10 Favorite Books and Why
by Carole Gill
Dracula
Dracula has not been
out of print since it was first published in 1897. That says a lot. The
structure of the novel is terribly interesting. The story is told from journal
reports, letters and various papers.
I love that because
the first person narrative (a favorite of mine for long fiction to read and to
write) creates intimacy. It makes it all quite real as well.
I look to it for inspiration and always shall. This novel decided me on
choosing my point of view for my novel, The
House on Blackstone Moor and frankly it further decided me on how to write
the sequel, Unholy Testament.
I think every author, of whatever genre, should study the technique used
here because it is brilliant.
Interview with a Vampire
This to me, is as ground breaking a novel as Dracula was. It is a brilliantly told tale but it is written for
the modern reader.
Here we find that vampires are not all the same. They feel and remember their
living lives.
Rice shows us that vampires are more complex than any other monstrous
fictional creations. That is why the genre will go on, adapting itself
continually for each generation of reader.
Jane Eyre
This novel is the
best representation of just how harsh English society was in the middle part of
the 19th Century. It was class based. Whatever class you were born
into, you remained in as did your children.
Jane Eyre, one of
society’s unfortunates is determined to survive and be loved at all cost. This
alone makes the character remarkable. She wants love in a loveless society.
I love the dark
romance in the novel as well as the beautiful narrative.
I often joke that The House on Blackstone Moor is Jane Eyre
with vampires, in a way it is! Read it and you’ll see what I mean!
Wuthering Heights
This is a far darker
and more controversial story than Jane
Eyre. When it was released it was perceived as such.
Just what is
Heathcliff and Cathy’s relationship, are they related or not?
Their love is doomed
as they are because of this irresolution.
This is a dark,
beautifully told story. And really, for me, the test of what makes a novel
great is whether we remember it. This is another one to remember.
Rebecca
This is the first gothic romance novel I read. There is a dark mystery
at the heart of the story which I find very intriguing. Just why does the
housekeeper hate the second Mrs. DeWinter as much as she does?
The questions abound as the mystery deepens. There are surprising twists
that will shock and delight. I loved it.
My Cousin Rachel
This is told in the first person narrative. A young man tells this story
of doomed love, of dark desires and deeply felt romance. There is a ponderous
question at the center or it. Is Cousin Rachel
good or bad? Was Philip’s
beloved uncle poisoned or not by her?
The truth comes out
and it will haunt Philip for the rest of his life as well as those who read the
tale!
The Portrait of Dorian Grey
This is a gothic
masterpiece. It is positively Faustian in that young, handsome Dorian Gray in a
careless moment, stares at his reflection and offers his soul in order to
remain as he is.
It is an allegory
for all of us, in whatever century we live in. It is the reason we seek Botox
treatments and face lifts. And the key question is, if we could offer our souls
to remain young as Dorian did, would we?
A Tale of Two Cities
If I had to choose a
novel that had everything in it a novel should have, it would be this one.
There is love,
romance, bigotry, madness and hatred—told against the backdrop of the French
Revolution.
This is Dickens’
masterpiece. For it depicts the greatest gift one human being can give another:
their own life sacrificed in the name of love.
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Two beings in one body—a just man and a monster: Jekyll and Hyde. This
is one of the most remarkable pieces of fiction ever written.
Hyde looks like what he is, a monster. Jekyll ostensibly wished to see
if he could make himself evil.
Of course we could ask ourselves was this a noble scientific experiment
or did he wish to know ‘how the evil half lived?’
He could then give into whatever dark desires he might have! If that is
in any way the case, it puts a whole different light on this amazing story.
The Woman in Black
The most superbly satisfying ghost story ever written in my opinion,
this is the mother of all haunted tales.
I love it because it is well written and plausible. Hatred has survived
death and that hatred, in the person of the Woman in Black, seeks revenge.
Revenge that is as terrifying as it is brutally unfair.
Carole Gill
I wrote my first story at age 8. It was sci-fi but as both my parents were sci-fi fanatics it
wasn’t a surprise.
I continued to write however life got in the way as it often does, and it wasn’t until 2000 that
I turned back to writing. I joined a local writer’s workshop and was greatly encouraged to
keep up with my writing and to send things out.
Shortly afterwards, I was selected by Northwest Playwrights of England for further
development but found I preferred fiction writing.
Widely published in horror and sci-fi anthologies, The House on Blackstone Moor is my first
novel. It is a tale of vampirism, madness, obsession and devil worship.
Set in 19th Century Yorkshire, its locales include Victorian madhouses as well as barren,
wind-swept Yorkshire moors. The story is a marriage of horror and gothic romance. I think it
can best be described as being gothic paranormal romantic horror.
I suppose you could say I want to put the Goth back into Gothic.
Living in the area the novel is set in, was very beneficial. Also, as a great admirer of the
Brontes and frequent visitor to the Bronte Parsonage in Haworth, I found myself nearly
obsessed with recreating the gothic romantic narrative.
Having been employed in a hospital which had been historically a workhouse and
asylum in Victorian times, I was able to add great realism to the depiction of the asylums
as described in my novel.
The next in the series, Unholy Testament – Full Circle is the continuation of Eco’s
confession. It will be released in 2013.
Book 4 in the series follows that.
wasn’t a surprise.
I continued to write however life got in the way as it often does, and it wasn’t until 2000 that
I turned back to writing. I joined a local writer’s workshop and was greatly encouraged to
keep up with my writing and to send things out.
Shortly afterwards, I was selected by Northwest Playwrights of England for further
development but found I preferred fiction writing.
Widely published in horror and sci-fi anthologies, The House on Blackstone Moor is my first
novel. It is a tale of vampirism, madness, obsession and devil worship.
Set in 19th Century Yorkshire, its locales include Victorian madhouses as well as barren,
wind-swept Yorkshire moors. The story is a marriage of horror and gothic romance. I think it
can best be described as being gothic paranormal romantic horror.
I suppose you could say I want to put the Goth back into Gothic.
Living in the area the novel is set in, was very beneficial. Also, as a great admirer of the
Brontes and frequent visitor to the Bronte Parsonage in Haworth, I found myself nearly
obsessed with recreating the gothic romantic narrative.
Having been employed in a hospital which had been historically a workhouse and
asylum in Victorian times, I was able to add great realism to the depiction of the asylums
as described in my novel.
The next in the series, Unholy Testament – Full Circle is the continuation of Eco’s
confession. It will be released in 2013.
Book 4 in the series follows that.
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