Whispers Of The Night
For all fans of the old Gothic novel, this is an author to consider: Lydia Joyce creates a brooding atmosphere and rather creepy settings. Her heroine, Alcyone, is no Victorian miss, and is rather a trial to the men of her day. She is blunt, intelligent, rational and quick-witted. The beginning of this novel sets the tone at a high level of dramatic tension: night arrival at a stone castle, a handsome man who doesn’t quite look like his pictures, a quick wedding that she is rushed into, and then that wedding supper…
The subsequent action revolves around the period of adjustment difficulties of the newlywed pair, since he is both a spymaster and planning to use her dowry to modernize his country. This results in some dissension: she takes off across the Danube, and they both fall into the hands of the Ottomans. A follow-up may be planned.
