Product Description

When Joss Grant inherits Belheddon Hall in Essex from the mother she never knew, she and her husband, Luke move in with their young son, Tom. All Joss knows of the house is that her two young brothers died there many years ago, but local townspeople talk of a curse on both the house and Joss's family.

Something is definitely wrong at Belheddon Hall. White roses are found strewn throughout the house, a ghostly voice whispers, "Katherine" and the laughter of young boys echoes through its rooms.

But, after the birth of her second son Joss realizes that someone or something is determined to ruin her family. Her husband and her sister Lyn, who has come to help care for the baby, suspect otherwise. When the marks of violent pinches start appearing on both boys, it seems that Joss is truly responsible for any danger at Belheddon Hall.

Isolated and fearful of losing her family, Joss is on her own in solving the centuries-old curse of the house and saving her sons, before another generation falls victim.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1759679 in Books
• Published on: 1996-08-01
• Released on: 1996-08-01
• Formats: Audiobook, Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Binding: Audio Cassette

From Publishers Weekly
Supernatural chills and romantic sighs are Erskine's (Midnight Is a Lonely Place) stock in trade, but this outing finds her deficient in both categories. She concludes her latest romance-cum-spook story with a book review praising a first novel by protagonist Jocelyn "Joss" Grant for "leaving the reader clinging to the edge of his chair," but that's wishful thinking as far as this novel is concerned. Adopted as a baby, Joss tracks down her biological mother and learns she has inherited an ancient house in Essex. Ignoring the villagers' superstitious warnings, she moves into Belheddon Hall with her husband, Luke, and her two-year-old son, Tom. Unfortunately, the ensuing strange phenomena?roses left on pillows, and ghostly giggles?frighten Joss more than the reader. Then bruises appear on Tom's arms. Joss suspects ghosts, but Luke suspects Joss. Determined to discover the house's secrets, Joss researches her blighted family tree only to find that no male heir has ever inherited Belheddon. The problem, it turns out, stretches back to the 15th century, when a powerful witch, who lived in the house, cast a spell on King Edward IV that caused him to fall in love with her daughter, Katherine. Over 500 years later, the spell still binds an armor-clad King Edward, who spends eternity making love to all of Katherine's descendants (including Joss), while the bitter Katherine menaces the men of Belheddon. Just when Joss is on the verge of losing her sanity, a village psychic conveniently breaks the ancient curse with surprising ease, forcing an ending that is as illogical as it is happy. Literary Guild/Doubleday Book Club featured alternate.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Faced with financial ruin, Jocelyn and Luke Grant at first view the surprise inheritance of an Essex manor house from Joss' birth mother as a godsend. But who really sent the centuries-old house where boyish voices echo, drifts of icy rose petals appear and then vanish, and a chilling shadow threatens the safety of Luke and his toddler son? When Joss' second child is born, also a boy, it becomes apparent that only the males in the Grant household are threatened, and suspicion falls on Joss. To clear her name and save her family, she must confront and defeat a powerful, ancient presence. Without being overly graphic or ghoulish, Erskine's third novel of the supernatural provides a sensual, shivery thrill ride through a classic English country house. Roberta Johnson

From Kirkus Reviews
Erskine (Midnight is a Lonely Place, 1994, etc.) provides the requisite thrills and chills in a lively ghost story enriched by all the careful research of good historical fiction. When Jocelyn Grant's husband Luke loses his company--his partner takes off with all the money in their joint business account--the future looks dim for the struggling couple. Until, that is, Jocelyn, who'd been adopted as a child, suddenly learns that she's received an inheritance--the centuries-old family manor that she never knew existed, from a mother she never knew. Belheddon Hall, in Essex, is an imposing, even forbidding house; although the down-at-heels couple are ecstatic at their timely good fortune, their new neighbors' gossip--implying that Belheddon is haunted and that the ghosts show a special interest in young boys- -spooks at least Jocelyn, now pregnant with her first child. Joss bears first one son and then, in rapid succession, another, and she becomes increasingly convinced that something evil does linger close by. Luke is highly skeptical and accuses his wife of fanciful imaginings (he even seeks psychiatric help for her), but Joss's best friend David is all too convinced that something does lurk in the Hall, especially when two mysterious, inexplicable deaths occur within days of each other. When Joss and David begin really to explore the history of Belheddon, and to research her mother's life, they uncover more than they bargained for--including a powerful connection to King Edward IV, whose soul, apparently, is not at rest. Jocelyn's family provides a shot of realism as antidote to the eerie goings-on; their concern for Jocelyn as she searches for her past (sister Lyn in particular urges Joss to remember that her real family is the one that raised her) provides an effective counterpoint to the attic wailings and icy white roses of the supernatural scenes. A successful m‚lange of family melodrama and fantasy. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Chilling, Spine tingling.
I am a great fan of Barbara Erskine, this book was the best to date. When Luke and Joss Grant face financial problems due to Luke losing his business and their home, they cant believe their luck when Joss inherits a beautiful old house from a mother she never knew. Along with Tom their small son they move into Belheddon Hall. When Joss becomes pregnant with their second child they thought that their happiness was is now complete.

How wrong they were.Joss starts hearing childrens voices and white roses start to appear on her pillow.After the birth of her second son Ned, things really start to happen.Tom starts having terrible nightmares and mysterious bruises appear on his
arms and legs. When Ned disappears and is finally found in one of the attic rooms Luke begins to think Joss is responsible. As the secrets of the old house unfold Joss realises that her sons lives are in danger. She enlists the help of a previous colleague David and together they try and fight the ghosts that threaten them.

From the first page to the very last this book was compelling . The combination of terror and historic events made it very hard to put down. Thank you Barbara Erskine,for a wonderful read.

Excellent!
I'm a huge fan of Barabra Erskine and this book does not disappoint in any way!
Joss, a young woman with a new family, inherits an estate from her mother. She wants to make the fresh start and here is a place where she can learn about the family she never knew.
The only problem is that with the land and the house, Joss also inherits a legacy of revenge, passion and fear.
Erskine continues her usual fabulous writing to create scenes that jump out off the page and become so real you could swear you were there. Full of suspense, you won't be able to put this book down, so make sure you've got a free evening when you start this book!!

Good, but could have been cut in half
I love ghost stories and this is no exception. I won't go into a plot synopsis, because that's been done already. Ms. Erskine began with an interesting plot. Her writing is very atmospheric and there's that wonderful sense of impending doom. Some very clever juxtapostion of just who and what is doing the bad stuff. But, I have to say, the book was too long. It could easily have been cut in half. We spend Joss' entire pregnancy listening to poor little Tom screaming that the "Tin Man" is scaring the bejabbers out of him and other than that, nothing really happens. The stakes are never really upped enough to start sitting on the edge of your seat. I liked Joss, but she was a bit of a victim. Bringing Natalie in to clean things up was just too pat. Joss should have been the one to lay the ghosts to rest. It was her house and her children in danger. I thought she fluffed off her adoptive parents far too easily. They just became a non-part of the story. Lynn I wanted to slap, she was so one dimensional, and Luke needed a boot in the butt to wake up. I kept hoping Joss would leave him and get together with David who was far more interesting.

Yes, (G), I did like this story. I listened to the unabridged audio version. I love being read too, but even as much as I love it, as I said this work could easily have been cut in half to pick up the pacing and none of the story would have been lost.

This is my first exposure to Ms. Erskine and I did like this book well enough to try her other books.