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The Twisted Tree
"There is no death!"
It was the third time that Eve Matthews had come across those eerie and puzzling words. Her father had spoken them right before he died. And when she first arrived at Enniscare, an old woman had suddenly appeared from behind a twisted pepper tree and used the same phrase. Now, sitting in her bedroom in the old Victorian house, Eve opened a book of poems and every one of them echoed that familiar theme: "There is no death..."
It was the third time that Eve Matthews had come across those eerie and puzzling words. Her father had spoken them right before he died. And when she first arrived at Enniscare, an old woman had suddenly appeared from behind a twisted pepper tree and used the same phrase. Now, sitting in her bedroom in the old Victorian house, Eve opened a book of poems and every one of them echoed that familiar theme: "There is no death..."
158 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1973
80 people want to read
About the author
Lynn Benedict
6 books1 followerPseudonym for Victor J. Banis. Also wrote under the name Jan Alexander.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 20, 2014
Note: While I’ve tried not to reveal any of the Big Dark Secrets kept hidden in this book, a proper review was impossible to write without any spoilers. So those of you who, like me, plan to find and read all the Avon Satanic Gothics that you can- you’ve been warned.
The Twisted Tree is a gothic romance with an emphasis on gothic. There is love to be found here, but it is secondary to the gloom and foreboding; a household twisting itself up over something unspeakable, surrounded by equally twisted pepper trees and haunted by an old woman who speaks the words “There are no dead!” It is set in the “present day” of the 1970s, but you wouldn’t know it except for the periodic mentions of the bygone Victorian era and a rock song played on piano. We are in Bronte-influenced territory, no matter the year on the calendar.
Evelyn, our heroine, has come to work at a home for the elderly (an inversion, I suppose, of the typical governess job found in such books.) Her loneliness and uncertainty aren’t helped by the fact that people keep dying, or by the rich and unhappy family who runs the home, the Enniscares. At least Adam Enniscare is friendly; rather than a brooding Heathcliffe-alike, he is an idle dandy in well-tailored suits, as fond of Eve as he is disdainful of his female relations, but brimming with mystery nonetheless.
"A Charlie Stoker type,"I thought. "Or a Tom Ripley type."
As it turned out, my guesses weren’t far off.
The Twisted Tree is an odd little book, and while I won’t say that I was swept away by either the horror or the romance, it was an interesting entry in the field. It’s not exactly a realistic deconstruction of damaging relationships (like, say, A Long Fatal Love Chase) but it still proposes that two people can love each other without anything good coming of it. Maybe that handsome man’s mother has every reason to disapprove of him. Maybe there are forces at work too great to overcome with nothing but innocence and purity. And maybe sometimes there just can’t be a happy ending.
The Twisted Tree is a gothic romance with an emphasis on gothic. There is love to be found here, but it is secondary to the gloom and foreboding; a household twisting itself up over something unspeakable, surrounded by equally twisted pepper trees and haunted by an old woman who speaks the words “There are no dead!” It is set in the “present day” of the 1970s, but you wouldn’t know it except for the periodic mentions of the bygone Victorian era and a rock song played on piano. We are in Bronte-influenced territory, no matter the year on the calendar.
Evelyn, our heroine, has come to work at a home for the elderly (an inversion, I suppose, of the typical governess job found in such books.) Her loneliness and uncertainty aren’t helped by the fact that people keep dying, or by the rich and unhappy family who runs the home, the Enniscares. At least Adam Enniscare is friendly; rather than a brooding Heathcliffe-alike, he is an idle dandy in well-tailored suits, as fond of Eve as he is disdainful of his female relations, but brimming with mystery nonetheless.
"A Charlie Stoker type,"I thought. "Or a Tom Ripley type."
As it turned out, my guesses weren’t far off.
The Twisted Tree is an odd little book, and while I won’t say that I was swept away by either the horror or the romance, it was an interesting entry in the field. It’s not exactly a realistic deconstruction of damaging relationships (like, say, A Long Fatal Love Chase) but it still proposes that two people can love each other without anything good coming of it. Maybe that handsome man’s mother has every reason to disapprove of him. Maybe there are forces at work too great to overcome with nothing but innocence and purity. And maybe sometimes there just can’t be a happy ending.
June 6, 2015
I saw this book posted on twitter as part of the Avon "Satanic Gothic" series and decided I had to try it. It was quite amusing to read as what was considered "Satanic Gothic" in the US in the 70s would have been made into an afternoon kids TV show in the UK. The story didn't have anything Satanic or occult in it, but it was an interesting enough supernatural tale. It reminded me a lot of the original Dark Shadows, except instead of having the young girl come to the spooky house to look after a young boy she was looking after old ladies. It was quite ghostly and atmospheric, though not very much happened and the explanation when it came, while quite different, didn't make all that much sense. It wasn't bad but definitely no where near as good as the 18th and 19th century Gothic novels, or Marjorie Bowen in the 20th century.
February 10, 2009
A young girl becomes a pawn in a terrifying struggle with the supernatural!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews