The Mask of the Enchantress

Rating:
Summary: Victoria Holt Does it Again!
Review: After fleeing England with her newfound parents, Suewellyn grows up on an island in the waters surrounding Australia. Her life is somewhat sheltered, so when a catastrophe strikes the island, she doesn't know what to do. She decides to go back to England and claim her inheritance, even if it isn't really hers. That proves to be difficult, as she soon finds out.

This is one of the first Holt books I read, and it is one of the best!

Rating:
Summary: A must!
Review: diseption and romance mixed with adventure. you won't find a better victoria holt book! the 11th i read.

Rating:
Summary: Great writing, not so mysterious.
Review: I enjoyed reading this book and found I cared a great deal about the heroine and was curious about what choices she would make. I enjoyed the different locales and customs and some of the conflicts arising out of culture clashes. Unlike some others I did not find the plot twists so twisty, so the suspense was somewhat spoiled. I guess I have been reading too much for too long.
I found most of the relationships pretty believeable, but wish there was a bit more depth to the final romantic male interest.

Rating:
Summary: What a great writer!
Review: Victoria Holt is great! After LORD OF THE FAR ISLAND, MASK is my favorite book of hers.

Just when you think you have the plot figured out, she throws in an interesting twist. She always keeps you guessing with her books, and such is the case with this one.

This is a story of a young girl named Suewellyn who goes to live with her parents on a remote island in the South Pacific. It's necessary for them to flee because her parents are unmarried lovers: Suewellyn's father is actually her mother's counsin's lawful husband. Yet the family lives in peace and happiness on this island for several years...

...until Sue's look-alike cousin comes for an extended stay. The cousin is an heiress to a sizeable estate and fortune, and when she dies in the volcano eruption that devastates the island and claimes the lives of Sue's parents, Sue makes the cunning decision to assume her cousin's identity and inheritance.

The book held my attention till its conclusion. However, I must admit that the ending seemed a bit rushed, as if Ms. Holt was under a deadline to finish the book.