April's Grave

Rating:
Summary: Early work from a future talent
Review: Susan Howatch is now a fantastic writer. When she wrote April's Grave, she was working in different genre. It's a good book in the tradition of Victoria Holt, Barbara Michaels, Phyllis Whitney. She doesn't quite make it to their level, but it's a solid read anyway. It reflects the time in which it was written and makes for a nostalgic read now.

Rating:
Summary: Billed as Gothic, reads more as murder mystery
Review: Though "April's Grave" is generally marketed as one of Susan Howatch's gothic novels, there is less gothic atmosphere here than one would anticipate. Mostly the novel is set up as a murder mystery told in third person, with Karen (the protagonist) only marginally closer to the reader's sympathies than the others. In fact, sympathetic characters seem minimal here, and the mystery is set up and solved rather perfunctorily. The atmosphere of the remote Scottish farm could have been used to add more richness to the story, but instead seems more a nod to the traditional gothic setting without every having the mood and presence of Manderley, for instance. The romance between Karen and her husband is rather unpleasant in light of his selfish characterization, and the whole thing comes off as more an exercise in hate that romance, particularly with everyone's lack of sympathy for the murdered girl herself. (And maybe all that hate is Howatch's point; alas, the novel skims the surface too much for it to be explored anyway but superficially). There is a powerful and tragic tale of obsessive love here, but it's masked until the end for the sake of the mystery, leaving little opportunity for it to be rounded out. The novel is saved by Howatch's writing which, while not particularly stylish, is always competent and keeps the proceedings from becoming too melodramatic. Overall this book probably merits two and a half stars, but definitely not three. For those looking for a rich gothic setting and gripping story, they won't find it here in this marginally interesting but ultimately forgettable novel.