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The Curse of Morton Abbey Kindle Edition
Clarissa Harwood
(Author)
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Solicitor Vaughan Springthorpe knows perfectly well that Sir Peter Spencer’s offer of employment seems too good to be true: he hires her sight unseen, offering a suspiciously large salary to prepare the sale of Morton Abbey, his crumbling Yorkshire estate. But few people in late-Victorian England will entrust their legal affairs to a woman, and Vaughan is desperate to prove herself.
Once at Morton, Vaughan discovers that someone is determined to drive her away. An intruder tries to enter her bedroom at night, gunshots are fired outside her window, and an eerie crying echoes from the uninhabited second floor. Even Netherton, the nearest village, seems odd: the picturesque houses and perfect-looking families are haunted by dark secrets connected to Morton Abbey itself.
To complete her work and solve the mystery at the heart of Morton, Vaughan needs the help of Joe Dixon, the handsome gardener, and Nicholas Spencer, her employer’s irascible invalid brother. But with her questions diverted, her progress thwarted, and her sleep disrupted by the crying, will Vaughan escape Morton Abbey with her sanity intact or be cursed by the secrets within?
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LanguageEnglish
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Publication dateOctober 26, 2021
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File size3865 KB
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Editorial Reviews
Review
- Mimi Matthews, USA Today bestselling author
"A beautiful blend of history, romance, and mystery, with a hauntingly gothic spirit."
- Dianne Freeman, Agatha and Lefty Award-winning author of the Countess of Harleigh mystery series
"A pacey Victorian Gothic full of suspense, romance, and a refreshing amount of feminist sensibility. A resounding five stars!"
- Terry Lynn Thomas, USA Today bestselling author of The Silent Woman, The Family Secret, and House of Lies
"Clarissa Harwood proves herself to be a mistress of romantic suspense in The Curse of Morton Abbey, a delectably gothic page-turner. With echoes of The Secret Garden and the Brontës, The Curse of Morton Abbey will keep you reading late into the night to uncover its dark final twists. Fans of Hester Fox and Mimi Matthews will want to devour this one!"
- Kris Waldherr, author of The Lost History of Dreams and Doomed Queens
"Like the bare branch of a tree tapping on a nighttime window, this absorbing novel shivers with mystery and romantic possibility. Clarissa Harwood has created a gothic wonder, a captivating novel filled with secrets, betrayal, and the echo of invisible footsteps down a dark corridor. This book is a delight."
- Carrie Callaghan, author of A Light of Her Own and Salt the Snow
"A perfectly ominous and enthralling page-turner of a mystery, The Curse of Morton Abbey is an exquisite mix of Edgar Allan Poe and Jane Eyre. You won't be able to put it down until you've pursued the sinister labyrinth of the story through each increasingly dark twist and turn, and come to the explosive, astonishing end."
- Lauren Sapala, author of The INFJ Writer and West is San Francisco
"Mix together a gloomy, ancient abbey in rainswept Yorkshire, a spikey, determined heroine, a dark secret to unravel and you could have the elements for any Gothic novel. What makes The Curse of Morton Abbey special is the author's understanding of the genre, her fluid prose, impeccable Victorian-era details, and a twisty plot to upend all of your expectations. For the full effect, I highly recommend reading it by flickering candlelight this Halloween season."- Laurel Ann Nattress, Austenprose
About the Author
Product details
- ASIN : B097Q9TF46
- Publication date : October 26, 2021
- Language : English
- File size : 3865 KB
- Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
- Text-to-Speech : Enabled
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Not Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 361 pages
- Lending : Enabled
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Best Sellers Rank:
#80,335 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #443 in Gothic Romances
- #525 in Gothic Fiction
- #851 in Gothic Romance
- Customer Reviews:
About the author
Clarissa Harwood is the author of three historical novels. Publishers Weekly called her first novel, IMPOSSIBLE SAINTS, "a rich debut." Her second novel, BEAR NO MALICE, won the Editor's Choice award from the Historical Novel Society, and Kirkus Reviews praised it as "a smart and highly civilized tale about love, temptation, and second chances."
Clarissa holds a PhD in English Literature with a specialization in Nineteenth-Century British Literature. In addition to being a proud member of the Historical Novel Society, Clarissa is a part-time university instructor and full-time grammar nerd who loves to explain the difference between restrictive and nonrestrictive clauses. Born and raised on the Canadian prairies, she currently ives in Ontario, Canada, with her husband and three neurotic cats.
To learn more, visit www.clarissaharwood.com
Customer reviews
Top reviews from the United States
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It is sure, this book has very much a taste of the stories of my youth, the house with its secrets and shadow, the reclusive protagonist, the unsettling servants, the described plain but clever heroine and the deceit.
Everything for a good read with some spookiness.
It is described as The Secret Garden meets Jane Eyre, and yes it could be described as such, except the protagonists are not children but full grown persons, damaged by their past and much flawed.
And as the story is told in the first person, we follow this adventure from the unique point of view of Vaughan.
Vaughan is so much more than her fragile appearance let picture, Nick out of spite called her a crippled spinster. And while she might limp and was unmarried, she is no bitter woman. She just reprioritized her needs and wants. She was told all her life she was the plain Jane of the family, the youngest and the least provided with charms and beauty of all the five Springthorpe daughters. Why maybe had she been indulged by their father, allowed to follow him in his study and offices.
As the mainly prospects expected for a young women are rather seen as out of her reach, Vaughan has found solace in her father’s business, but now he is no more, she refuses to be the spinster aunt, she wants to strike on her own but the simple fact of being a woman is like a “no” to any of her request, until she found a way to avoid specifying her sex.
So when she is handed the means to prove her worth, she is not one to back down, she will prove she is capable, organized and reliable. And she is even more.
Courageous to not run crying or fainting when noises, shooting and attempts to scare her could have, she is determined to stay and accomplish the job she has been hired for.
Upon her arrival, she has to deal with the “glumlyness” of the place, the hostility of the inhabitants, the absence of her employer but the unsettling presence of his brother Nicholas Spencer. Hopefully she has encountered a kind of an allied In Joe, a man who alleviates a bit of her loneliness, as Mr Spencer is much hostile to her presence.
Vaughan is in for the adventure of her life, she won’t walk away the same sheltered naive woman she was before, her sanity, loyalty and heart are to be tested, for her to determine the edges she can walk by, the tenets she stands by and if can she follow and trust her chest organ.
So as the noose tighten, true motives, sins and real characters are to be revealed when the masks fall.
Whom can she trust as no one is whom it seems.
If one this is certain, it will not be my last read by the author, she created the perfect read for a cosy afternoon with the right dose of gloom, chillness, creepy characters plus a sweet romance.
5 stars
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 kisses
By Élodie Nicoli on October 26, 2021
It is sure, this book has very much a taste of the stories of my youth, the house with its secrets and shadow, the reclusive protagonist, the unsettling servants, the described plain but clever heroine and the deceit.
Everything for a good read with some spookiness.
It is described as The Secret Garden meets Jane Eyre, and yes it could be described as such, except the protagonists are not children but full grown persons, damaged by their past and much flawed.
And as the story is told in the first person, we follow this adventure from the unique point of view of Vaughan.
Vaughan is so much more than her fragile appearance let picture, Nick out of spite called her a crippled spinster. And while she might limp and was unmarried, she is no bitter woman. She just reprioritized her needs and wants. She was told all her life she was the plain Jane of the family, the youngest and the least provided with charms and beauty of all the five Springthorpe daughters. Why maybe had she been indulged by their father, allowed to follow him in his study and offices.
As the mainly prospects expected for a young women are rather seen as out of her reach, Vaughan has found solace in her father’s business, but now he is no more, she refuses to be the spinster aunt, she wants to strike on her own but the simple fact of being a woman is like a “no” to any of her request, until she found a way to avoid specifying her sex.
So when she is handed the means to prove her worth, she is not one to back down, she will prove she is capable, organized and reliable. And she is even more.
Courageous to not run crying or fainting when noises, shooting and attempts to scare her could have, she is determined to stay and accomplish the job she has been hired for.
Upon her arrival, she has to deal with the “glumlyness” of the place, the hostility of the inhabitants, the absence of her employer but the unsettling presence of his brother Nicholas Spencer. Hopefully she has encountered a kind of an allied In Joe, a man who alleviates a bit of her loneliness, as Mr Spencer is much hostile to her presence.
Vaughan is in for the adventure of her life, she won’t walk away the same sheltered naive woman she was before, her sanity, loyalty and heart are to be tested, for her to determine the edges she can walk by, the tenets she stands by and if can she follow and trust her chest organ.
So as the noose tighten, true motives, sins and real characters are to be revealed when the masks fall.
Whom can she trust as no one is whom it seems.
If one this is certain, it will not be my last read by the author, she created the perfect read for a cosy afternoon with the right dose of gloom, chillness, creepy characters plus a sweet romance.
5 stars
𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝗹𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 kisses
Vaughan is a formidable heroine who comes into her own with agency and an unexpected romance. As she spends time at Morton Abbey, she finds the friendship she needs: gradual and insightful with Nicholas, fast and joyfully with Joe. I loved experiencing the twists and surprises through her POV and seeing how she learns love can conquers all.
Morton Abbey is a character all its own, with threatening, mysterious noises and secrets hinted at by the household and nearby town. It is scary to Vaughan for those reasons, but it is all the more portentous as a place where she is challenged to confront herself: her physical flaws, her mental capabilities, and her emotional vulnerability.
I really like the way The Curse of Morton Abbey considers the scenario of the classic The Secret Garden with grown-up leads and draws out the element of sacrifice with some influence by Brontë’s Jane Eyre. This novel has a different feel than Harwood's previous ones -- it is more mysterious than her Edwardian romance titles. Reading this book makes me appreciate her skill in storytelling all the more with her versatility and voice still carrying a heavy dose of feminism in the context of the era yet drawing out tones fitting of its gothic setting.