All things gothic!

Book review: Valley of Nightmares by Jane Godman

Imagine my delight when I found that this book contained all the elements a true gothic romance should have! Young governess. Tick. Frightened child. Tick. Brooding, enigmatic employer (who may be the hero or the villain). Tick. Crumbling, old house in the middle of nowhere. Tick. Nightmares filled with a sense of impending doom. Tick. Creepy noises and eerie howling at night. Tick. Celtic legends. Tick. Mysterious dancing lights on the mountain. Tick. It was my lucky day indeed when I found this book on Goodreads! 

It is 1938, the eve of the Second World War, and Lilly Divine is earning a living as a burlesque dancer in a London nightclub. She starts having recurring nightmares of being chased by a sinister figure and in these dreams, she always sees a small girl who is being pursued by the same hunter.One day, her best friend and colleague, Ricky, is found dead - an incident which leaves her sad and determined to leave her ignominious career behind. Her chance comes unexpectedly in the form of Gethin Taran, a patron of the club who is looking for a governess for his eight-year-old niece, Ceri. Apparently, Taran House is a bit remote, on the foothills of Mount Taran, and not many young women are willing to venture out there in the wilderness. 

When Lilly arrives in Taran House, she is drawn to its sad, neglected aura - as if the house has been waiting for something or someone to awaken it. There is a crumbling clock tower at the top of the old house, which somehow fills Lilly with a sense of foreboding. But what shocks her most is Ceri, her charge - Ceri is the same girl Lilly has been seeing in her nightmares! Lilly feels an instant connection to Ceri and it seems Ceri recognizes her too. As Lilly starts settling in, she hears strange noises at night from the clock tower room above her bedroom, sees swirling, dancing lights on Mount Taran and hears eerie howling of hounds at night. She soon learns of the local Celtic legends which say that Mount Taran is a mystic place where the devil and his undead huntsmen ride through every night, along with their hounds of death. 

Things start getting dangerous as several attempts are made on Ceri's life and Lilly's bedroom is ransacked. A mysterious big, black dog appears one day, befriends Ceri and seems to protect both of them. A young man who is staying in the village nearby starts showing an interest in Lilly. In the midst of all this, Lilly develops a strong and unwelcome fascination for her mysterious employer, Gethin, in the true tradition of gothic novels :) There are supernatural elements thrown in, along with a bit of WWII intrigue - a missing top-secret letter, a dead evil twin, a jilted fiancee, a lake which drowns those of unpure heart, gypsy caravans and last but not the least, the house which may or may not be evil.

What I liked was the author's descriptive prose which brought out both the beauty of the surroundings and the pervasive sense of doom. Lilly is a refreshing take on the Gothic heroine, she is neither shy nor a dewy-eyed innocent; she tackles things head-on and speaks her mind. Her interactions with Gethin and her internal monologue are sometimes funny, and they nicely balance the eerie atmosphere of the rest of the book.

All in all, a nice, suspenseful, creepy, supernatural read - perfect for curling up with on a lazy evening, accompanied by a cup of steaming tea :)