Lee Allen's Blog - Posts Tagged "saga"

A Pale Shade of Winter by L.B. Stimson

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


The beginning of a gothic saga as sins of the past encircle a family and horror lurks in the shadows that linger beneath the surface.

Lenore Kensington is pregnant, the father of her child lost to the Spanish-American War, unsure how to deal with her predicament. In her desperation, she turns to her father, who refuses to face the shame and dishonour that Lenore being with child will bring upon the family name. Sent away to a convent to give birth in secrecy, Lenore’s life is destined to be marred with grief and heartache.

Albert and Castine experience little love in their childhood home, forbidden to call the woman who raises them Mother, schooled away from other children. When a devastating fire claims their home, brother and sister escape. Presumed dead, they are unpursued, free to fend for themselves in a world they do not know. Albert vows to protect Castine from the brutality of the outside world, but his sacrifices for their survival may prove to be their undoing.

The powers of darkness circling, Albert is determined to solve the mysteries of their past, a quest that will lead to revelations none are prepared for and devastation that cannot be undone.

Brimming with gothic tension and imagery, L.B. Stimson’s first entry in ‘The Pale Shade of Winter Saga’ is a sweeping tale set between 1898 and 1915, the intertwined lives of a family torn apart buckling with guilt and shame and tragedy. In their loneliness and segregation from the world, Albert and Castine’s relationship is the centre of their existence, bordering on obsessive and unhealthy. Trickling throughout the novel is the influence of the supernatural, with many mysteries waiting to be explored in future novels in the series. A thoroughly enjoyable and engrossing gothic drama, evoking recollections of Mary Shelley and Daphne du Maurier for its atmosphere and themes.

‘A Pale Shade of Winter’ is a vivid depiction of the hardships experienced in lives void of love and nurturing, and the dangers to cross the path of the human soul. I eagerly await book two for the next chapter in this family’s legacy.



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