" A Gothic smash" Guardian
Brenda has come to Whitby to run a B&B in search of some peace and quiet. She and her best friend Effie like nothing better than going out for tea and keeping their eyes open for any of the mysterious goings-on in town.
And what with satanic beauty salons, more than illegal aliens, roving psychic investigators and the frankly terrifying owner of the Christmas Hotel there is no shortage of nefarious shenanigans to keep them interested.
But the oddest thing in Whitby may well be Brenda herself. With her terrible scars, her strange lack of a surname and the fact that she takes two different shoe sizes, Brenda should have known that people as, well unique as she is, just aren't destined for a quiet life.
I found Never The Bride a hugely entertaining read. Each chapter reads like a short story in itself, coming gloriously together in the final chapter to tie everything in. It is perhaps what would happen if Buffy the Vampire Slayer decided to run a B&B in Whitby in her retirement! There are many references to classic horror, Dracula, withcraft, Frankenstein and even War of the Worlds. It is given a contemporary feel by using for example a TV show on the supernatural, Manifest Yourself, with TV psychics.
It is soon made clear exactly who Brenda is, and what her secrets are. I would expect that ther will be a sequel, maybe more than one, as Brenda and Effie, at the book's close are far from finished with their Gothic adventures.
"Utterly original. I was totally charmed by Brenda's valient attemptes to create a little ordinary happiness and comfort out of the madness around her" The Times.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment