About book The Legend Of The Seventh Virgin (1993)
If you're a gothic romance enthusiast, they don't make 'em better than this. I got hooked on Victoria Holt as a high school junior. Her gothic romances actually have storylines and just enough sex to hint at but not overwhelm a sheltered teenager. Holt, also writing under the pseudonym Jean Plaidy and Phillipa Carr infuses her romances with regional and historical references.The Legend of the Seventh Virgin spins the tale of strong willed cottage girl, Kerensa Carlee. Kerensa is fascinated by the ancient home of the local nobility, the Abbas, with a wing that used to house a nunnery. Her imagination is captivated by the legend of six novices who were turned to stone and a nun who was walled up in the former abbey after losing their virtue. A chance encounter with the noble St. Larstons and their friends results in her eventual ascendancy to Lady of the Manor. Her elevation is not all she'd hoped for and the climax is a fast paced surprise ending.Alas, no vampires, werewolves, S & M enthusiasts, just basic, entertaining gothic romance!
Okay, so this book was really hard to get into and didn't really pick up until almost half way through, the characters in it were pretty much despicable (including the heroine who as far as I can tell had NO redeeming qualities whatsoever), and it ended oddly and dissatisfying. That all being said, I actually really kind of liked it. It would have been better if the heroine had redeemed herself and become someone I could root for, or even like, or if there had been a better climax at the end. But all in all it was an engaging story and I can't say I wish I hadn't read it.
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I picked a pretty decent Holt to start with. I had been interested in reading the author since Lauren Willig (whose Pink Carnation books I adore) mentioned that a Holt book was an influence on her Night Jasmine installment in the Pink series. The Legend of the Seventh Virgin is always engaging and has a nice tone of melodrama throughout. The lead character is a bit problematic, though she has a great name: Kerensa Carlee. Appropriately soap opera-ish, no? She is complex but not likeable enough in the end to really feel sorry for her. The Cornish setting here is fantastic, and the style of Holt's writing is good. I might try more Holt sometime soon, so four stars overall.
—Rachel
I have to admit myself rather unimpressed by this book. It was a good story, but rather too much of one of those wandering romances than what it should've been. The main character is a narcissist with a god-complex and just plain irritating to boot (and there's a funny expression - my dictionary of idioms gives an explanation but no etymology unfortunately). What I think was meant to be a twist at the end was blazingly obvious and the final couple of chapters were just plain anticlimatic.Frankly
—Andrea Hickman Walker
