Dragonwyck

By: Anya Seton

Narrated by: Hillary Huber

In the spring of 1844, the Wells family receives a letter from a distant relative, the wealthy landowner Nicholas Van Ryn. He has invited one of their daughters for an extended visit at his Hudson Valley estate, Dragonwyck. Eighteen-year-old Miranda, bored with her local suitors and commonplace life on the farm, leaps at the chance for escape. She immediately falls under the spell of the master and his mansion, mesmerized by the Gothic towers, flowering gardens, and luxurious lifestyle - unaware of the dark, terrible secrets that await.

©1944 Anya Seton Chase (P)2015 Tantor

Historical fiction at it's best

Anya Seton was a prolific writer of what is now historical fiction. Her area of expertise was the area of where Connecticut and New York share borders: Greenwich. My personal favorite is The Winthrop Woman.

Uneven but enjoyable

I've loved this story since I was a little girl, but I really struggled with the narration. She read, in my opinion, in an overly arch manner and an abundance of vocal fry. She generally did really well with anyone with a strong accent, but made most female characters, including our heroine, sound like simpering ninnies. I found it rather distracting, but still do recommend anyone interested to give it a try

Good Gothic

This is a good gothic mystery. Some might find the pacing slow, but it was written in a different era, and it shows. This doesn’t make it an unenjoyable read; it’s just not contemporary fiction. Give it a shot and then perhaps check out the other Anya Seton books.

Dragonwyck’s Evaluation

The story is predictable but the fluent use of grammar is superb! Anya Seton is an artistic storyteller and her use of adjectives is outstanding.

Awesome story.

The plot and characters were well developed and the narrator did an excellent job of bringing the whole story to life.