Where to start with this one.... I really wanted to love this book! First off, the premise was really interesting. Sisters growing up isolated in their victorian mansion, with a business minded father who was often absent, and a mother who sees ghosts and everyone viewed as "crazy". Each of them grow up and eventually want to move away from the house, but in the 1950's, the best way to do that (as a female) is to get married. However, once these sisters get married, they die of mysterious causes, seemingly cursed.
The writing of this book was really well done, and I loved that part of it. I felt like the author really took the time with the character development and atmosphere. However, that is kind of where the interest stopped. The book is marketed as a feminist gothic ghost story... and to me if felt more like a drama. The mystery is totally absent, and the reason why the girls all die is never revealed. Is it a curse? Is it simply coincidence? And what is the mothers secret? We'll never know. It started to feel really long and drawn out, and by the middle, I was pretty over it.
I had hoped that by the end, more of the eerie mystery would come into play, but it never did. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting a family drama with hints of a family mystery/secret/ghost aspect, but don't expect it to be the main focus or to ever come to anything. Maybe if I had not thought that way, I would not have been as disappointed.
The writing of this book was really well done, and I loved that part of it. I felt like the author really took the time with the character development and atmosphere. However, that is kind of where the interest stopped. The book is marketed as a feminist gothic ghost story... and to me if felt more like a drama. The mystery is totally absent, and the reason why the girls all die is never revealed. Is it a curse? Is it simply coincidence? And what is the mothers secret? We'll never know. It started to feel really long and drawn out, and by the middle, I was pretty over it.
I had hoped that by the end, more of the eerie mystery would come into play, but it never did. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting a family drama with hints of a family mystery/secret/ghost aspect, but don't expect it to be the main focus or to ever come to anything. Maybe if I had not thought that way, I would not have been as disappointed.