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annathepiperWith House of Many Shadows, I jump pretty far back along Barbara Michaels' bibliography, from the mid-90's back to the mid-70's. Despite this being one of her older novels, it's actually not terribly dated; it helps that the setting is in the obligatory Creepy Old House in the Country, and that there are exactly two technology references that really date the book (a tape recorder and a dictaphone). Reading it, then, is a pleasantly timeless experience.
Meg Rittenhouse is suffering from hallucinations thanks to an accident, and so she's sent by a rich relation off to a quiet house in the country to recover. Ever so conveniently, the house is under the care of Andy Brenner, who used to antagonize the hell out of Meg when they were children--indicating to the wise reader, of course, that they were destined for True Love with the very first crabapple he ever threw at her. Not that Michaels makes it an easy road for them to follow, though. Meg's got her hallucinations, Andy's got his own emotional problems, and the frequently caustic chemistry between them is a nice change of pace from simple attraction. The creepiness du jour is suitably creepy, and although the subplot of a couple of shady characters who got displaced out of the country house by Meg's arrival never provides any real sense of menace, there's a good showdown to resolve it at the end. All in all, fun. Three and a half stars.
Meg Rittenhouse is suffering from hallucinations thanks to an accident, and so she's sent by a rich relation off to a quiet house in the country to recover. Ever so conveniently, the house is under the care of Andy Brenner, who used to antagonize the hell out of Meg when they were children--indicating to the wise reader, of course, that they were destined for True Love with the very first crabapple he ever threw at her. Not that Michaels makes it an easy road for them to follow, though. Meg's got her hallucinations, Andy's got his own emotional problems, and the frequently caustic chemistry between them is a nice change of pace from simple attraction. The creepiness du jour is suitably creepy, and although the subplot of a couple of shady characters who got displaced out of the country house by Meg's arrival never provides any real sense of menace, there's a good showdown to resolve it at the end. All in all, fun. Three and a half stars.