Cassandra King's Moonrise is an homage to Daphne du Maurier's gothic classic Rebecca, 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 modernized the tale, adding characters both complex and intense.
In the Blue Ridge Mountains, in Highlands, N.C., Moonrise is a dreamy Victorian estate, 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 returned with his new wife, Helen, and his oldest friends are gathering.
Tansy and Kit, mean and waspish, set about to make life miserable for Helen. Myna, a prize-winning poet, 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 Annie and her new stepmother making a connection.
King (The Sunday Wife) tells the story in three voices: Helen, Tansy and Willa, a local girl 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 car 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 this rousing good story, with no apologies to du Maurier. --Valerie Ryan, Cannon Beach Book Company, Ore.