost as though Victoria Holt gave REBECCA a good read and then thought to herself, "Gee, I could take that same plot and make it much, much better." So some elements of the famous Daphne Du Maurier story repeat themselves here--the forbidding mansion, the sexy master of the house, the elderly servant mumbling gloomy, doleful advice like a Cornish version of Maria Ouspenskaya. You'd think that she (Holt) would have changed the setting a wee bit though, I mean move it away from the cliffs of Cornwall, for heaven's sake, you're just asking for comparisons!

And yet think of how different REBECCA would have been had Rebecca and Max de Winter had a little daughter! Which is pretty much what happens here. Little Alvean is sort of like Miles and Flora in Henry James' THE TURN OF THE SCREW, and Martha Leigh is a bit like the governess who worried about her charges so in James' 1890 novelette. When "Marty" first meets her and tries to find out what her lessons should be, the little girl is rude, disrespectful, and totally spoiled by having been allowed to run free. Plus her father's aristocratic snobbery towards the middle class has infected young Alvean so she feels no compunction about telling Martha that she doesn't have to listen to her.

The whodunnit aspect comes towards the end of a long and suspenseful story. The very last person in the world who you would suspect, turns out to be the killer, a mad monster whose actions seem incalculably cruel. Only later do you begin to piece it together and to feel even a little sympathy for the murderer, who was coming from a very tough place which Victoria Holt sketches out pretty well. Anyhow, I liked it, but I can see how if you read 50 of these books they would all start to seem the same.

Martha Leigh is the central female character of this delightful story. The tale is told, mainly in the first person, with added dialogue.
After the death of their father, 20 year old Martha and her 18 year old sister Phillida, are taken to London by their aunt Adelaide, for 'a season'. At the end of that season Phillida had married, but after four years of living with her aunt, Martha still had not found a husband.
"There are two courses open to a gentlewoman when she finds herself in penurious circumstances ...." aunt Adelaide had said. "One is to marry, and the other to find a post in keeping with her gentility."
Thus, one of aunt Adelaide's friends suggests that Martha should become governess to Connan TreMellyn's daughter, Alvean.
Martha arrives at the house, Mount Mellyn, to find her employer is a cold imposing man, and his daughter is resentful towards her. The house itself is a 'cold brooding house on the Cornish cliffs'.
It was only Martha's growing love for Alvean and an unwilling attraction to Alvean's father that made her stay on and try to solve the mysteries which shrouded their lives.
What eventuates between Martha and Connan TreMellyn is a little predictable, however the journey towards the outcome is a delightful read; and, there is a wickedly surprising 'twist' at the end of the book (which I'm not going to spoil for you).
The book is very well written, and I found the characters very interesting.
The author of my copy of this title was Victoria Holt. This was one of the pseudonyms of Eleanor Alice Burford. After marrying she became Eleanor Alice Hibbert. Others she wrote under included Jean Plaidy, Ellalice Tate, Kathleen Kellow, Elbur Ford, Philippa Carr. She wrote almost 200 books under these names!

Her books are VERY addictive!

Sadly, most of her books are out of print at the date of this review. Some can be purchased on the Internet or from second-hand bookshops.

This is the first Victoria Holt book that I read, and I think it was where I should have started. I have always liked the stories of Jane Eyre and Rebecca, so this one sounded interesting. It lived up to expectations. It is about a governess that finds out she is in much more than she bargained for. The house she is living in is filled with history and mystery. Her employer, with whom she falls in love, is very much the same. With twists and turns, and a huge surprize ending, this book is one you will remember for years to come.

Don't listen the O'Brien review above, this book is far from "campy" (a pretentious term pretentious people use to justify reading romance and popular novels)...yes, this book does owe a lot to Jane Eyre I suppose but the vivid characters, chilling suspense and romance make this a treat you won't forget. Miss Holt proves herself to be a writer of enduring power and imagination. Nothing "campy" about that!

What happened to Alice, mistress of Mellyn? Was she just a high-class skank who ran off with philandering neighbor Geoffrey? And what is the mystery of the leper's squint?

This is a fine combination of "Jane Eyre" crossed with a dash of Du Maurier's "Rebecca." For a romance novel, a genre that I normally despise, this is quite a fine read. Victoria Holt (aka Jean Plaidy) knows how to keep her plots moving swiftly and her surprises juicy.

This is my absolute favorite novel by Victoria Holt. I cannot praise it any more than anyone else has.

But I must correct the amazon description of "However, Holt creates elaborate characters and sets the narrative in the fabled and romantic Black Forest of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at the time of the Napoleonic Wars."

The book is set in the Black Forest, yes, but the Black Forest is in Germany(and technically was in Bavaria, which was a kingdom within the German Empire after the unification of 1870), and the book was set in the Victoria era.

I love it when an author can write a story about two people in love and keep the story clean without explicit sex. This author knows how to write a love story that will keep you reading from one page to the next until the end. I'm very impressed with her work on other novels as well as this one.

I have read some Holt novels I didn't even feel were worth bothering to review because of my lukewarm attitude toward them. This is far from the case with On the Night of the Seventh Moon. If you don't like filthy romance books full of corny, eyerolling garbage like Stephanie Laurens seems to insist on dishing out, complete with their relentless bludgeonings of copulation scenes and weak plots, I urge you to pick this book up instead.

From the beginning I was mesmerized by Holt's characters and rich, complex weaving of romance and the evildoers who would keep Helena and Max apart for a decade until they find each other again. In fact, everything about this book had me so enthralled that I couldn't put it down until the very end. Holt has the ability to write adventurous romantic novels that don't make you want to throw up when you read them, and that's something most authors can't lay claim to. If you like your books clean and well-written, Seventh Moon is destined to become one of your favorites, and I would never steer you wrong about that. I know you will really enjoy this particular novel, because it is just that outstanding.

This is one of my favorite Victoria Holt books. It's romantic, there's intrigue, lies, allies, spies, murder plots, a villain, a hero, and everything in between, using the Black Forest and the mythological characters that the heroine and at times, damsel in distress, Helena Trant, grew up with as a back drop. The forests were in her blood and wasn't afraid when she got lost in the mist.

And here comes a hero to literally sweep her off her feet. A man of many and mysterious identities.

These two discover what Shakespeare knew all along: "The course of true love never did run smoothly".

Both are lied to and deceived by people they thought they could trust, and ironically, some of those same people bring them together again.

No one weaves a story like Victoria Holt. As far as I'm concerned, she only has two worthy peers: Phyllis A. Whitney and Mary Stewart.

If you want to be taken to another place and time, and believe in love and fairy tales, this is the book for you.

This book is a real love, adventure, and mystery story. I have loved this book sense I first read it and I read it at least once a year. If you're one of the people who are picky about what to read and you have many different tastes this is a book that you can read and love.
It has a wonderful plot and a well written one to, it's set in Prussia and in England. It's really hard to explain this book when there are so many things going on (although when it's going on you don't get confused like other books of this time) Murder, Passion, True love, and many rememberable people that you'll fall in love with over and over again. From England, to her mother's home land, to the arms of a hansome Prince not wanting to be known.
It's a beautiful book and I would say that if you read this you'll be very pleased. Hope you like it!