Seventy-five years ago, Daphne du Maurier wrote Rebecca, a gothic novel destined to stand the test of time. Cassandra King's Moonrise is an homage to du Maurier's novel, using the same atmospheric tension, presences that may or may not be there and characters whose motivations are not what they seem. But King has also modernized the tale, adding characters both complex and intense.
The Blue Ridge Mountains of Highlands, N.C., provide a getaway destination for wealthy Atlantans and other Southerners to escape the heat. Moonrise is a dreamy Victorian showplace nestled in this peaceful, majestic redoubt, its beautiful garden filled with white flowers that bloom at night. At least, that is what it used to be. Now, a year after the death of Rosalyn, mistress of the mansion, the garden is neglected and forlorn. But Rosalyn's widower, Emmet, has just arrived for the summer with his new wife, Helen, and his oldest friends are gathering to have a look at "The Bride," as one insists upon calling her.
Tansy and Kit, mean and waspish as any bullying teen-age girls could ever dream of being, set about to make life miserable for Helen. They are rude, dismissive and just plain nasty. (It is a weakness in the novel that a 45-year-old woman would allow herself to be treated so shabbily.) Myna, a prize-winning poet, spends most of her time in the groves of academe; she believes the whole Highlands scene is beneath her and views it with contempt. Rounding out the cast is Annie, Emmet's daughter. She and Kit are very close, which works against Helen and Annie making a connection.
King (The Sunday Wife) tells the story in three voices. In addition to Helen and Tansy, she offers the perspective of Willa, a country girl with a long history of living in the Highlands and working as a housekeeper for the rich folks. Since this is a Southern gothic novel, of course there is the suggestion of Moonrise being haunted. It is haunted, in a very real sense, by the mysterious death of Rosalyn in an automobile accident on the mountain road. Why did she travel to Moonrise alone and why did she leave the same night? That enigmatic behavior forms the crux of the story. In the end, her motivation is unearthed and all prior relationships will be forever changed. A rousing good story with no apologies to du Maurier. --Valerie Ryan
Shelf Talker: A mansion in the mountains whose mistress dies mysteriously and a widower who remarries too soon for his disapproving friends are the foundation of a Southern gothic inspired by the classic Rebecca.