Mistress of Mellyn in Retro Reads

Mar 25, 2017 Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: gothic, suspense, things-go-bump-in-the-night, romance

Mistress of Mellyn is one of Victoria Holt's old gothic romantic suspense novels, published in 1960. It's the quintessential "governess in peril falling in love with someone above her station" plot. It's a pretty good, old-fashioned novel of its type, one of the better Victoria Holt novels I've read here and there over the years.

Martha (Marty) Leigh is an impoverished gentlewoman forced to become a governess due to her circumstances. She takes a job in Cornwall, a corner of England that, I was s ...more

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Mar 22, 2017 Carol She's So Novel꧁꧂ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-romance

I read a lot of Holt in my teens, then they started to feel both gloom laden and like they had come off a production line, so I stopped. I reread another favourite

and while I didn't love it so much this time round, I rounded the book up to 4★ for old times sake. The Mistress of Mellyn, the first Holt I read (although I had read plenty of her Jean Plaidy titles) and the first one she wrote, has stood the test of time and I am happy to award 5★.

This books succeeds in so many areas, the Cornw ...more

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Mar 26, 2017 debbicat *made of stardust* rated it it was amazing

Wow! I did not remember that! What a great read! I am still thinking about this book after finishing yesterday. This was really good! I know I read it as a teen. My mom had all those Victoria Holt's from the Doubleday Book Club. I remember this title quite well. And I read all of her books when she finished. I just don't remember any of this story. Great characters and setting. Oh so gothic!

I really enjoyed it quite a lot. So atmospheric. I didn't like Marty at all until about halfway thru. She ...more

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Mar 28, 2017 Veronique rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read2017

3.5 (for Retro Reads)

“There are two courses open to a gentlewoman when she finds herself in penurious circumstances,” my Aunt Adelaide had said. “One is to marry, and the other to find a post in keeping with her gentility.”

I’d never heard of Victoria Holt but this gothic romantic story was full of suspense. The plot follows the well-known plight of the governess, having to find a position to survive, finding such role only to realise that all is not as it seems. Martha Leigh, vicar daughter with ...more

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Aug 13, 2017 Hana rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, gothic-scary

An entertaining Gothic with much to like for genre fans.

Martha Leigh, is a gentlewoman, orphaned with no income. What to do? In Victorian times, with few options, she must become a governess to a lonely and difficult child in a country manor in Cornwall.

I loved the Cornish setting--I kept picturing those cliff scenes in the BBC version of Poldark.

Marty was a pleasant and believable heroine and Connan was okay, but somehow the romance never clicked with me. (view spoiler) ...more

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Feb 08, 2023 Mela rated it it was ok

Shelves: internet-archive, group-retro-reads, historical-period-long-19th-century, region-british, historical-romance, mystery-adventure

I wanted to check the author for a long time. I don't regret I did finally, but I doubt I will read more by Victoria Holt (although, who knows).

To me, a mystery was too obvious to enjoy figuring out (save for one or two small twists).

The romance was weird. Martha started as a strong, sensible character, but with time she behaved more and more out of the blue. Connan started as a libertine and ended as a reformed man, but I didn't see when he had changed. I had no idea also when and why they fell ...more

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