House of Echoes by Barbara Erskine

Title:  House of Echoes
Author:  Barbara Erskine
Format:  PB
Pages:  475
Genre:  Horror
Publisher:  Signet, 1997
ISBN-13:  978-0451181954
Series:  Stand Alone

Favorite Quote:  Forgive me, Jocelyn, but I can no longer fight your father's wishes.  I have no strength left.  I am leaving Belheddon, with all its blessings and its curses, but he will only let me escape if I give in.  He wants Belheddon to be yours and I have to obey.  If you read this letter then he will have got his way.

Synopsis (Amazon):  A woman and her family move into the English manor she inherits from a mother she had never known--the same place where her young brothers died--and are harassed by occult happenings, the effects of a centuries-old curse.

Review:  This was a fairly good tale.  It is about a cursed house, which has been done many times and quite a few of them were done better than this effort.  Even though this novel was written pretty recently, it still seemed dated.  It is set in the then-current times, but it seemed the characters might be more comfortable in an earlier age.  I do get tired of the women always being the ones to witness the ghosts, demons and what-have-you, while the men stand back and flex their muscles and disbelieve the whole thing.

Some of the local words were unfamiliar to me but an online dictionary helped with the translations.  I started using the dictionary after I finally realized that the biscuits that were constantly being baked and eaten are called cookies over here.  The setting was beautifully written and the characters believable, if a little old fashioned.  It was an entertaining story and the historical references were intriguing.  I enjoyed reading it.

Rating:  6.5 / 10