A Review: Menfreya (Victoria Holt)

"When I discovered the truth I was amazed that the web of suspicion in which I had become entangled was of my own weaving. The unwanted child I had been had always regarded happiness with suspicion; because my father had not cared for me, I had made myself believe that no one ever would. I did not realize until this time that my life was in my own hands. It was a marvelous revelation because never before had the future become so full of exciting possibilities. And understanding myself I became more tolerant of others. I could be tolerant of Jessica's hopes and fears. Adventuress she may have been; she may have come to Menfreya hoping for an easy life there; she might have hoped to lure Bevil from me, or perhaps to marry William Lister, until she had seen the more inviting prospects Harry Leveret had to offer. I could not be sure; but the woman I had become was less censorious than the old. Jessica had fought for her own happiness, as I had for mine; and I hoped she would find what she sought with Harry."

These haunting lines are from the last pages of the gothic mystery novel 'Menfreya in the Morning'. Like all her romantic tales Victoria Holt aptly captures the classic mystery and ominous danger of the great house of Menfreya by putting her heroine Harriet Delvaney as a bride in to the house that has a legend of infidelity and murder..."when the tower clock stops, it means someone is about to die"...and not until that legend dangerously comes close to life does the reader is thrown in to a plot that is spun together with threads of suspicion, jealously, love and mystery. These lines beautifully capture the whole plot of the book. There is something haunting and intriguing about this book. The story-line is set in a mysterious house against the backdrop of Cornish sea narrated by the heroine confused by the mystery surrounding her life. The final show down is as enchanting as it is unexpected with all the pieces of puzzle falling to complete the picture.

An old classic and an interesting read for the summer holidays. A mix of romance, adventure, mystery and reflection of human nature where we strive to find happiness outside us and become so busy in thinking about others and nourishing suspicions that we fail to recognize the happiness within us.