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Riverwood
Nora Scott takes on the job of restoring the magnificent old mansion Riverwood, but suspects that someone is trying to stop her after she is accused of starting a fire on the grounds, and two attempts on her life are made
- GenresGothic
176 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1968
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 13, 2022
Copyright 1968 by Arcadia House.
“Our admiration of the antique is not an admiration of the old, but of the natural.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Nora Scott recently graduated from a fine arts course; her goal to become a curator in a museum department devoted to historical furniture.
Then an opportunity comes to her, one offered by a woman who was once Mrs. Curtis, the widow of the late Tom Curtis, to restore the great 40-room mansion they owned together, a stately house built on the shores of the Upper Hudson River, all the way back in the early 1800s. Apparently, after her husband died, many years before, Mrs. Curtis left the U.S.A. to live in France, and it was there that she met and married Waldo Bellinger, a doctor she met in Paris. The home was left to be managed by others during her long absence, but now the former Mrs. Curtis, now Mrs. Bellinger and her husband, Doctor Waldo Bellinger have returned to the U.S.A. with a goal of a complete restoration of Riverwood, and afterward, Mrs. Bellinger announces, they will donate the entire newly renovated estate to a historical society.
Nora is beside herself with excitement about being assigned to the project, after all, this is what she studied, and she is passionate about interior design, she loves the subject of historical furniture and has extensively educated herself on other aspects of historical design including the art, draperies, fixtures, and other adornments that should be in a home built in this era.
But another layer of intrigue is added to the job Nora is about to take on, and most interestingly, the source of the intrigue is Nora’s “soon-to-be” fiancée. They were planning to announce their engagement in June, and the story kicks off in early May, there is time for Nora to properly lay out the restoration plans, and schedule, before she announces her engagement. In short, her future fiancée has asked her to search the castle for records that might prove a theory he has…
The theory being that he, David Douglas is the rightful owner of Riverwood!
Nora is amazed as she hears him tell her that Riverwood was not so much “purchased” as it was fraudulently acquired all those years ago by the late Tom Curtis…
Nora has doubts, especially since she thought the Bellinger’s were so kind as to hire her, a newly graduated student, to take on such a grand assignment, that they could be a knowing party to a real estate fraud of any kind, much less one as grand as this. But David Douglas, her fiancée is in a good position to make such a claim, after all he’s a law student whose working part time at the real estate law firm of Prince and Hayward.
David explains to Nora that his grandfather, Neil Douglas inherited the estate, which was earlier acquired by one of his ancestors many years before that. He says that his grandfather was called to serve in World War One France, and that he was killed in battle. But he’d married a French girl during his time in France, and they had a son…
“And that son was my father,” David emphasizes.
David then goes on to tell Nora that his grandmother, the French girl his grandfather married during the war did come back to the U.S.A. to reclaim Riverwood, which was now in the hands of Tom Curtis. But she became ill and passed away before anything came of her claim.
David further reveals to Nora that he’d stumbled across certain documents in the Prince and Hayward files that vaguely indicated his claim was true, and that he was convinced that more thorough documents might be hidden somewhere inside the mansion itself…
So, Nora agrees to take on the Riverwood restoration assignment, while secretly combing all the nooks and crannies of the mansion in search of proof for her soon-to-be-fiancée’s claim.
But long hidden secrets are seldomly easy to find…
All this intrigue was revealed before the end of the fist chapter, and as a result, I was interested, and I wanted to find out what was going to happen.
And along the way I encountered a number of amazing situations and unforgettable moments, including: A dramatic gatehouse fire, a secret agent gardener, an unbalanced groundskeeper, an attempted tapestry smothering, a mad countess haunting a tower room, a perilous situation involving a tree limb, Bertha the ghost, a cabin in the woods misadventure, awkward moments at a penthouse party, a conniver in a very smart outfit, Tanuki the stories sentinel of the Japanese garden and a man with a penchant for wearing his dead wife’s clothes…
Further, I love stories featuring secret passageways and unexplained shrieks, bangs and crashes in the night…
Favorite saying found in this story: “Couldn’t see you for dust,” meaning someone leaving quickly in order to avoid something…
Very enjoyable read…
“Our admiration of the antique is not an admiration of the old, but of the natural.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
Nora Scott recently graduated from a fine arts course; her goal to become a curator in a museum department devoted to historical furniture.
Then an opportunity comes to her, one offered by a woman who was once Mrs. Curtis, the widow of the late Tom Curtis, to restore the great 40-room mansion they owned together, a stately house built on the shores of the Upper Hudson River, all the way back in the early 1800s. Apparently, after her husband died, many years before, Mrs. Curtis left the U.S.A. to live in France, and it was there that she met and married Waldo Bellinger, a doctor she met in Paris. The home was left to be managed by others during her long absence, but now the former Mrs. Curtis, now Mrs. Bellinger and her husband, Doctor Waldo Bellinger have returned to the U.S.A. with a goal of a complete restoration of Riverwood, and afterward, Mrs. Bellinger announces, they will donate the entire newly renovated estate to a historical society.
Nora is beside herself with excitement about being assigned to the project, after all, this is what she studied, and she is passionate about interior design, she loves the subject of historical furniture and has extensively educated herself on other aspects of historical design including the art, draperies, fixtures, and other adornments that should be in a home built in this era.
But another layer of intrigue is added to the job Nora is about to take on, and most interestingly, the source of the intrigue is Nora’s “soon-to-be” fiancée. They were planning to announce their engagement in June, and the story kicks off in early May, there is time for Nora to properly lay out the restoration plans, and schedule, before she announces her engagement. In short, her future fiancée has asked her to search the castle for records that might prove a theory he has…
The theory being that he, David Douglas is the rightful owner of Riverwood!
Nora is amazed as she hears him tell her that Riverwood was not so much “purchased” as it was fraudulently acquired all those years ago by the late Tom Curtis…
Nora has doubts, especially since she thought the Bellinger’s were so kind as to hire her, a newly graduated student, to take on such a grand assignment, that they could be a knowing party to a real estate fraud of any kind, much less one as grand as this. But David Douglas, her fiancée is in a good position to make such a claim, after all he’s a law student whose working part time at the real estate law firm of Prince and Hayward.
David explains to Nora that his grandfather, Neil Douglas inherited the estate, which was earlier acquired by one of his ancestors many years before that. He says that his grandfather was called to serve in World War One France, and that he was killed in battle. But he’d married a French girl during his time in France, and they had a son…
“And that son was my father,” David emphasizes.
David then goes on to tell Nora that his grandmother, the French girl his grandfather married during the war did come back to the U.S.A. to reclaim Riverwood, which was now in the hands of Tom Curtis. But she became ill and passed away before anything came of her claim.
David further reveals to Nora that he’d stumbled across certain documents in the Prince and Hayward files that vaguely indicated his claim was true, and that he was convinced that more thorough documents might be hidden somewhere inside the mansion itself…
So, Nora agrees to take on the Riverwood restoration assignment, while secretly combing all the nooks and crannies of the mansion in search of proof for her soon-to-be-fiancée’s claim.
But long hidden secrets are seldomly easy to find…
All this intrigue was revealed before the end of the fist chapter, and as a result, I was interested, and I wanted to find out what was going to happen.
And along the way I encountered a number of amazing situations and unforgettable moments, including: A dramatic gatehouse fire, a secret agent gardener, an unbalanced groundskeeper, an attempted tapestry smothering, a mad countess haunting a tower room, a perilous situation involving a tree limb, Bertha the ghost, a cabin in the woods misadventure, awkward moments at a penthouse party, a conniver in a very smart outfit, Tanuki the stories sentinel of the Japanese garden and a man with a penchant for wearing his dead wife’s clothes…
Further, I love stories featuring secret passageways and unexplained shrieks, bangs and crashes in the night…
Favorite saying found in this story: “Couldn’t see you for dust,” meaning someone leaving quickly in order to avoid something…
Very enjoyable read…
October 22, 2021
A rather silly, slight example of a late 60s Gothic novel, "Riverwood" tells the story of would-be curator and interior-designer Nora Scott who, fresh out of college and without qualifications, improbably has landed the job of bringing an early nineteenth century Hudson River mansion, Riverwood, back to its surroundings so it can be turned into a house museum. The estate is populated by several handsome young men with varying degrees of mysterious motives and pasts, who romance Nora. Nora has her own agenda for being there, besides burnishing her resumé for a future position as a decorative arts curator. Various accidents befall Nora, who likes to scold other characters. Strange characters come and go at the drop of a hat—from a trampy arsonist maid to a bossy, know-it-all poor relation—not to mention the wacky lady of the manor, who has terrible taste and is obsessed with birds. Meanwhile, three—count them, three—climaxes occur in this very short novel. Meanwhile, famous paintings such as "American Gothic" make appearances here (it was already in the Art Institute of Chicago's collection well before the 1968 publication of this work), while Corby makes up dec arts objects to suit her fancy (François de Sèvres? Seriously? This curator of decorative arts groaned at that one, as well as a William and Mary chair with Spanish feet?!?). Thinking about it, "Riverwood" is just clunky enough that it might deserve two stars, but that would probably be pushing it.
September 6, 2016
I love picking up old gothic paperbacks at the thrift store. This caught my eye and I can say it was truly terrible. I normally enjoy slightly dated and terrible - it's what makes the reading fun. But this was pretty awful. I know the tropes and can easily pick through the what's going to happen. On the plus side the book was relatively fast paced. What was annoying were instances when the main character blurted out nuggets of information that she allegedly asked other characters but those conversations were kept hidden from the reader (even though we've been along with her relatively first person). Ugh. Give me Phyllis Whitney, Mary Stewart or Barbara Michaels to remind me what a good gothic is.
January 28, 2022
Another gothic treading the same formula as hundreds of others. Heroine takes a job redecorating a remote mansion, which is also full of sinister aunts and cousins, all wondering who will inherit a fabulous fortune. The heroine meets and flirts with two attractive (but sinister) bachelors, despite actually having a long-term boyfriend at home...Nothing wrong with that according to this book, she just can't control which direction her romantic emotions will pull her in.
There's very little tension in the story, as whatever peril our heroine encounters is overcome in a few sentences, and before you know it she's putting on a different dress and coming down to dinner. As another reviewer pointed out, there are un-maskings and revelations long before the final chapter, which left me wondering what there was left to read about. Not a lot, as it turns out except for the breathless, gushy declaration of true love on the very last page. I suppose that's what the intended 1970's audience was looking for.
There's very little tension in the story, as whatever peril our heroine encounters is overcome in a few sentences, and before you know it she's putting on a different dress and coming down to dinner. As another reviewer pointed out, there are un-maskings and revelations long before the final chapter, which left me wondering what there was left to read about. Not a lot, as it turns out except for the breathless, gushy declaration of true love on the very last page. I suppose that's what the intended 1970's audience was looking for.
February 26, 2015
I felt like I was reading page after page to come across something exciting. It was fast paced, and it wasn't boring, but it wasn't exciting until nearly the end.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews