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The Dancing Floor (1997)

Tekijä: Barbara Michaels

Muut tekijät: Katso muut tekijät -osio.

JäseniäKirja-arvostelujaSuosituimmuussijaKeskimääräinen arvioMaininnat
5401044,282 (3.64)21
For years, Heather Tradescant had dreamed of the journey she and her father would take to England--a pilgrimage to the great gardens of history. Now that her father is dead, Heather is determined to fulfill his dreams. Unfortunately, her request to see the fabled 17th-century garden of Troytan House is denied by the owner. Though unwelcome, she braves the walls of briars and reaches the Victorian manor house beyond. She senses a strange mission of evil lurking, tainting the manor's peaceful beauty. Only then does Heather begin to wonder whether it is only stories of long-vanished witchcraft that haunt Troytan House or whether there is some more modern horror, hearer at hand, and far, far more dangerous. Continuing in the classic tradition she established with such acclaimed novels of suspense as Stitches in Time, Vanish with the Rose, and House of Stone, New York Times bestselling author Barbara Michaels has penned a chilling tale that will keep you reading until the last page.… (lisätietoja)
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Näyttää 1-5 (yhteensä 10) (seuraava | näytä kaikki)
With memories of having enjoyed a novel by this author many moons ago, though unable to remember which, I anticipated a good page turning read. In one sense, that is what it is. Heather Tradescant is on a touring holiday of England following the death of her father (and mother, but her father was her real parent for various reasons) with whom she had anticipated visiting famous gardens. Both shared a love of gardening and, to some extent, the history of gardens, mainly centred around the two John Tradescants who lived in the seventeenth century (and from whom, her father believed, they descended).

Denied access to a major goal, Troytan House, which had a garden which John Tradescant (the Elder I think) had designed, Heather finds her own way in, which turns out to lie through an overgrown maze. While there, she has a panic attack and so reels to the feet of Jordan Karim, son of the house's owner, rather bedraggled, scratched and with a twisted ankle. When Franklin Karim, Jordan's father, learns her name (and has it checked up by his factotum Sean to make sure she isn't a lying reporter), he invites her to stay and help him find where the garden that Tradescant designed used to be. Frank, as he prefers to be called, is a rich man and generally gets his own way with a manner part charm and part bullying. He is very insulting to his son, and eventually the reason for his behaviour is disclosed.

One element which intrigued me was the references to the famous seventeenth century Pendle Witch Trial and the various victims of the beliefs of that day. There is an attempt to tie it in with modern day (the book was published in 1997) Wicca and other New Age beliefs, and one character, Jennet, has a major role in this, but it isn't really followed through and I did wonder why any of this was in the book at all.

A lot of the story centres around Helen's relationships with the various men at the house - not only Frank, Jordan and Sean, but also Giles, son of the former owner and terribly, terribly nice but terribly put upon by a selfish wife and awful bratty son. There is a hint of romance between her and Giles and her and Sean, although Jordan keeps her at arm's length with his distant attitude which descends at times into hostility. Meanwhile, I appreciated that Helen is a tough cookie, physically fit - she does quite a lot of climbing ladders etc - and brave, and also quite blunt, plus she is constantly lectured or teased about her weight and the amount of food she puts away. So not a simpering violet. In the course of the story it becomes clear that someone is trying to do her harm, and suspicion falls mainly upon Jennet and the housekeeper Doreen.

One point I liked in the novel was that, unlike a lot of books with a romance theme, there were no steamy bedroom scenes. The only scenes set in the bedroom were completely unromantic, and the interactions with some of the men in the story never went beyond a kiss or two. That made a nice change!

However, I had a few problems with it, apart from its not following through on the witchy/supernatural element. Detailed descriptions of food menus are not that interesting, and do occur a lot. Also there is quite a bit of repetition, with various people going with Helen to see the access point where she got into the grounds etc. It was pleasing to see that the author had at least done her research about the history of the witchcraft trials - for example, one character tells another that witches were hung in England, not burned - but some of the Americanisms were a little throwing when spoken by characters who were not meant to be American. It was fine for Heather, whose first person viewpoint narrates the whole story, to refer to 'pants' instead of trousers, and 'sidewalk' instead of pavement etc, and given that the Karims are apparently American also, not a problem when they spoke in a similar way, but I wasn't sure if Sean was also American until much later in the story. But Doreen used one or two American expressions and she is definitely meant to be English. This would have been far less common in 1997 than today.

I also wasn't sure why the Karims were meant to be of Eastern extraction originally: there was one reference to them not being practicing Muslims, and their portrayal was of wealthy American industrialist types. Like the witchcraft angle, it seemed a bit pointless. One element I found quite predictable, concerned whom Heather would eventually end up with, because it is a common trope that the man with whom she spent the novel arguing had to be the one even if he didn't seem an attractive character. I did wonder if a certain nice person would turn out to be the villain: although I ended up wide of the mark, I think it might have been more effective somehow.

One point that was surprising, given the author's preface in which she says that only the Lancashire witch trial characters are real and everyone else is a figment of her imagination, is that the two John Tradescants really existed as I have since discovered from articles such as this one - https://gardenmuseum.org.uk/the-museum/history/tradescants/.

Finally, the title of the novel is a complete red herring. Although the Dancing Floor is mentioned a few times, and Jennet eventually explains its purpose, she also says it is in another location entirely. So I couldn't see the reason for using it. The focal place in the story is the overgrown maze so perhaps 'The Labyrinth' would have been more appropriate, especially as the history of labyrinths and garden mazes is an important thread in the story.

Given mixed feelings about this novel - enjoyed the exploits of Helen, was intrigued by the witchcraft angle but disappointed it didn't go anywhere, found it a bit repetitive in places and found the resolution of the romance subplot entirely predictable - I am awarding this a 3 star rating. ( )
  kitsune_reader | Nov 23, 2023 |
I'm beginning to realise how far Barbara Michaels' later work departs from her earlier, more simplistic, romantic suspense novels. Once again, The Dancing Floor is not at all what I expected it to be given my earlier experiences with Ammie, Come Home and Sons of the Wolf. Though having said that, this isn't much different in some ways, just a more sophisticated version.

The MC, Heather, is following the English garden tour itinerary her late father had meticulously planned with her before his untimely death. The trip culminates in a visit to a private estate with one of the few original, unaltered gardens in existence. When she's rebuffed at the gate, she sneaks in the back, scaring herself stupid and getting caught in the process. The owner is an eccentric old man who decides fate has brought her there and convinces her to stay on to help him restore the gardens. This is all set in an English village related to the Pendle Witch trials, so there's a lot of superstitions and possible paranormal activity going on, and then a boy goes missing.

It's a good story, and I always enjoy the banter between Michaels' characters, but there are a lot of unanswered questions too. Heather's obviously got a lot of mother issues, but they're never explained. Neither are her nightmares. And the title of the book does not play into the plot at all. The Dancing Floor is mentioned 3 or 4 times in the book as another mystical location, but that's it.

Michaels decides to put the suspense in the romance in this book; she's got so many men making passes at Heather (a 'husky' MC whose love of eating is a constant source of one-liners - in a good natured way - throughout the story) and it's not until the very end that anyone is declared the love interest. And I do mean the end, as in the last 3 pages.

Not one of her greatest, but a fun book nonetheless.

I read this as my final wild card selection in Halloween Bingo. I'm using it for the Fear the Drowning Deep square. ( )
  murderbydeath | Jan 20, 2022 |
Gardening in a Gothic romance -- what's not to like? I enjoyed this book because so much is plausible; the heroine had a good reason for being at the mansion and there was a reason for her staying there. There were almost too many men for the heroine to choose from. I didn't see the ending at all, although there were clues in hindsight. If I had one complaint, it was that the ending felt rushed a bit.

If you like Gothics, this should be on your list. ( )
  Jean_Sexton | Mar 12, 2017 |
This was my first Michaels book and i really liked it. Actually its been my favorite Michaels book so far. ( )
  EmpressReece | Aug 22, 2016 |
I loved this book. Heather sneaks her way into a garden after being denied entrance and finds herself in a maze. She stumbles across a statue that scares the piss out of her and runs blindly out of the maze. Only to fall right at the feet of the owner who denied her entrance and his son, Jordan. After hearing her last name their attitudes toward Heather turns from hostel to friendly. The owner insists that she stays in the mansion with them until she heals from her injuries from running through the maze. Soon Heather finds herself interested in the garden the owner is trying to restore, the little boy that turns up missing, and the weird things that are happening to people who get too close to the maze. The town the mansion is in is known for its legendary witchcraft trials and all the information and folklore on that subject was really interesting. The town and people in this book were fabulous and I loved the mystery that was centered on the maze.

My only problem with the book was that the climax was more of a fizzle than it was a pop. There was all this build up about the maze and when they finally went in, it was only for few minutes. Another problem I had was with the way the villain was disposed of. What happened was a little unclear. I had to go back and reread because I didn't catch on to what happened the first time. One minute they're in the maze facing off with the villain and then on the next page the good guys are at a hospital.

( )
  Book_Minx | Jan 24, 2015 |
Näyttää 1-5 (yhteensä 10) (seuraava | näytä kaikki)
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Englanninkielinen Wikipedia

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For years, Heather Tradescant had dreamed of the journey she and her father would take to England--a pilgrimage to the great gardens of history. Now that her father is dead, Heather is determined to fulfill his dreams. Unfortunately, her request to see the fabled 17th-century garden of Troytan House is denied by the owner. Though unwelcome, she braves the walls of briars and reaches the Victorian manor house beyond. She senses a strange mission of evil lurking, tainting the manor's peaceful beauty. Only then does Heather begin to wonder whether it is only stories of long-vanished witchcraft that haunt Troytan House or whether there is some more modern horror, hearer at hand, and far, far more dangerous. Continuing in the classic tradition she established with such acclaimed novels of suspense as Stitches in Time, Vanish with the Rose, and House of Stone, New York Times bestselling author Barbara Michaels has penned a chilling tale that will keep you reading until the last page.

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